The Hall of Fame Case for Andruw Jones

Andruw Jones is a few steps away from polishing off an unprecedented run to Cooperstown.

Jones’ time spent on the BBWAA Baseball Hall of Fame ballot rivals his career on the field. Once a player who quickly rose to stardom and dominated in his twenties before fizzling out in his thirties, Jones started slow on the ballot and has experienced a slow, gradual rise.

In fact, it could turn out to be a historically slow start to Jones’ Cooperstown candidacy. Opening at 7.3% in 2018, an election would make Jones’ ballot debut the lowest starting point for a player eventually inducted via the BBWAA.

Jones hovered around 7% for two years before starting his climb. Most recently, he tallied 61.6% of the BBWAA vote in 2024, giving him three more years to gain an additional 13.4%. Jones could end this year set up for a 2026 induction, as 2025 still seems unlikely.

In 2024, Jones had accumulated 69.6% of known votes before the results of the election were announced, lowering his overall tally.

He will likely find himself north of 70% on January 21 at 6:00 p.m. EST, when the results are revealed. Finishing in the high 60s or low 70s would put him in a solid position to reach 75% in the 2026 election, a year with several candidates likely leaving the ballot and a lack of strong first-year candidates.

It’s no wonder why voters might have opened their eyes to Jones’ Hall of Fame case. Throughout his twenties, he was one of the most talented and accomplished players of all time.

It’s also understandable why some writers continue to stand on the other side of the fence. In his thirties, he became plagued by injury and was soon a replacement-level player. He wasn’t able to use the years after his peak to compile his way to some of the Hall of Fame milestones. Jones fell short of benchmarks like 500 career home runs and 2,000 career hits.

Ultimately, Hall of Fame voters have had to answer one question when it pertains to Jones: Did he do enough in his twenties to justify electing a career that lacked longevity? And don’t let that question fool you – he did a lot in his twenties.

Andruw Jones: A Hall of Fame Peak

Andruw Jones began his MLB career as a 19-year-old ready to make an impact for the Braves in the middle of a championship window.

After his big league cup of coffee in the 1996 regular season, he posted an impressive 1.176 OPS in 37 postseason plate appearances. This put Jones on the map just six months ahead of his 20th birthday. From there, he was ready to hit the ground running.

Jones dominated baseball in his twenties. From 1997-2006, he slashed .268/.346/.506 for a 117 OPS+. He averaged 34 home runs, 101 RBI and 13 stolen bases per season over this 10-year stretch.

According to Baseball Reference, Jones also tallied 24.5 dWAR over those 10 years, revealing a defensive dominance in center field. Not only did that lead all position players, but the player with the second most in that span, Ivan Rodriguez, only tallied 15.8, nearly nine points behind. Jones spent his twenties as a solid bat that also lapped the field on defense.

FanGraphs has Jones with 60.9 WAR in that span, third among position players behind only Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez. For voters who choose to denounce players connected to performance-enhancing drugs, Jones was the best clean position player in baseball for 10 years.

But Jones wasn’t just great for his time. His twenties were some of the best the game has ever seen. According to Fangraphs, Jones’ 60.9 fWAR from 20-29 ranks 21st among all position players in baseball history through those ages.

Of the 22 players to tally at least 60 fWAR in their twenties, only five are not in the Hall of Fame: Bonds, Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, Mike Trout and Jones. That’s two players not inducted due to steroid use, two players not yet eligible who will get inducted on their first ballots, and Jones. His 337 home runs throughout his twenties also rank ninth all-time, and his 1,010 RBI rank 12th.

Jones posted seven seasons with at least 30 home runs, one of only six center fielders to do so. The others? Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Ken Griffey Jr., Joe DiMaggio and Trout.

These are not just current and future Hall of Famers, they are Mount Rushmore members to ever play the position. This is the company Andruw Jones had established for himself within just his first 11 big league seasons.

In 2000, Jones finished his age-23 season with a stellar .907 OPS and 2.7 dWAR, good for 8.2 WAR according to Baseball Reference. It was his third consecutive season with at least 7.0 bWAR. This made him one of just three players to have at least three such seasons before turning 24, joining Trout and Hall of Famer (and fellow Brave) Eddie Mathews.

Overall, Jones finished his career with eight seasons with at least 4.5 bWAR, making him one of 36 outfielders to do so. 25 of the other 35 players to do so are Hall of Famers. Of the remaining 10, the only other players not excluded due to non-statistical reasons are Jim Edmonds, Reggie Smith and Jim Wynn.

The Greatest Defender?

Jones was an excellent hitter in his prime, but his work at the plate was not the main attraction.

Evaluating defense can be more subjective than evaluating offense, but there are still plenty of ways to lay out Jones’ case as one of the best defensive players of all time, if not the best to ever play his position.

You don’t even need statistics to present evidence. Jones was awarded the Gold Glove in center field every year from 1998-2007, ten consecutive years. He is one of 16 players with at least 10 gold gloves, and one of just five outfielders, joining Mays, Roberto Clemente, Griffey Jr., and Ichiro Suzuki.

The way the stats tell the story, Jones stood out even more. According to FanGraphs, Jones totaled 265.2 Defensive Runs Above Average (Def) throughout his twenties. This stat measures defensive performance with positional adjustments. Jones’ 265.2 mark is the most any player has ever produced in his twenties.

Baseball Reference paints a similar picture. Jones’ 24.5 dWAR from ages 20-29 is the third most in a player’s twenties, close behind shortstops Andrelton Simmons and Joe Tinker.

Speaking of Simmons and Tinker, the two of them join Jones as the only players to post at least seven seasons with at least 2.0 dWAR. Overall, Jones posted four seasons with a 115 OPS+ or higher and at least 2.0+ dWAR, tied for the most of all time.

It’s true that after all this, Jones’ career derailed due to injury and underperformance. From 2007-2012, Jones played in 589 games, averaging 98 per year.

In that time he slashed .214/.314/.420 for a .734 OPS and 92 OPS+. He totaled 4.7 bWAR combined over his final six seasons, a total he had surpassed in a single year eight times.

Although Jones didn’t have the career longevity many of the BBWAA voters often look for, what he did throughout his 10-year peak was enough for the Hall of Fame to recognize on its own. He was one of the greatest defenders ever and also hit more home runs in his career than any active MLB player has hit. He deserves his induction one day, hopefully soon.