Tom Brennan - OMAR VIZQUEL AND AMED ROSARIO

Omar Vizquel Wikipedia

I took notice of, and great interest in, Omar Vizquel getting a sizable and impressive 52.3% of the votes (209 votes) in the latest Hall of Fame voting.  

It was just his 3rd year of eligibility, so he seems a lock to make it into the HOF some day, unless he is spotted in film footage banging on garbage cans in some dugout somewhere.

Vizquel was incredible at SS: ELEVEN Gold Gloves, 3 All Star game appearances.  

And his career spanned an amazing 24 years (1989 - 2012), as he played effectively until the age of 45.

His offense splits were, however, decidedly NOT Hall of Fame slugger caliber (.272/.336/.372).

He did, however, accumulate 2,877 hits and 404 steals.  But it was his glove wizardry primarily that has him so highly considered by Hall voters.

Omar's hitting in his first 3 seasons (age 22 to 24), though?  Well, lousy:

22 yr:  .220/.273/.261

23 yr: .247/.295/.298

24 yr: .230/.302/.296

Stats that only Ruben Tejada could love.

Then Vizquel started hitting much better beginning at age 25.

Let's now look at the oft-criticized Amed Rosario.

He has 3 MLB years in now also, at a younger ages 21-23.  

How'd he do?

21 yr:  .248/.271/.394

22 yr:  .256/.295/.381

23 yr:  .287/.323/.432

Despite being a year younger than Vizquel was in his first 3 seasons, Rosario's first 3 years' #'s offensively were much better.

Compare Rosario's age 23 results to Omar's age 23 results: 

Amed was higher in average by 40 points, OBP by 28 points, and slug % by 134 points.  Huge plus on the Amed ledger there.

Then consider that Amed's offensive stats have been lowered by his severe home hitting deficit which one would think ought to be fixable: in his 3 years at home, he has hit .228, while in his 3 years on the road, he has hit .307.  

For perspective, Larry Walker, just elected to the Hall of Fame?  In Colorado, he hit .381 for his career.  But outside of hitter-happy Colorado, he was just a .282 career hitter.  25 points LOWER than the EXCELLENT road #s Amed has compiled at a very early age.  

Can one make the case that if Amed Rosario, now entering his prime, can fix his persistent home hitting woes, he can come to be considered a GREAT hitter?

Let's continue to compare Vizquel to Rosario:

Steals the first 3 years?  Omar was just 12 of 19.  The fleet Rosario was 50 of 74.  Once again, clear edge to Amed.  Can Amed become a big time base stealer?  Time will tell, but I don't see why not.

Defensively, though, Omar was a +43 "R Tot" in his first 3 seasons; Amed a -21.  HUGE edge (so far) to Omar Vizquel.  

But anecdotally, Amed was credited by many pundits with much improved defense in the second half of his 3rd season in 2019 when, remember, he was still just 23 years old.   To keep that age in perspective, Pete Alonso made his major league debut at age 24, 111 days.  Amed could turn out to be a solid defensive SS as he gets a bit older.

Let's go one step further in comparisons...99+% HOF Derek Jeter at age 21-23 vs. Amed Rosario age 21-23?  

Edge to Jeter, but Amed is not that far behind in that time frame offensively, and remember that Amed has the Citifield hitting woes that should be fixable.  

Defensively, Jeter stunk in his career and Rosario could well turn out to be a lot better with the glove.

All to say:

Why can't the oft-criticized Amed Rosario be on a Hall of Fame trajectory too?  One factor decidedly in his favor in that regard is that guys that miss the Hall of Fame (think Keith Hernandez, for one) often fail in that regard because they don't play long enough.  Amed already has had 1,417 career plate appearances through age 23.  Jake deGrom?  By the time his major league career started, Rosario will have completed 5 years.  A huge head start on Jake, if Amed can continue his upward trajectory over the next 2 seasons.

So I ask you Mets fans: 

Is this a good time to get off Amed Rosario's back?

And realize we ought to start backing him like he is a possible future Hall of Famer?   

There is a possibility that Rosario could become the first home grown Mets offensive Hall of Famer EVER.

So, forget about you critics - I will be ROOTING for Rosario in 2020 as if he is in fact on a HOF trajectory.

P.S.  My wife's cousin's son Tommy, 42, father of 4, passed away suddenly and tragically recently.  He and I were quite close - and he was a big Mets fan.  Great guy - always upbeat, always smiling.

He coached his son's baseball teams, one of which was named the Bulldogs.  

He got buried in a small cemetery where, no more than 200 feet away from his plot, is a school, and the school's team sign:

"Home of the BULLDOGS."  Yep, the team he coached.

The kids made the following sign out of plastic cups stuck in the baseball fence, honoring him at a nearby ball park where they used to play and he used to manage them:

Don't take life for granted.  He embraced life.  So should we all.