Every sport has a pinnacle for individual success, and nothing cements lifetime achievements quite as much as a spot in the hall of fame.
Baseball fans and Michigan sports betting sites know only a select few will land a spot in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
The 2023 MLB Hall of Fame ceremony is on July 23, with Fred McGriff and Scott Rolen being inducted.
It has been a while since any Detroit Tigers have been inducted, with Alan Trammell, who retired in 1996, being the most recent to get the call.
Detroit also hasn’t won a World Series since 1984, the most recent of its four overall titles. Don’t figure on that drought ending this year, as BetMGM Michigan Sportsbook has the Tigers near the bottom of MLB with +50000 odds to win the World Series.
However, as BetMichigan.com recently found out, it appears the Tigers should add to their Hall of Fame list in the coming years.
Three very strong candidates who spent much of their careers in Detroit are inching closer and closer to retirement. MLB Players must have played at least 10 seasons in the league and need to have been retired for five years before they are eligible for Hall of Fame induction.
Players such as David Wright, Dustin Pedroia, CC Sabathia and Troy Tulowitzki will be eligible in the next couple of years, along with many other strong names who recently retired and are biding their time.
In addition to those players, current Detroit Tiger Miguel Cabrera seems to be a shoo-in, as are former Tigers pitchers Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, both now with the Mets.
With the Hall of Fame induction ceremony fast approaching and Detroit itching to see one of its own named to the Hall, BetMichigan.com decided to utilize Baseball-Reference.com’s Hall of Fame Monitor stat to see how likely it is that these former Tigers get the call.
Using the statistic’s scale, 100 means there is a good possibility for induction while anything over 130 is a virtual cinch.
Most Likely Active Hall of Famers
Here is analysis you won’t find on the many Michigan sports betting apps.
Cabrera Is a Lock for Cooperstown
No current player is more certain to be a Hall of Famer five years after retirement than Cabrera. Cabrera has spent most of his career with the Tigers and has 508 career home runs. He has 12 seasons with at least 100 RBI, including 11 in a row at one point in his career. His best years came in 2012 and 2013 when he won the AL MVP award. Cabrera will retire as a no doubt future Hall of Famer.
A trio of dominant pitchers follow Cabrera on the list, including the two former Tigers. Verlander, Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw have nine combined Cy Youngs and two MVP trophies to go along with a bevy of All-Star Game appearances.
Verlander spent the first 12 years of his career in Detroit, winning a rookie of the year trophy, a Cy Young and an AL MVP. After a slight dip in his play as his time in Detroit came to a close, Verlander had a resurgence with the Astros, winning two Cy Young awards and two World Series.
Verlander parlayed that success into a two-year, $86.67 million contract with the Mets. Verlander has yet to find the same level of success in New York. At his age, he is unlikely to get back to that form.
Scherzer is making the same amount of money per year as Verlander with the Mets; he is in the second year of a three-year, $130 million pact. He has eight wins on the year, but his 3.99 ERA is the highest he’s had since 2011.
Scherzer spent five years in Detroit, winning the Cy Young award in 2013. He signed with the Washington Nationals in 2015 and won the World Series there in 2019. He since has played for the Dodgers and Mets.
While Cabrera, Verlander and Scherzer are no longer in their prime, all of them put up iron-clad Hall of Fame cases with several strong years in Detroit being a major part of their careers.
There is no doubt that someday soon Detroit fans will be seeing three more Tigers inducted into the Hall.
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