Congratulations Jeff Kent, now elect the guy the NY Mets traded away for him

Jeff Kent was the only player to get elected into Cooperstown by the era committee with 14 of the 16 voters saying he belongs in the Hall of Fame. 12 is the number. Carlos Delgado was the next closest with 9 votes. We almost had a very New York Mets Hall of Fame next year with Carlos Beltran a candidate on the main ballot this year.

Kent’s going in overdue and our attention immediately goes toward others. If Don Mattingly was elected, Keith Hernandez would need to be rushed in.

A player not included on this era committee ballot who easily could have is, ironically enough, the player the Mets traded away for Jeff Kent in 1992. The Toronto Blue Jays had dreams of a championship and they went after Mets starting pitcher David Cone. Only on the ballot once in 2009 and receiving less than 4% of the vote, Cone has every box checked off of what makes a Hall of Famer. Why the snub?

If David Cone can get into the Hall of Fame, the 1992 trade by the Mets becomes more unique

Two future Hall of Fame players swapped for one another is unique especially when one is so early in his career (Kent) and the other has been a good pitcher still yet to build up his credentials.

Cone won the 1994 Cy Young and was a contender several other times in his career. He had championships with the Blue Jays and later the New York Yankees. While in the Bronx, Cone may have put his largest stamp of all on a Hall of Fame career. Helping the case of a “fringe” HOF player, his perfect game helps separate him from others even if those can be fluky.

Why no Cooperstown? 194 wins is just shy of the 200 milestone. Ranking 27th all-time in strikeouts, it can’t be his somewhat inflated 3.46 ERA that had voters passing over him, could it? Through 1997, it was at 3.13. Only in those final years with the Yankees did it ascend. Considering he won three World Series in those final years and finished fourth and sixth in the Cy Young race while seeing his career ERA go up, we can’t really hold it against him.

Cone may, in part, suffer from a disease plaguing many well-traveled players. For some reason, it seems like players with no individual team identity take longer to get in. Billy Wagner is a great example who overcame it. What about Curt Schilling, Tommy John, or any other player we don’t immediately identify as a representative of a single team. Even Hernandez seems to have meant almost as much to the Mets as he did to the St. Louis Cardinals.

His career included parts of 7 seasons with the Mets, 6 with the Yankees, and parts of 6 more with three different teams. Cone would have to wear a Yankees cap into the Hall of Fame even if his overall numbers were better early on with the Mets. He works for the Yankees, but the groundwork of his career took place with the Mets. Overlooked on the Hall of Fame ballot previously, maybe one day we will get him in and a trade deadline deal from August of 1992 suddenly becomes a deal about one Hall of Famer for another.