Gary Sheffield or Mark Buehrle, will either Marlin make the Hall of Fame?

Mark Buehrle:

Marlin fans may choose to forget the one disastrous season Buehrle spent in Miami. It was a low point for the franchise. They tried to buy their way to the MLB’s mountain top, but found themselves languishing in baseball’s basement. After a horrible 69-win season (of which Buehrle accounted for just 13), the Marlins bailed on Buehrle, shipping him to Toronto with other cast offs like Josh Johnson and Jose Reyes. Buehrle wasn’t happy and he’d rather forget his time in South Beach too, but at least he won a Gold Glove; that’s worth it. Right?

Regardless of what we may think about Buehrle, he has survived two years on a ballot which has swallowed players more notable than himself. Players need to receive at least 5% of the vote if they want to stay on the ballot. Buerhle’s done that, but his time may soon come to an end. He earned 11% of the vote in his first year, but fell to just 5.8% in last year’s election. Does he have the numbers to make a surprise run?

Big-Buehrle is a five-time All-Star, a four-time Gold Glove winner, and a World Series champion in 2005. Accolades aside, I don’t think Buehrle has the numbers to survive this year’s ballot, let alone earn induction. His ERA would be better than only one HOF pitcher, Jack Morris.

If we use Morris as our measuring stick, considering he is the bottom of the Cooperstown barrel, Buehrle still doesn’t stack up. Buerhle has a marginally better ERA, but Morris has more wins, more strikeouts, more shutouts and two more World Series trophies (Morris was the Series MVP in 1991). Buehrle can’t hang with Jack Morris, Cooperstown’s worst statistical pitcher, and Morris wasn’t even elected by the voters (he made it in on the 2018 Veterans Committee).

It may sound like I’m punishing Buehrle for what he represents in Marlins’ history. I’m not. He doesn’t have what it takes to make the Hall of Fame, and that’s simple. Will he survive to see another ballot? I wouldn’t count on it.