Could Brian McCann be next Atlanta Braves player in Hall of Fame?

With the Hall of Fame induction ceremony taking place this weekend, we look at who could be the next Atlanta Braves player to enter.

The Atlanta Braves have had a great run of success in the Hall of Fame lately. Bobby Cox, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, John Schuerholz, and Chipper Jones have all entered in the past 10 years.

And while I’m still boycotting the MLB Hall of Fame until they put Andruw Jones in, I can’t help but think about who will actually be the next Braves player to get in.

There are two players that come to mind who could possibly make the Hall of Fame one day and go in as a Brave.

The first one that came to my mind is Craig Kimbrel.

In the end, I think he’ll be a lock for the Hall of Fame and go down as one of the five best closers of all-time.

The question then becomes, what hat does he wear?

He’s now spent just as many years in the big leagues not as a Braves than he has with the Atlanta Braves.

But still, his best seasons came with the Atlanta Braves. From 2011-2014 he made four straight All-Star appearances with the Braves and led the league in saves all four seasons.

In 2012 and 2013 he finished in the top five for the Cy Young.

While he’s still been great since leaving the Atlanta Braves, there is no question that his most dominant years came in Atlanta.

However, he did win a World Series with the Red Sox. And he’s going to spend at least three seasons with the Cubs.

I still think he should go in wearing a Braves cap, but there is just as a good a chance that he goes in with no logo.

The case for Brian McCann

If Brian McCann does go into the Hall of Fame, it will definitely be in a Braves hat as he’s now spent 10 seasons in Atlanta.

But, at this point, McCann probably doesn’t have Hall of Fame numbers — even though I think he could be a Hall of Fame catcher.

What’s really hurting McCann’s case is that he doesn’t have any huge awards. His highest finish in the MVP vote was 21, and he’s never won a Gold Glove.

But from 2006-2011 you could argue he was the best offensive catcher in all of baseball with five Silver Slugger awards over that stretch.

At 278 career home runs, it would help his case to get over 300. And to do that he’d probably need to play at least another season or two.

He also has a career WAR of 32.1 according to Baseball Reference, which is probably about 20 points below where it needs to be for him to be considered a Hall of Fame player.

If I’m being honest, Brian McCann isn’t a Hall of Fame player. Maybe if he played five more seasons and started 100-120 games a year, but it’s hard to do that these days without the help of steroids (cough, Ivan Rodriguez … cough, cough, Mike Piazza).

I do think the Atlanta Braves bring him back for next season. And then maybe he can play a couple of more seasons as a DH in the American League if he wants.

But still, that would be a long shot. And I’m not sure Kimbrel goes in with a Braves hat when he does get in.

With that, I go back to beating the drum for the greatest defensive center fielder of all-time. PUT ANDRUW JONES IN THE HALL OF FAME!