Jeff Kent

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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Jeff Kent

2020 Hall of Fame Ballot Series: Jeff Kent

Five facts about Jeff Kent:

Jeff Kent was named to five All-Star teams and received MVP votes seven times.

Kent won the National League MVP award in 2000. That season, Kent batted .334/.424/.596 with 41 doubles, 33 home runs, 125 RBI, and 114 runs scored.

Kent hit 20 or more home runs twelve times in his career, including nine consecutive seasons from 1997 through 2005.

Kent had 100 or more RBI eight times in his career, the first six consecutively from 1997 through 2002. This is the longest streak of 100-RBI seasons by a second baseman in major-league history.

Kent hit 377 career home runs, 351 of them as a second baseman. This is the most home runs hit by a second baseman in major-league history.

The first two tables below present Jeff Kent's career as measured by Player won-lost records, in and out of context.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWORL	pWOPA

Basic Player Won-Lost Records
						Value Decomposition
+– 1992		24	102	9.8	9.6	1.1	0.2
	NYN		37	3.7	3.3	0.8	0.4
	TOR		65	6.0	6.2	0.4	-0.2
1993	NYN	25	140	16.1	17.9	0.0	-1.6
1994	NYN	26	107	14.8	12.7	3.6	2.2
1995	NYN	27	125	15.2	15.6	1.3	-0.2
+– 1996		28	127	13.6	13.2	1.2	-0.1
	CLE		38	3.2	2.9	0.5	0.2
	NYN		89	10.4	10.3	0.7	-0.3
1997	SFN	29	155	21.4	18.2	5.3	3.3
1998	SFN	30	137	20.7	16.7	6.0	4.1
1999	SFN	31	138	18.1	15.1	4.7	3.1
2000	SFN	32	159	22.6	16.4	8.3	6.4
2001	SFN	33	159	21.4	17.2	6.1	4.1
2002	SFN	34	152	23.9	17.3	8.8	6.8
2003	HOU	35	130	18.5	16.6	3.8	2.1
2004	HOU	36	145	20.1	16.9	5.1	3.3
2005	LAN	37	149	21.2	18.7	4.2	2.4
2006	LAN	38	115	14.1	12.9	2.6	1.3
2007	LAN	39	136	16.6	16.7	1.5	-0.0
2008	LAN	40	121	13.3	14.5	0.2	-1.1
			------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			2,297	301.3	266.1	63.9	36.3
			------	------	------	------	------
PostSeason (career)			49	5.4	4.8	1.2	0.7
			------	------	------	------	------
COMBINED			2,346	306.7	270.9	65.1	37.0

Season	Team	Age	Games	eWins	eLosses	eWORL	eWOPA

Expected Player Won-Lost Records
						Value Decomposition
+– 1992		24	102	9.9	9.4	1.4	0.5
	NYN		37	3.6	3.5	0.5	0.2
	TOR		65	6.3	5.9	0.9	0.4
1993	NYN	25	140	17.0	17.1	1.7	0.0
1994	NYN	26	107	14.6	12.8	3.2	1.9
1995	NYN	27	125	15.9	14.8	2.9	1.4
+– 1996		28	127	13.8	13.0	1.7	0.3
	CLE		38	3.1	3.0	0.4	0.1
	NYN		89	10.7	10.1	1.3	0.3
1997	SFN	29	155	20.6	18.9	3.8	1.9
1998	SFN	30	137	20.6	16.9	5.9	4.0
1999	SFN	31	138	17.5	15.6	3.7	2.0
2000	SFN	32	159	22.0	17.0	6.8	4.9
2001	SFN	33	159	21.1	17.6	5.4	3.4
2002	SFN	34	152	22.9	18.2	6.9	4.8
2003	HOU	35	130	18.1	16.9	3.2	1.5
2004	HOU	36	145	19.0	18.0	3.2	1.3
2005	LAN	37	149	21.6	18.3	5.1	3.3
2006	LAN	38	115	14.0	13.0	2.3	1.0
2007	LAN	39	136	17.2	16.2	2.5	1.0
2008	LAN	40	121	13.4	14.4	0.5	-0.8
			------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			2,297	299.2	268.2	60.1	32.4
			------	------	------	------	------
PostSeason (career)			49	5.3	4.8	1.0	0.5
			------	------	------	------	------
COMBINED			2,346	304.5	273.0	61.1	33.0

This is Jeff Kent's seventh year on the Hall-of-Fame ballot. I have been writing articles about Hall-of-Fame candidates since 2013 - the year before Jeff Kent first appeared on the ballot (in 2014). Much of these earlier articles are somewhat obsolete due to changes to my Player won-lost records over time. But, for the sake of posterity, these old articles are linked at the end of my general article on Player won-lost records and the Hall of Fame.

Vote Prediction

Jeff Kent has appeared on six previous Hall-of-Fame ballots. His vote totals have tended to be quite stable, ranging from 61 to 87 votes and from 14.0% to 18.1%. The 18.1% was last year, when he received 77 total votes, 16 more votes than in the previous year (14.5%). In addition to gaining 16 votes, Kent was also named by 10 voters as a player who they would have voted for but for the 10-player voting limit. Kent was the third-most frequently cited ballot-cap casualty.

There is some evidence, then, that Jeff Kent could see a significant increase in votes this year. I'll be a bit optimistic (for Kent) and guess that his gain this year will double his gain from last year, which would take him from 18.1% to 25.3%.

Player Won-Lost Records and Jeff Kent

Jeff Kent had a better career than you probably think he did.

I have calculated Player won-lost records back to 1919 - so, over the past 100 years. There are approximately 130 non-pitchers who were elected for their play in the (white or integrated) major leagues over this time period. Dividing by 8 fielding positions (and recognizing that there are, of course, a number of future Hall-of-Famers not included in that 130 simply because they haven't been elected yet - or, in some cases, haven't even retired yet) that means that, broadly speaking, the top 15-20 players over the past 100 years at each position have at least some Hall-of-Fame case.

Let's start, then, with the top 20 second basemen for whom I have calculated Player won-lost records.


Top Second Basemen, eWOPA
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins
1	Joe L. Morgan	357.9	294.7	70.1
2	Rogers Hornsby	246.3	181.3	65.6
3	Charlie Gehringer	308.0	264.7	46.5
4	Lou Whitaker	290.6	261.6	38.7
5	Bobby Grich	220.7	191.8	36.6
6	Ryne Sandberg	270.5	237.7	35.2
7	Chase Utley	226.2	196.1	30.6
8	Joe Gordon	205.7	177.9	30.5
9	Bobby Doerr	253.3	226.8	30.1
10	Roberto Alomar	305.0	282.9	29.3
11	Jeff Kent	269.7	242.9	29.2
12	Robinson Cano	269.6	248.5	26.8
13	Jackie Robinson	109.8	85.0	26.1
14	Craig Biggio	266.3	242.8	25.9
15	Willie Randolph	266.0	249.9	25.0
16	Max Bishop	161.0	139.4	22.6
17	Eddie Collins Sr.	213.4	191.7	22.6
18	Frankie Frisch	249.0	228.7	21.8
19	Billy Herman	249.8	232.4	20.7
20	Tony Lazzeri	190.4	172.2	20.1

There's Jeff Kent!

Of course, one can't simply limit one's Hall-of-Fame evaluation to rankings within one particular position - if for no other reason than some players played multiple positions over their careers.

One can shift, then, to comparing Jeff Kent to all of his baseball contemporaries, across all positions.

Jeff Kent had a 10-year prime, 1997 - 2006, over which he was named to five All-Star teams, received MVP votes seven times, and had an average seasonal batting line of .295/.367/.525 with 38 doubles, 27 home runs, 106 RBI, and 90 runs scored - excellent offensive numbers in general (even for that era), but even more impressive for a middle infielder.

The next table, then, shows the top 20 players in pWins over positional average and replacement level over this 10-year period.


		pWins over Positional Average Top 20 Players						pWins over Replacement Level Top 20 Players
	Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
1	Barry Bonds	205.0	123.2	73.9	90.2	1	Barry Bonds	205.0	123.2	73.9	90.2
2	Pedro J. Martinez	138.2	87.0	55.5	70.7	2	Alex Rodriguez	218.4	173.0	51.5	70.7
3	Alex Rodriguez	218.4	173.0	51.5	70.7	3	Pedro J. Martinez	138.2	87.0	55.5	70.7
4	Derek Jeter	215.4	175.4	49.4	68.6	4	Derek Jeter	215.4	175.4	49.4	68.6
5	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	156.4	115.7	48.7	66.5	5	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	156.4	115.7	48.7	66.5
6	Chipper Jones	201.2	150.6	44.6	61.9	6	Chipper Jones	201.2	150.6	44.6	61.9
7	Jim Edmonds	185.4	137.2	44.6	60.5	7	Andruw Jones	224.6	176.7	41.8	61.5
8	Andruw Jones	224.6	176.7	41.8	61.5	8	Jim Edmonds	185.4	137.2	44.6	60.5
9	Roger Clemens	136.1	98.3	41.7	57.6	9	Manny Ramirez	203.7	156.5	39.5	57.9
10	Curt Schilling	141.3	109.1	40.4	56.6	10	Roger Clemens	136.1	98.3	41.7	57.6
11	Manny Ramirez	203.7	156.5	39.5	57.9	11	Curt Schilling	141.3	109.1	40.4	56.6
12	Albert Pujols	136.3	90.7	37.7	48.9	12	Jeff Kent	201.9	166.0	36.9	54.9
13	Jason Giambi	167.1	120.6	37.5	52.9	13	Jason Giambi	167.1	120.6	37.5	52.9
14	Mariano Rivera	72.5	33.5	37.0	47.1	14	Greg Maddux	147.1	122.4	35.4	52.3
15	Jeff Kent	201.9	166.0	36.9	54.9	15	Miguel Tejada	196.4	172.3	32.8	50.9
16	Greg Maddux	147.1	122.4	35.4	52.3	16	Gary Sheffield	190.4	148.7	32.0	48.9
17	Miguel Tejada	196.4	172.3	32.8	50.9	17	Albert Pujols	136.3	90.7	37.7	48.9
18	John Smoltz	99.8	71.3	32.6	44.6	18	Scott Rolen	185.3	149.0	32.3	48.7
19	Scott Rolen	185.3	149.0	32.3	48.7	19	Mariano Rivera	72.5	33.5	37.0	47.1
20	Gary Sheffield	190.4	148.7	32.0	48.9	20	Bobby Abreu	205.4	165.1	28.5	46.7

He's not a slam-dunk, obvious Hall-of-Famer. But given the size and composition of the real Baseball Hall of Fame, Jeff Kent is a worthy candidate.

Article last updated: December 8, 2019

2020 Hall of Fame Ballot Series

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