Would you vote for Bobby Abreu for the Baseball Hall of Fame?
The Baseball Writers Association of America has released the ballot for the 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame voting, so we are doing polls on the players on the list.
Today is rightfielder Bobby Abreu.
Bobby Abreu was originally signed out of Venezuela by the Houston Astros. He spent four years on Baseball America’s top 100 prospect list, and got a cup of coffee in 1996 and 59 games in the majors in 1997. The Astros opted to leave him unprotected in the expansion draft after the 1997 season, however, and was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays, who promptly traded him to the Philadelphia Phillies for Kevin Stocker.
Abreu immediately became not just a part of the Phillies’ regular lineup upon joining the team, but a consistent star level player. His first seven seasons with the Phillies, from 1998-2004, Abreu averaged 5.9 bWAR per season, never dropping below 5.2 bWAR, with a .308/.416/.525 slash line and an average of 23 homers and 29 stolen bases per season.
Abreu followed that stellar stretch up with a five year run as an above-average player, putting up bWARs ranging from 2.4 to 3.9 from 2005-09. The Phillies traded him to the New York Yankees in the middle of the 2006 season, and he signed with the Angels as a free agent after the 2008 season. After middling seasons in 2010 and 2011, Abreu was released by the Angels early in 2012, and joined the Los Angeles Dodgers for the remainder of the 2012 season. Abreu didn’t play in 2013, signed with the Phillies prior to the 2014 season, but was released at the end of spring training. He got picked up by the New York Mets, for whom he recorded 155 plate appearances in 78 games in his final season in the majors.
Abreu seemed to fly under the radar for much of his major league career, never finishing higher than 12th in the MVP balloting, being named to the All Star team just twice, and winning just one Silver Slugger award and one Gold Glove. His career bWAR of 60.2 is 20th all time among right fielders, slotting him between Gary Sheffield and Ichiro, and slightly ahead of Vlad Guerrero. His JAWS score puts him 22nd, between Dave Winfield and Vlad.
So, if you were a Hall of Fame voter this year, would you vote for Bobby Abreu?
Cast your vote below…