JAWS and the 2026 Corridor of Fame Poll: Bobby Abreu, Torii Hunter, and Jimmy Rollins

The next article is a part of Jay Jaffe’s ongoing take a look at the candidates on the BBWAA 2026 Corridor of Fame poll. For an in depth introduction to this yr’s poll, and different candidates within the collection, use the software above; an introduction to JAWS could be discovered right here. For a tentative schedule and an opportunity to fill out a Corridor of Fame poll for our crowdsourcing venture, see right here. All WAR figures consult with the Baseball Reference model until in any other case indicated.

For the previous a number of election cycles, as a method of finishing my protection of the key candidates earlier than the December 31 voting deadline, I’ve grouped collectively some candidates right into a single overview, inviting readers wishing to (re)familiarize themselves with the specifics of their instances to take a look at older profiles that don’t require a full re-working as a result of little or no has modified, even close to their voting shares. This yr, I’m including Bobby Abreu — a candidate for whom I’ve voted 5 occasions to date and intend to incorporate once more — to a pair I’ve but to incorporate on my ballots.

Earlier than Joe Mauer started starring for the Twins, there was Torii Hunter. Earlier than Chase Utley started starring for the Phillies, they’d Abreu and Jimmy Rollins. Hunter, a rangy, acrobatic middle fielder who ultimately received 9 Gold Gloves and made 5 All-Star groups, debuted with Minnesota in 1997 and emerged as a star in 2001, the identical yr the Twins selected Mauer with the primary choose of the draft. The pair would play collectively from 2004 to ’07, making the playoffs twice earlier than Hunter departed in free company. Abreu, a five-tool participant with dazzling pace, a candy left-handed stroke, energy, and excellent plate self-discipline, rapidly blossomed upon being traded to the Phillies in November 1997. However even whereas hitting a minimum of 20 homers, stealing a minimum of 20 bases, and batting above .300, recognition largely eluded him till he made All-Star groups in 2004 and ’05. Rollins, a compact shortstop who carried himself with a swagger, debuted in 2001 and made two All-Star groups earlier than he and Utley started an 11-year run (2004–14) because the Phillies’ common double play mixture. By the point the pair of center infielders helped Philadelphia to 5 NL East titles, two pennants, and a championship — with Rollins successful NL MVP honors in 2007 and taking dwelling 4 Gold Gloves — Abreu was gone, traded to the Yankees in mid-2006.

All three gamers loved prolonged and spectacular careers, racking up over 2,400 hits apiece with substantial dwelling run and stolen base totals. From a Corridor of Fame perspective, Rollins and Hunter have credentials that enchantment extra to historically minded voters than to statheads — significantly their Gold Gloves — whereas Abreu, regardless of half a dozen .300 seasons and eight with a minimum of 100 RBI, was a stathead favourite. Regardless, they’ve all spent years languishing on the poll. Hunter debuted with 9.5% in 2021 however has but to match that since, scraping by in 2025 with simply 5.1%; one fewer vote and he’d have been got rid of the poll. Rollins debuted with 9.4% in 2022 and has gained roughly two or three factors in every cycle since, with 18% in ’25. Abreu barely made the reduce with simply 5.5% in his 2020 debut, and since then has alternated small features and losses; he acquired 19.5% in 2025.

Electorally talking, Mauer left Hunter within the mud, as he was elected in January 2024, and Utley is threatening to do the identical to his former teammates; he debuted with 28.8% in 2024 and climbed to 39.8% in ’25, greater than Rollins’ and Abreu’s shares mixed. The 2 ex-Phillies are prone to persist on the poll for awhile, with sufficient assist for us to maintain reliving their careers and discussing their deserves on an annual foundation. We’ll see if Hunter can cling on as properly.

Torii Hunter (5.1% in 2025)

From the 2023 profile intro:

Torii Hunter may go get it. Fluid and sleek whereas patrolling middle subject, he was famend for his leaping, acrobatic catches and his willingness to sacrifice his physique. He made a powerful sufficient impression upon those that watched him that he received 9 Gold Gloves throughout his 19-year profession, greater than all however three middle fielders, specifically Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., and Andruw Jones. Hunter earned the nickname “Spider-Man” for his means to climb outfield partitions to steal dwelling runs — one thing he did extra than simply about anyone else throughout his profession — although one try to take action at Fenway Park left him with a damaged ankle, and one other a concussion.

“I’ll do something to get that little white ball. I’ll put my life on the road,” Hunter advised Sports activities Illustrated’s Albert Chen in 2005, sounding very very like the soccer participant he was throughout his highschool days in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Hunter rose from troublesome circumstances in Pine Bluff, together with a father who was hooked on crack cocaine and buddies who fell into the dead-end life of medicine, weapons, and gangs. His athleticism helped him escape, although when he entered skilled baseball as a first-round choose of the Twins in 1993, his expertise was extra uncooked than most.

The event of Hunter’s bat lagged behind his glove early in his profession, however ultimately he improved to turned an above-average hitter with a number of dimensions to his sport. From 2001-13, he averaged 23 homers and 13 steals per yr whereas hitting for a 115 OPS+, delighting followers along with his penchant for the spectacular play, and gaining a popularity throughout the sport for being a vocal clubhouse chief. In that span, he made 5 All-Star groups and helped the Twins, Angels, and Tigers to the playoffs eight occasions, although he by no means received additional than the American League Championship Sequence with any of them.

Extra right here.

Jimmy Rollins (18% in 2025)

From the 2023 profile intro:

Few gamers have ever been extra central to the Phillies than Jimmy Rollins. In reality, aside from Mike Schmidt, no participant spent extra time in a Phillies uniform than Rollins, and even counting the Corridor of Fame third baseman, none collected extra hits or stole extra bases. The pint-sized shortstop — 5-foot-7, 175 kilos in keeping with Baseball Reference — spent 15 of his 17 main league seasons with Philadelphia, the place he was on the middle of the group’s return to competition following a slide into irrelevance on the outset of the Wild Card period.

Rollins was the beginning shortstop on the Phillies’ 5 straight NL East champions from 2007-11, together with their ’08 World Sequence successful squad — simply the second in franchise historical past — and ’09 pennant winner. A slick fielder who provided pace and pop from either side of the plate atop the lineup, he garnered the nickname “J-Roll” from legendary Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas. J-Roll projected a confidence that bordered on cockiness, and carried himself with a swagger. “We’re the group to beat,” he mentioned on the outset of the 2007 season, all however thumbing his nostril on the reigning NL East champion Mets, who had outdistanced the Phillies by 12 video games.

After dropping their first three video games and 10 of their first 13 to begin the 2007 season — together with two out of three at Shea Stadium, the place he was booed lustily by New York followers — the Phillies didn’t spend a day in first place till September 27, after they tied the Mets with three video games remaining. Whereas they took two out of three from the Nationals, the Mets dropped two of three from the Marlins. Not solely was Philadelphia again within the playoffs after a 14-year absence, setting off a run throughout which the group turned simply the fifth to win 5 straight division titles, however Rollins took dwelling NL MVP (Most Precious Prognosticator) honors. A yr later, he added a World Sequence ring to a set that additionally grew to incorporate 4 Gold Gloves.

Extra right here.

Bobby Abreu (19.5% in 2025)

From the 2025 profile intro:

Bobby Abreu may do nearly all the things. A five-tool participant with dazzling pace, a candy left-handed stroke, and sufficient energy to win a Dwelling Run Derby, he was additionally one of many sport’s most affected person, disciplined hitters, in a position to put on down a pitcher and unafraid to hit with two strikes. Whereas routinely reaching the standard seasonal plateaus that are likely to get observed — a .300 batting common (six occasions), 20 homers (9 occasions), 30 steals (six occasions), 100 runs scored and batted in (eight occasions apiece) — he was nonetheless a stathead favourite for his means to take a stroll (100 or extra eight years in a row) and his excessive on-base percentages (.400 or higher eight occasions). And he was sturdy, taking part in 151 video games or extra in 13 straight seasons. “To me, Bobby’s Tony Gwynn with energy,” mentioned Phillies hitting coach Hal McRae in 1999.

“Bobby was method forward of his time [with] regards to working pitchers,” mentioned his former supervisor Larry Bowa when presenting him for induction into the Phillies Wall of Fame in 2019. “In an period when guys had been swinging for the fences, Bobby by no means strayed from his sport. Due to his pace, a stroll would flip right into a double. He was cool beneath strain, and at all times answerable for his at-bats. He was the very best mixture of energy, pace, and persistence on the plate.”

The one factor Abreu couldn’t appear to do was achieve full appreciation for his broad set of presents. Regardless of sufficient promise to land on Baseball America’s Prime 100 Prospects checklist 4 occasions, his first two groups, the Astros and Rays, bought unfathomably low on him. On the recommendation of Ed Wade, who was about to exchange him because the Phillies’ normal supervisor, Lee Thomas scored fairly a coup in buying Abreu simply earlier than he turned 24. He excelled perennially, however the core of gamers that Wade and the Phillies amassed — a few of whom would ultimately assist Philadelphia dominate the NL East — didn’t jell throughout Abreu’s tenure with the group, and so he toiled in semi-obscurity.

From 1998, his first yr as a daily in Philadelphia, to 2004, Abreu was the sport’s fifth- or sixth-most invaluable participant in keeping with the 2 flavors of WAR, behind solely Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Todd Helton (through B-Ref), Andruw Jones, and teammate Scott Rolen. But not till the final of these seasons, his age-30 marketing campaign, did Abreu make his first All-Star group. He made simply two throughout his 18 seasons and received a single Gold Glove, albeit solely after his fielding took a flip for the more severe.

Extra right here.