Blue Jays on the Ballot: Mark Buehrle
While we've discussed at length the three former Blue Jays to debut on the Hall of Fame ballot this year - Curtis Granderson, Russell Martin, and Troy Tulowitzki, - and their chances are remaining on it past this year, we haven't yet talked about the former pitcher who is entering his 5th year on the ballot: Mark Buerhle.
Buehrle spent the final three seasons of his career in a Blue Jays uniform after coming over in a blockbuster deal from the Miami Marlins that saw Josh Johnson, John Buck, Jose Reyes, and Emilio Bonifacio head north with Buehrle, while Henderson Alvarez, Adeiny Hechevarria, Jeff Mathis, Yunel Escobar, Jake Marisnick, and Justin Nicolino were shipped off to Miami.
Interestingly enough, Buerhle wasn't the target of former GM Alex Anthopolous. Josh Johnson was. It's a good thing Buerhle was included because JJ's season was a disaster.
While Buehrle's time in a Blue Jays uniform may not have been as memorable as the time he spent with the Chicago White Sox, there were several highlights.
He continued his trend of throwing 200 innings or more in a season, finishing with 14 consecutive season before falling just 1 1/3 inning short in 2015.
After finishing 2013 as a gold glove finalist - in which he lost to teammate R.A. Dickey - Buehrle began 2014 strong, starting off the year 4-0 with a 0.69 ERA.
He eventually became the first big league pitcher to reach double digits in wins that season and was elected to his fifth and final All-Star Game.
In 2015, in his first start of the year, he recorded his 200th win, which at the time, put him in league with Bartolo Colon, Tim Hudson, and CC Sabathia, as the only active pitchers with 200 wins.
He was also only the pitcher to reach the milestone in a Blue Jays uniform. The first was Roger Clemens.
Later that same year, he recorded his 30th career win against the Minnesota Twins, becoming the 21st pitcher since 1961 to have 30 or more wins against a single team.
His arm gave out on him towards the end of the season, and he ended up being left off that legendary post-season roster before ultimately retiring.
While he may not have a Cy Young Award or the hardware of his contemporaries, Buerhle was Mr. Reliable over the course of his career, through a perfect game, no-hitter, has four gold gloves, a world series ring, five all star appearances, and his number 56 is retired by the White Sox.
This is Buerhle's fifth year on the ballot, and while he has survived each of his first four attempts, he is going to need a lot of help should he get elected to Cooperstown one day. Buehrle's highest vote total actually came in 2021, his first year on the ballot, where he received 11% of the vote.
He barely the subsequent ballot as his total fell to 5.8% in 2022 before shooting back up to 10.8% in 2023. Last year, he fell again, though not as much, and received just 8.3% of the vote.
The most comparable person to Buehrle on the ballot is Andy Pettitte, who last year got about 5% more votes than Buerhle, but also has one less year remaining. The last starting pitcher selected to the Hall were Roy Halladay and Mike Mussina, who were both elected in 2019.
While CC Sabathia is likely to get in this year, it will be a years until we see another, not until the quartet of Kershaw, Verlander, Scherzer, and Grienke become eligible.
With several names coming off the ballot - either due to getting elected or using up all their eligibility - within the next couple of years, and with the 2026 debut class being relatively weak, the next couple of tries will be key for Buerhle.
And while he still has a long, long way to go, an eventual election to baseball's most hallowed institution is not out of the question. Just look at Larry Walker and Andruw Jones as evidence of how far players can rise. Buehrle can do it, but he will need a lot of help.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 4 | 111 ANSWERS Blue Jays on the Ballot: Mark Buehrle What will Mark Buehrle's fate be? | ||
| He will fall off this year | 24 | 21.6 % |
| He will fall off in a subsequent election | 13 | 11.7 % |
| He will use up all 10 years and not get elected | 35 | 31.5 % |
| He will eventually get elected | 39 | 35.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
