[BirdWatcher]

So here we are in the midst of the 10th season of the WPK and I find myself looking forward to the possible first several Hall of Fame inductions and wondering which of the first wave WPK'ers (players chosen in the inaugural draft who played in the WPK from season 1 (1965)) might merit a place in the Hall.

Now I should say that I haven't exactly decided when the WPK Hall of Fame will be opening and when the first inductees will be enshrined. And it is too early, ten seasons in, to have any firm knowledge of who might qualify.
But some good guesses can start to be made at this point.

Last night I found myself looking at a handful of the most likely candidates (particularly based upon career WAR numbers) and put their careers thus far through the Bill James Hall of Fame Monitor calculations to see how they might measure up.

And the way things look right now it seems clear that starting pitchers Cheol-han Lee and Jake Harris are near locks for the Hall.
While the Brewers Cheol-han has a bit of a lead in WAR over Harris, it is Harris who has the best total in the HOF Monitor calculations, at 138. And actually, it is surely a bit higher than that as I didn't quite dig deep enough to see how many World Series starts or wins he has. Cheol-han was next at 124 1/2. Interestingly the 3rd member of the so-called Big 3 among WPK aces, Chris Hernandez, is sitting at a somewhat underwhelming 78. Given that Hernandez is the oldest of the 3 and showing signs of decline with age, my guess is that he won't quite make the Hall.
Cheol-han is the youngest of the 3 and considered an Iron Man and has shown almost no sign of degradation of skills. So his number will surely grow and he's nearly into sure thing territory as it is.
It will be interesting to see what happens with Jose Santos, the veteran ace of the L.A. Spinners. At the moment his HOF Monitor score sits at 68 but even though he is a bit older than Cheol-han he also remains a durable and valuable pitcher on a very talented team and still has time to raise his total closer to the expected HOF value. In addition, Santos is one of the most revered players in the WPK and this will likely add to his HOF chances if he is on the fence in terms of statistical credentials.

As for position players, I was a bit surprised to find that the speedy Brooklyn centerfielder Felix Lopez had the highest total at 177. Lopez is in his early 30's now and showing some signs of slowing down but still a fine hitter and valuable defender. It should be noted that he gets a big boost from currently having a lifetime batting average over .330 and there is surely no guarantee that will still be true by the time he retires. But even without those points, he is a sure HOF'er.
The next best total belonged to L.A. left fielder Travis Johnson at 159. Johnson also might lose his career .330+ batting average boost, but he is still a star player and there is little chance that he won't end up in the HOF.

Corner infielder Jesus Casiano, currently with the Jacksonville Wolf Pack, is the biggest power hitter among the likely 1st wave HOF'ers. With some good points coming from his RBI's and HR's, he totals 137 at this point and is surely headed towards eventual enshrinement.

Brewers outfielder Ryan Rodgers is at 116, but although he is 35 years old, he remains one of the best contact hitters in the game as well as a fine defender, and it is almost a sure thing that he will be voted into the Hall.

An interesting case is that of middle infielder Andy "Lemonhead" Wilson. Wilson was already in the prime of his career when the WPK formed and he was clearly the premiere superstar of the league in the early years. Wilson is now in serious decline and retirement looks to be on the near horizon. His HOF Monitor score is 110. HOF material, but on the low end of the spectrum in terms of being a sure thing. Still, my sense is that a WPK Hall of Fame without Andy Wilson would be a bit of a sham and he should end up safely enshrined as one of the WPK 1st wave greats.

I didn't get around to adding up the numbers for closer Jamel McNeil. But given that he is probably the reliever who all future WPK relievers will be measured against, I'm sure he's in as well.

Much can happen still and all of this is speculation, but given the evidence at hand it appears quite likely that the group above will be part of, if not the entirety of, the earliest WPK players to reach the pinnacle of success and earn their spot in the WPK Hall of Fame.