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FuzzyRussianHat · 06-15-2025, 08:26 AM

Tyler Sattler – Closer – Kansas City Cougars – 69.4% Third Ballot

Tyler Sattler was a 6’3’’, 200 pound right-handed relief pitcher from Jollyville, Texas; a neighborhood in northern Austin with around 16,000 people. Sattler had absolutely filthy stuff along with great movement and above average control. He had an impressive one-two punch of a 99-101 mph fastball and a slider. Sattler was especially strong against right-handed bats with a career 1.77 ERA, while his ERA was a respectable 2.67 versus lefties.

Sattler’s stamina and durability were quite good for a reliever. He graded as a good defensive pitcher with a decent pickoff move. Sattler wasn’t disruptive in the clubhouse, but he was very much a lone wolf and was considered selfish by some teammates.

Although known as a career reliever as a pro, Sattler was a starter from 2007-09 for the University of Memphis. Over 36 starts, Sattler had a 2.37 ERA, 22-9 record, 296.2 innings, 365 strikeouts, 72 walks, 138 ERA+, and 12.6 WAR. Despite those numbers, having only two pitches meant most teams projected Sattler as a closer. Still, Kansas City felt he could be a very high value closer, picking Sattler 11^th overall in the 2009 MLB Draft. Not only was it rare for a reliever to go so high, but even rarer for one to get a rookie deal beyond the scale, signing at $30,960,000 over his first four years.

Sattler was the closer right away for the Cougars, leading the National Association in 2011 with a career best 37 saves. In 2013, he had his best strikeout tally with 156. Sattler had four seasons above 4 WAR for KC and four times had an ERA below two. His best ERA was 0.99 in 2016, although he was used as a setup guy that year with only 45.1 innings. Sattler never won Reliever of the Year, but took second in 2011, third in 2013 and 2014, and second again in 2019.

Since their 1991 World Series win, Kansas City hadn’t been back to the playoffs. They broke the drought in 2014 with a surprise appearance in the NACS, although they lost to top seed St. Louis. Sattler was a beast in that playoff run with 11.2 scoreless innings, 18 strikeouts, and five saves. The Cougars narrowly missed the playoffs in 2015, then started a dynasty run in 2016 with five straight postseason trips.

Kansas City won the 2016 pennant, but fell to Charlotte in the World Series. Sattler was merely decent in his limited playoff use with two runs allowed in 4.2 innings. He also had two runs allowed in 6.2 innings in the 2016 Baseball Grand Championship. KC finished second at 12-7, one game behind Guam. Sattler re-signed that winter with the Cougars on a three-year, $42,600,000 deal.

Sattler returned to the closer role and led in both saves and games, although Kansas City had a first round exit. He was back to an effective setup role in 2018 as the Cougars won the World Series over Las Vegas. KC was 10-9 in the BGC with Sattler getting limited use. He was back to the closer role for the next two years with another pennant in 2019 for Kansas City. They lost the World Series to Houston, then were third in the BGC at 12-7. In the last gasp of the playoff run, the Cougars fell to Cincinnati in the 2020 NACS.

For his playoff career, Sattler had 16 saves and 18 shutdowns, 2.53 ERA, 40 games, 57 innings, 83 strikeouts, 138 ERA+, and 2.3 WAR. As of 2037, he is tied for 11^th in playoff saves. In the BGC, Sattler had a stronger 1.65 ERA over 15 games, 5 saves, 16.1 innings, 39 strikeouts, 235 ERA+, and 1.1 WAR. His reliably steady postseason stats played a notable role in getting Sattler across the line for some Hall of Fame voters.

Overall for KC, Sattler had a 80-63 record, 275 saves, 1.90 ERA, 673 games, 825.2 innings, 368 shutdowns, 1349 strikeouts, 234 walks, 179 ERA+, and 40.4 WAR. His contributions were strong enough to get his #2 uniform retired at the end of his career. Now 32-years old for the 2021 season, Sattler signed a three-year, $21,500,000 deal with New York. His debut season was a mixed bag for the Yankees with 31 saves, but a 3.38 ERA; the worst of his career to that point.

Despite avoiding injuries, Sattler’s velocity plummeted fast. After regularly hitting triple-digits in his prime, he was peaking in the 95-97 mph range by 2022 and could rarely reach 90 mph by 2023. Sattler was a back-end reliever in 2022, then struggled in 2023 and was cut in the summer. For New York, Sattler had 34 saves, 3.68 ERA, 164 innings, 173 strikeouts, 94 ERA+, and 2.6 WAR. He finished 2023 in minor league Fairbanks, retiring in the winter at age 34.

Sattler finished with a 93-83 record, 309 saves, 427 shutdowns, 2.19 ERA, 989.2 innings, 1522 strikeouts, 298 walks, 156 ERA+, 48 FIP-, and 43.0 WAR. As of 2037, he is 40^th in saves. However, MLB saves king Carson Hanford was the only Hall of Fame closer in MLB with more strikeouts than Sattler. He ranked 9^th in WAR among those HOF relievers.

His overall stats were fairly comparable to some of the other inductees even without as much longevity. Strikeouts are sexy and made many remember Sattler as more dominant than perhaps he actually was. Being on Kansas City’s roster during a mini-dynasty run definitely helped Sattler get recognized more than some of the other relievers who shared a ballot with him.

Still, Sattler never won Reliever of the Year and some voters felt he didn’t quite have the tenure to cross the line. He barely missed the 66% requirement in 2029 at 63.5% and barely moved in 2030 at 63.0%. Sattler only got a small bump in 2031, but the move to 69.4% was enough to secure a spot on the third ballot. With that, he was the third of four inductees into Major League Baseball’s 2031 class.

Dominick “Bubbles” Hennessy – Catcher – Detroit Tigers – 67.6% Third Ballot

Dominick Hennessy was a 6’6’’, 200 pound left-handed hitting catcher from Kenosha, Wisconsin; a city with around 100,000 people on Lake Michigan between Milwaukee and Chicago. Nicknamed “Bubbles” for his fondness of bubbling beverages, Hennessy was a remarkably well-rounded catcher. He wasn’t outstanding at any one specific thing, but he was generally above average to good across the board.

Offensively, Hennessy’s biggest strengths came facing right-handed pitching with a .833 OPS and 152 wRC+. His biggest flaw was a weakness against lefties with a .621 OPS and 84 wRC+, but he was overall a much better bat than most catchers. Hennessy’s 162 game average had 19 home runs, 29 doubles, and 2 triples. As you might expect from a catcher, Hennessy was a laughably slow and sluggish baserunner. Still, you could count on a reliably positive bat towards the bottom of the lineup from him.

Usually, teams had to settle for weak defense if their catcher was a decent hitter. However, Hennessy was a reliably strong defensive catcher who was just a step below the Gold Glove tier. While he did have some injuries, Hennessy gutted out a 23-year career as one of the very few catchers in all of baseball history to start a game at age 43. Hennessy wasn’t going to be outworked with his sparkplug personality endearing him to teammates and fans alike.

Hennessy attended Texas Tech from 1998-2000, playing 132 games with 128 hits, 64 runs, 31 doubles, 21 home runs, 80 RBI, 43 walks, .278/.350/.487, 149 wRC+, and 4.7 WAR. In the 2000 MLB Draft, he was picked 33^rd overall by Detroit. Hennessy struggled in limited play as a rookie, then was used with nice results in a platoon role in 2002-03. Hennessy earned the full-time gig in 2004 and was a full-time starter reliably through the 2020 season.

2005 was Hennessy’s best season by WAR (7.1) and OPS (.888). He had a similarly nice 6.9 WAR in 2004 and was above 5 WAR in ten different seasons. Hennessy won his first Silver Sluggers for Detroit in 2004 and 2005. At this point, the Tigers were regularly making the playoffs, but were notorious for struggling to get beyond the second round. They had such a fate in 2005, 07, and 08.

After the 2008 season, the now 28-year old Hennessy and Detroit couldn’t come to terms, sending him to free agency. Boston was interested and gave him a four-year, $53,800,000 deal. Things got off to a terrible start though with a ruptured Achilles tendon in spring 2009, knocking Hennessy out the entire year. To his credit, he made it back in 2009 and again played at a high level, posting 5.0 WAR over 141 games.

Boston got to the NACS, but fell to Philadelphia with Hennessy struggling to a .136/.224/.227 slash in the postseason. He decided to opt out of his deal, returning to free agency for 2011 at age 30. Hennessy moved to Brooklyn on a four-year, $56,800,000 deal with the Dodgers. He played quite well there, winning Silver Sluggers in both 2011 and 2012.

In 2011, Brooklyn won their second-ever National Association pennant with the previous win way back in 1958. They were denied their first World Series win by Tampa. The Dodgers finished 12-7 in the second Baseball Grand Championship, officially placing fourth. Hennessy was decent in the BGC with 0.4 WAR and .759 OPS in 16 games. He had struggled in the playoff run though with -0.4 WAR and a lousy .394 OPS.

The Dodgers had a wild card exit in 2012 and Hennessy again opted out of his deal. In two strong seasons for Brooklyn, Hennessy played 259 games, 266 hits, 105 runs, 56 doubles, 32 home runs, 139 RBI, .300/.358/.476 slash, 158 wRC+, and 11.6 WAR. Hennessy ended up back where he started on a four-year, $87,200,000 deal with Detroit. He would sign two extensions later on, ultimately spending a full decade back with the Tigers.

Hennessy won a Silver Slugger in 2020 and posted steady results as an elder statesman for the Tigers. Both he and Detroit couldn’t seem to get over the playoff woes with early exits for the Tigers and poor hitting for Hennessy. For his playoff career, Hennessy had 78 games, 59 hits, 26 runs, 11 doubles, 7 home runs, 32 RBI, .215/.278/.345 slash, 80 wRC+, and 0.5 WAR.

Injuries including a fractured thumb kept Hennessy out more than half of the season in 2021. That year, Detroit finally broke through and won the National Association pennant over Boston, although they lost the World Series to 112-win New Orleans. Hennessy did hit well in the four playoff games he made at the end. In the BGC, he had 15 starts with 0.1 WAR and .634 OPS. The Tigers finished 11-8, one of five teams tied for fourth place.

Hennessy was in his 40s at this point and had still played at a consistent level. He fell off a bit in 2022 and lost a bit of time to injury. That was the end of the Tigers which spanned 18 seasons across two runs. For Detroit, Hennessy had 2215 games, 1988 hits, 865 runs, 385 doubles, 275 home runs, 1041 RBI, 609 walks, .276/.335/.452 slash, 137 wRC+, and 76.9 WAR.

He remained a popular figure in the Motor City well into retirement, although his #29 uniform ultimately wasn’t retired by the Tigers. In 2023, Hennessy signed a three-year, $34,800,000 deal with Philadelphia. The long-term hopes proved a miss by the Phillies as he struggled to .568 OPS and 0.0 WAR in 86 games. He retired after the 2023 campaign at age 43.

Hennessy finished with 2701 games, 2439 hits, 1052 runs, 483 doubles, 320 home runs, 1265 RBI, 741 walks, 1361 strikeouts, .277/.336/.449 slash, 137 wRC+, and 93.5 WAR. As of 2037, Hennessy is 75^th in WAR among all position players and 4^th among catchers. He also has played more games at catcher than anyone in MLB while ranking 8^th in hits, 13^th in runs, and 8^th in home runs.

However, Hall of Fame voters always seem to give catchers a tough time since the position prevents the big tallies accrued at other spots. A lot of Hennessy’s value came from defense and longevity, traits that are undervalued by certain voters. Detractors dismissed him as a compiler and also highlighted his poor playoff record. Supporters saw the longevity as a major plus, impressed by his reliability and consistency.

You could certainly argue Hennessy is a top five catcher in Major League Baseball history and even most detractors at least give him the top ten. Still, the anti-catcher bias from voters meant Hennessy missed the cut in his first two ballots at 63.2% in 2029 and 57.2% in 2030. He barely crossed the 66% line in 2031, but 67.8% earned him the third ballot selection to cap off the 2031 Hall of Fame class.

06-15-2025, 08:26 AM	#2278
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,882	2031 MLB Hall of Fame (Part 2) Tyler Sattler – Closer – Kansas City Cougars – 69.4% Third Ballot Tyler Sattler was a 6’3’’, 200 pound right-handed relief pitcher from Jollyville, Texas; a neighborhood in northern Austin with around 16,000 people. Sattler had absolutely filthy stuff along with great movement and above average control. He had an impressive one-two punch of a 99-101 mph fastball and a slider. Sattler was especially strong against right-handed bats with a career 1.77 ERA, while his ERA was a respectable 2.67 versus lefties. Sattler’s stamina and durability were quite good for a reliever. He graded as a good defensive pitcher with a decent pickoff move. Sattler wasn’t disruptive in the clubhouse, but he was very much a lone wolf and was considered selfish by some teammates. Although known as a career reliever as a pro, Sattler was a starter from 2007-09 for the University of Memphis. Over 36 starts, Sattler had a 2.37 ERA, 22-9 record, 296.2 innings, 365 strikeouts, 72 walks, 138 ERA+, and 12.6 WAR. Despite those numbers, having only two pitches meant most teams projected Sattler as a closer. Still, Kansas City felt he could be a very high value closer, picking Sattler 11^th overall in the 2009 MLB Draft. Not only was it rare for a reliever to go so high, but even rarer for one to get a rookie deal beyond the scale, signing at $30,960,000 over his first four years. Sattler was the closer right away for the Cougars, leading the National Association in 2011 with a career best 37 saves. In 2013, he had his best strikeout tally with 156. Sattler had four seasons above 4 WAR for KC and four times had an ERA below two. His best ERA was 0.99 in 2016, although he was used as a setup guy that year with only 45.1 innings. Sattler never won Reliever of the Year, but took second in 2011, third in 2013 and 2014, and second again in 2019. Since their 1991 World Series win, Kansas City hadn’t been back to the playoffs. They broke the drought in 2014 with a surprise appearance in the NACS, although they lost to top seed St. Louis. Sattler was a beast in that playoff run with 11.2 scoreless innings, 18 strikeouts, and five saves. The Cougars narrowly missed the playoffs in 2015, then started a dynasty run in 2016 with five straight postseason trips. Kansas City won the 2016 pennant, but fell to Charlotte in the World Series. Sattler was merely decent in his limited playoff use with two runs allowed in 4.2 innings. He also had two runs allowed in 6.2 innings in the 2016 Baseball Grand Championship. KC finished second at 12-7, one game behind Guam. Sattler re-signed that winter with the Cougars on a three-year, $42,600,000 deal. Sattler returned to the closer role and led in both saves and games, although Kansas City had a first round exit. He was back to an effective setup role in 2018 as the Cougars won the World Series over Las Vegas. KC was 10-9 in the BGC with Sattler getting limited use. He was back to the closer role for the next two years with another pennant in 2019 for Kansas City. They lost the World Series to Houston, then were third in the BGC at 12-7. In the last gasp of the playoff run, the Cougars fell to Cincinnati in the 2020 NACS. For his playoff career, Sattler had 16 saves and 18 shutdowns, 2.53 ERA, 40 games, 57 innings, 83 strikeouts, 138 ERA+, and 2.3 WAR. As of 2037, he is tied for 11^th in playoff saves. In the BGC, Sattler had a stronger 1.65 ERA over 15 games, 5 saves, 16.1 innings, 39 strikeouts, 235 ERA+, and 1.1 WAR. His reliably steady postseason stats played a notable role in getting Sattler across the line for some Hall of Fame voters. Overall for KC, Sattler had a 80-63 record, 275 saves, 1.90 ERA, 673 games, 825.2 innings, 368 shutdowns, 1349 strikeouts, 234 walks, 179 ERA+, and 40.4 WAR. His contributions were strong enough to get his #2 uniform retired at the end of his career. Now 32-years old for the 2021 season, Sattler signed a three-year, $21,500,000 deal with New York. His debut season was a mixed bag for the Yankees with 31 saves, but a 3.38 ERA; the worst of his career to that point. Despite avoiding injuries, Sattler’s velocity plummeted fast. After regularly hitting triple-digits in his prime, he was peaking in the 95-97 mph range by 2022 and could rarely reach 90 mph by 2023. Sattler was a back-end reliever in 2022, then struggled in 2023 and was cut in the summer. For New York, Sattler had 34 saves, 3.68 ERA, 164 innings, 173 strikeouts, 94 ERA+, and 2.6 WAR. He finished 2023 in minor league Fairbanks, retiring in the winter at age 34. Sattler finished with a 93-83 record, 309 saves, 427 shutdowns, 2.19 ERA, 989.2 innings, 1522 strikeouts, 298 walks, 156 ERA+, 48 FIP-, and 43.0 WAR. As of 2037, he is 40^th in saves. However, MLB saves king Carson Hanford was the only Hall of Fame closer in MLB with more strikeouts than Sattler. He ranked 9^th in WAR among those HOF relievers. His overall stats were fairly comparable to some of the other inductees even without as much longevity. Strikeouts are sexy and made many remember Sattler as more dominant than perhaps he actually was. Being on Kansas City’s roster during a mini-dynasty run definitely helped Sattler get recognized more than some of the other relievers who shared a ballot with him. Still, Sattler never won Reliever of the Year and some voters felt he didn’t quite have the tenure to cross the line. He barely missed the 66% requirement in 2029 at 63.5% and barely moved in 2030 at 63.0%. Sattler only got a small bump in 2031, but the move to 69.4% was enough to secure a spot on the third ballot. With that, he was the third of four inductees into Major League Baseball’s 2031 class. Dominick “Bubbles” Hennessy – Catcher – Detroit Tigers – 67.6% Third Ballot Dominick Hennessy was a 6’6’’, 200 pound left-handed hitting catcher from Kenosha, Wisconsin; a city with around 100,000 people on Lake Michigan between Milwaukee and Chicago. Nicknamed “Bubbles” for his fondness of bubbling beverages, Hennessy was a remarkably well-rounded catcher. He wasn’t outstanding at any one specific thing, but he was generally above average to good across the board. Offensively, Hennessy’s biggest strengths came facing right-handed pitching with a .833 OPS and 152 wRC+. His biggest flaw was a weakness against lefties with a .621 OPS and 84 wRC+, but he was overall a much better bat than most catchers. Hennessy’s 162 game average had 19 home runs, 29 doubles, and 2 triples. As you might expect from a catcher, Hennessy was a laughably slow and sluggish baserunner. Still, you could count on a reliably positive bat towards the bottom of the lineup from him. Usually, teams had to settle for weak defense if their catcher was a decent hitter. However, Hennessy was a reliably strong defensive catcher who was just a step below the Gold Glove tier. While he did have some injuries, Hennessy gutted out a 23-year career as one of the very few catchers in all of baseball history to start a game at age 43. Hennessy wasn’t going to be outworked with his sparkplug personality endearing him to teammates and fans alike. Hennessy attended Texas Tech from 1998-2000, playing 132 games with 128 hits, 64 runs, 31 doubles, 21 home runs, 80 RBI, 43 walks, .278/.350/.487, 149 wRC+, and 4.7 WAR. In the 2000 MLB Draft, he was picked 33^rd overall by Detroit. Hennessy struggled in limited play as a rookie, then was used with nice results in a platoon role in 2002-03. Hennessy earned the full-time gig in 2004 and was a full-time starter reliably through the 2020 season. 2005 was Hennessy’s best season by WAR (7.1) and OPS (.888). He had a similarly nice 6.9 WAR in 2004 and was above 5 WAR in ten different seasons. Hennessy won his first Silver Sluggers for Detroit in 2004 and 2005. At this point, the Tigers were regularly making the playoffs, but were notorious for struggling to get beyond the second round. They had such a fate in 2005, 07, and 08. After the 2008 season, the now 28-year old Hennessy and Detroit couldn’t come to terms, sending him to free agency. Boston was interested and gave him a four-year, $53,800,000 deal. Things got off to a terrible start though with a ruptured Achilles tendon in spring 2009, knocking Hennessy out the entire year. To his credit, he made it back in 2009 and again played at a high level, posting 5.0 WAR over 141 games. Boston got to the NACS, but fell to Philadelphia with Hennessy struggling to a .136/.224/.227 slash in the postseason. He decided to opt out of his deal, returning to free agency for 2011 at age 30. Hennessy moved to Brooklyn on a four-year, $56,800,000 deal with the Dodgers. He played quite well there, winning Silver Sluggers in both 2011 and 2012. In 2011, Brooklyn won their second-ever National Association pennant with the previous win way back in 1958. They were denied their first World Series win by Tampa. The Dodgers finished 12-7 in the second Baseball Grand Championship, officially placing fourth. Hennessy was decent in the BGC with 0.4 WAR and .759 OPS in 16 games. He had struggled in the playoff run though with -0.4 WAR and a lousy .394 OPS. The Dodgers had a wild card exit in 2012 and Hennessy again opted out of his deal. In two strong seasons for Brooklyn, Hennessy played 259 games, 266 hits, 105 runs, 56 doubles, 32 home runs, 139 RBI, .300/.358/.476 slash, 158 wRC+, and 11.6 WAR. Hennessy ended up back where he started on a four-year, $87,200,000 deal with Detroit. He would sign two extensions later on, ultimately spending a full decade back with the Tigers. Hennessy won a Silver Slugger in 2020 and posted steady results as an elder statesman for the Tigers. Both he and Detroit couldn’t seem to get over the playoff woes with early exits for the Tigers and poor hitting for Hennessy. For his playoff career, Hennessy had 78 games, 59 hits, 26 runs, 11 doubles, 7 home runs, 32 RBI, .215/.278/.345 slash, 80 wRC+, and 0.5 WAR. Injuries including a fractured thumb kept Hennessy out more than half of the season in 2021. That year, Detroit finally broke through and won the National Association pennant over Boston, although they lost the World Series to 112-win New Orleans. Hennessy did hit well in the four playoff games he made at the end. In the BGC, he had 15 starts with 0.1 WAR and .634 OPS. The Tigers finished 11-8, one of five teams tied for fourth place. Hennessy was in his 40s at this point and had still played at a consistent level. He fell off a bit in 2022 and lost a bit of time to injury. That was the end of the Tigers which spanned 18 seasons across two runs. For Detroit, Hennessy had 2215 games, 1988 hits, 865 runs, 385 doubles, 275 home runs, 1041 RBI, 609 walks, .276/.335/.452 slash, 137 wRC+, and 76.9 WAR. He remained a popular figure in the Motor City well into retirement, although his #29 uniform ultimately wasn’t retired by the Tigers. In 2023, Hennessy signed a three-year, $34,800,000 deal with Philadelphia. The long-term hopes proved a miss by the Phillies as he struggled to .568 OPS and 0.0 WAR in 86 games. He retired after the 2023 campaign at age 43. Hennessy finished with 2701 games, 2439 hits, 1052 runs, 483 doubles, 320 home runs, 1265 RBI, 741 walks, 1361 strikeouts, .277/.336/.449 slash, 137 wRC+, and 93.5 WAR. As of 2037, Hennessy is 75^th in WAR among all position players and 4^th among catchers. He also has played more games at catcher than anyone in MLB while ranking 8^th in hits, 13^th in runs, and 8^th in home runs. However, Hall of Fame voters always seem to give catchers a tough time since the position prevents the big tallies accrued at other spots. A lot of Hennessy’s value came from defense and longevity, traits that are undervalued by certain voters. Detractors dismissed him as a compiler and also highlighted his poor playoff record. Supporters saw the longevity as a major plus, impressed by his reliability and consistency. You could certainly argue Hennessy is a top five catcher in Major League Baseball history and even most detractors at least give him the top ten. Still, the anti-catcher bias from voters meant Hennessy missed the cut in his first two ballots at 63.2% in 2029 and 57.2% in 2030. He barely crossed the 66% line in 2031, but 67.8% earned him the third ballot selection to cap off the 2031 Hall of Fame class. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)