Before you get angry http://www.brewersfanproshop.com/authentic-orlando-arcia-jersey , Lou Whitaker wasn’t on the ballot." of Fame by a veterans committee on Sunday. This particular group, the “Today’s Game Committee,” was tasked with electing players “who made their marks from 1988 until present day.” Baines and Smith were elected from a group of 10 individuals, including former New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and longtime MLB manager Lou Piniella.Most relevant to our interests: former Detroit Tigers second baseman Lou Whitaker was not on the ballot (so put those torches and pitchforks away for another year).While this news normally would not warrant a mention on a Tigers-centric website, the committee’s baffling decision to elect Baines — and maybe even Smith, for that matter — doesn’t bode well for Whitaker’s eventual chances of induction. Baines, a career .289/.356/.365 hitter in 22 MLB seasons, accumulated just 38.7 career rWAR. He started his career in right field, but spent most of his time as a designated hitter for the Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles, and others.Worse yet, Baines pales in comparison to those he jumped ahead of on this special Hall of Fame ballot.Yes, that’s former Tiger Placido Polanco at the bottom of that list. While we love everything that Polanco managed in a Tigers uniform, he is not a Hall of Famer. Former Tiger Curtis Granderson has Baines beat by nearly 10 WAR, and he isn’t done playing yet.The newly retired Victor Martinez — who we also love, but is not a Hall of Famer — also compares well with Baines.Meanwhile Glenn Robinson Jersey , Whitaker would rank fifth on the above list, just after Curt Schilling. Sweet Lou’s candidacy is hurt by a lack of “black ink,” or gaudy stats that finished at the top of the league during his prime, but his entire body of work is on par with the average Hall of Fame second baseman.Whitaker’s next chance to make it into the Hall will come within the next few years. The Modern Baseball Committee, which evaluates players from 1970 to 1987. Whitaker was snubbed by this committee the last time around, but saw former teammates Alan Trammell and Jack Morris get the nod to Cooperstown. With Trammell lightly campaigning for his longtime double play partner during his induction speech, maybe this committee will finally get it right and put Whitaker into the Hall of Fame, where he belongs.Or they will screw it up again and we’ll have to find more creative ways to sneak swear words into our headlines. From the bullpen, we move over to the infield."This week, we’ll be discussing the infield in the same way as we talk about Arizona’s relievers last week. We start today by listing the potential candidates and asking you to rank them in order of quality, then on Wednesday., we’ll discuss the results and ask you to tell us who you think actually will make the Opening Day roster in those roles. No shortage of candidates to discuss, though I’m going to assume for the purposes of this exercise that Ketel Marte will indeed be moving to the outfield as our cernter-fielder. The team has been increasingly stating that’s the case. Maybe it’s just a feint.... Anyway. he’ll be discussed in the outfielder category down the road.The candidatesHere are the players on the 40-man roster along with the non-roster invitees who’ll be showing up at Salt River Fields this week (the NRIs don’t have a number). Nick Ahmed (13)Alex Avila (31)Jazz ChisholmKevin Cron (68)Eduardo Escobar (5)Wilmer Flores (41)Tyler HeinemanCarson Kelly (18)Jake Lamb (22)Domingo Leyba (74)Wyatt MathisenJohn Ryan Murphy (36)Juniel QuerecutoKelby TomlinsonIldemaro Vargas (15)Daulton VarshoChristian Walker (53)Andy YoungLink to pollYou get to drag and drop these in the order of preference., from the best at the top, down to the worst at the bottom. It’s going to be interesting to see who ends up where: now Paul Goldschmidt is no longer with Arizona, I couldn’t guarantee you who will end up on top of the chart. There are there or four possible candidates Manny Pina Jersey , for whom you could make a case. So I’m curious about the results here. As before, options are not to be considered an issue here, because we’ll be discussing those as a factor later in the week. However, let’s take a quick look around the diamond and see who are the leading contenders at each position, as we head into spring training.CatcherNew arrival Carson Kelly looks set to be the frontline catcher. But we’ll see whether Torey Lovullo goes with the “personal catcher” approach again: in particular, who’ll be Zack Greinke’s regular battery-mate? The other question is, will the D-backs carry three catchers on the roster again? They did last season, though it’s hard to see it proving effective. If not, then John Ryan Murphy could find himself on the outside. First baseReplacing Paul Goldschmidt will probably be the biggest issue the D-backs face this season. It seems that Jake Lamb will be the primary occupant - at least, against right-handed pitching. With a 281-point split in OPS, it’ll be interesting to see how many left-handers Jake gets to see this year. The team has alternatives like Kevin Cronand Christian Walker from the other side of the plate. Second basePresuming that Marte is indeed headed for an outfield role, it seems that Wilmer Flores is probably going to be the everyday starter here. But as at most spots on the infield, it does seem that flexibility is going to be key. Depending on how far Torey Lovullo wants to platoon things, we may see a very different line-up against left-handed and right-handed opposing starters. ShortstopNick Ahmed became the full-time shortstop for the first time in his career, surpassing his previous high in plate-appearances by more than a hundred. His power spiked, hitting 16 home-runs http://www.brewersfanproshop.com/authentic-orlando-arcia-jersey , though his on-base percentage remained disappointingly low, at below .300. Still, his defense was as good as ever, winning Ahmed his first Gold Glove, and overall, it was a very productive season. Hopefully, he can repeat it in 2019. Third baseWith Lamb moving across the diamond, it looks like the hot corner will be manned this year by Eduardo Escobar, signed to a contract extension in an unexpected move early in the off-season. Overall, he has been mostly a shortstop in his career, but over the last couple of years, Escobar has spent more time at third. He’s a switch-hitter, slightly better from the right-hand side - but at only a 35-point OPS difference, it’s considerably smaller than Jake’s split.