Who Needs a Ring?

Carlos Beltran entered last year’s playoffs with Hall of Fame credentials. Having accumulated 67 WAR, over 400 homers, and a few Gold Gloves out in center field, Beltran’s career was long and nearly finished. He had played in the postseason — including a World Series — and put up bonkers numbers in the process, hitting 16 homers in just 55 games. What he hadn’t done is win a title.

Beltran finally won that title with the Houston Astros.

He was not the only player to complement an impressive career with a championship last fall. Justin Verlander entered last year on a Hall of Fame trajectory. He also lacked a title. Following a trade to Houston, he picked up his first ring as well.

There might not be a Beltran in this postseason, but there are a handful of players with lengthy careers still seeking their first title.

We will start on the position player side. These are the players with the most WAR who have yet to get a championship ring.

Curtis Granderson takes the top spot, here. He was on pennant-winning Tigers, Mets, and Dodgers teams, though he didn’t play in the World Series a year ago. He also joined the Yankees the year after they won a title. Granderson still proved useful this season with a wRC+ of 116 in 403 plate appearances — including 93% of them against righties — and continued to play well off the bench for Milwaukee. At 37 years old, this might be his last, best shot at a title.

Andrew McCutchen still has several years remaining after he turns 32 years old next week, but he has put up a very good career, including an MVP award in 2013 as well three other top-five finishes. Ryan Braun probably isn’t high on anyone’s list of players to cheer for after his PED suspension and the way he handled said suspension, but he does have an MVP award, and at 34 years old, probably doesn’t have too many more chances at a ring. Ian Kinsler is more in the Granderson mold with a good, long career nearing its end after multiple close chances at a World Series win that just didn’t go his way.

Looking through a slightly different lens, here are the potential postseason players based on plate appearances.

Nick Markakis sure has played a lot, and his resurgence with a 114 wRC+ at 34 years is old is one of the reasons the Braves made the postseason. He’s only played in one postseason, back in 2014 with the Orioles. Brandon Phillips has had a long career, but he might not make the Red Sox postseason roster. A few of the same players who rate highly on the WAR table also come up big over here.

As for the pitchers, there’s one name in terms of accomplishments that sits pretty high compared to his peers.

The depth of the veteran pitching isn’t nearly as strong when it comes to those seeking a title. The 30-year-old Kershaw should have more opportunities in future years, but the gap before we get down to Chris Sale on this list is pretty enormous. Kershaw also leads in innings among the players without a ring despite his relative youth. The Red Sox have a couple really good pitchers who have never won a title in Sale and David Price. Corey Kluber got really, really close two years ago. Craig Kimbrel and Kenley Jansen make this list as relievers. If you wanted to know who had pitched in the most games without winning a title, that honor goes to Joakim Soria. He was on the Royals back when they were bad, pitched for a handful of other teams and then rejoined the Royals after they won a title. He hasn’t been on the Brewers too long, but he is an important part of their pen.

There isn’t quite a Carlos Beltran-like player to root for in this year’s playoffs, but if your team isn’t in the postseason, you could do worse than cheering for McCutchen, Granderson, Kinsler, or Kershaw to finally get a ring.