3 Yankees Hall of Fame snubs that look more egregious after 2024 election

Please. Keep your composure. Now is not the time to mention that Paul O'Neill and Hall of Famer Harold Baines have matching bWARs of 38.8. It is not the time to note that WAR doesn't encompass the total value of a player to history. And it's certainly not the time to mention that, if we do dogmatically love WAR, Bernie Williams falls one-tenth of 1.0 bWAR behind Kirby Puckett for his peak years (and has the October accolades to match). David Cone, with 62.3 career bWAR, is firmly in Don Drysdale/Jim Palmer territory according to the JAWS system, and outclasses fellow inductees Jim Bunning and Don Sutton. Guess you had to be there. Cone was bumped off the ballot in his first year of eligibility, getting less of a look than David Wright. If he had debuted on the ballot a decade later, there's no doubt in my mind he would've had a Mike Mussina-like climb. That's it. Said our peace. Ok, one more. Andy Pettitte's also over 60 bWAR.

But this article's not about these guys. Again, not the time. This one's about the indelible Yankees who didn't receive the same bump as 2024 inductee Joe Mauer, the face of a Minnesota Twins team that never won a single postseason game he participated in, thanks to the Yanks.

Mauer's peak behind the plate absolutely deserved to be recognized in Cooperstown. It's stunning, however, that it didn't take more of a fight. Instead, he became a first-ballot enshrinee despite spending the back third of his career as a solid-not-great first baseman once injuries took their toll.

If Mauer's a Hall of Famer -- and, again, a rubber-stamped, first-ballot one -- then the following three Yankees deserve a longer look.

3 Yankees Hall of Fame snubs who deserve second look after Joe Mauer first-ballot induction