Active players closing in on Cooperstown

If Roy Halladay's not a Cooperstown "lock," he's pretty darn close. (US Presswire)

As we inch ever-so-slightly toward the Hall of Fame announcements, we continue to look at the Hall's future with a glance at active players who might one day find themselves with a plaque in Cooperstown. On Saturday, Matt Snyder picked out five players who, at this point, seem like locks. Now, we look at some active players who seem to be well on their way.

These players aren't quite locks yet, but we really like their chances. Also note, these are active players and also players who still could have some of their best years ahead of them -- so some players who are active but appear to be on the downside of their careers -- like Chase Utley, Todd Helton or Lance Berkman -- aren't included here.

Also, like in our discussion of the current candidates on the Hall of Fame ballot, we'll also look at how these players stack up according to Jay Jaffe's JAWS system from Baseball-Reference.com. For more on that, you can check out my Q&A with Jaffe as well as the JAWS leader boards on Baseball-Reference.com.

The three numbers are career WAR, WAR7 (the player's WAR from his best seven years, measuring so-called "peak" performance) and JAWS. Both WAR numbers used are the Baseball-Reference.com version of the statistic.

Miguel Cabrera: Before Cabrera won the Triple Crown in 2012, each of the 11 players to win it since 1900 -- Carl Yastrzemski, Frank Robinson, Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Joe Medwick, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Chuck Kelin, Rogers Hornsby, Ty Cobb and Nap Lajoie -- made it to the Hall of Fame. Cabrera, who won't turn 30 until April, already has an MVP, two batting titles, 321 career homers, six top-five finishes in the MVP and a World Series title. The Tigers slugger is also hitting .318/.395/.561 entering his age-30 season. In an era of eye-popping offensive numbers, Cabrera's stand out. He has been impressive in both his counting and rate stats.

Robinson Cano: It might seem to some a bit early to put Cano in this category, but the Yankees second baseman has already put himself in heady company when it comes to second basemen. So far in his career, he's a .308/.351/.503 hitter, with 177 home runs. Only a dozen players who have spent their career primarily at second base have 200 or more home runs (and Chase Utley is at 199). It seems Cano will hit at least 200 and, after a 33-homer 2012, 300 isn't out of the question. In addition to four Silver Sluggers, Cano also has two Gold Gloves and is earning the reputation as the best all-around second baseman of this generation.

Roy Halladay: At this point, the only debate is whether Halladay belongs on this list or on the "lock" list. It was close. But if there's any debate, we pushed them here. Halladay, who will turn 36 in May, is coming off one of his worst seasons but is still one of the game's premier pitchers. He finished in the top five in Cy Young voting for six straight seasons from 2006-2011. He has captured Cy Youngs in both leagues, winning the award for the Blue Jays in 2003 and the Phillies in 2010. His 134 ERA+ is 24th all-time. He also has a perfect game and a postseason no-hitter under his belt. If he retired today, he'd likely still get into the Hall of Fame, but he might be just short of "lock" status. He's as close to lock as anyone on this list, though.

Felix Hernandez: On the other end of the spectrum from Halladay is Hernandez, the youngest player on this list at 26. Hernandez already has one Cy Young on his resume and a second-place finish, as well. In parts of eight seasons for the Mariners, he has a 98-76 record and 3.22 ERA. His ERA+ is 127, 53rd all-time. Hernandez has quite the start but has as much to do to solidify his case as anyone on this list -- but he also has more time than anyone else on this list.

CC Sabathia: Sabathia has a Cy Young Award and might have picked up another had he not been traded between leagues mid-season in 2008. The Yankees lefty will be 33 in July and is nine wins shy of 200 for his career, putting up a 191-102 mark with a 3.50 ERA so far. Sabathia has six All-Star nods and has finished in the top five of the Cy Young voting five times. Playing much of his career in an offense-heavy era, he owns a 125 ERA+.

Justin Verlander: Like Hernandez, he has played in parts of only eight seasons, a relatively short career when you're talking about Hall of Fame standards. But he has been brilliant for the Tigers in what really amounts to seven seasons (he made only two starts in 2005 as a 22-year-old). Verlander, who will celebrate his 30th birthday in February, has a Cy Young, an MVP, a Rookie of the Year Award and three strikeout titles. In his young career, he's 124-65 with a 3.40 ERA and a 128 ERA+. Over the last four seasons, he's 78-31 with a 2.95 ERA (144 ERA+). Like Hernandez, he has been dominating. And it's not out of the question that he can get even better.

Coming Monday: Active players who are just not quite up to Hall of Fame standards.

For more baseball news, rumors and analysis, follow @EyeOnBaseball on Twitter, subscribe to the RSS feed and "like" us on Facebook. Follow C. Trent Rosecrans on Twitter here: @ctrent.