Baseball Hall of Fame: Vladimir Guerrero comes up short but should eventually get in

The power hitter with the powerful arm missed election by just a few votes in 2017

On Wednesday, we learned that hard-hitting, hard-throwing Vladimir Guerrero just missed election to the Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot. Specifically, Guerrero garnered 71.7 percent support from voting BBWAA members. That puts him just 15 votes shy of reaching the necessary 75 percent threshold for election.

That's a disappointment for the man who batted a robust .318/.379/.553 across 16 seasons. Along the way, Vlad also cracked 449 homers and 477 doubles and tallied 2,590 hits. That's to say nothing of his highlight-reel throwing arm in right field. His case was strong, as demonstrated by his strong vote total.

Vladimir Guerrero seems like a lock to get in next year. Getty Images

The good news for Vlad and his advocates is that he's going to get in, and he'll almost certainly be voted in next year. The "not on the first ballot" penalty is a real thing, and it surely worked against Guerrero to a limited extent. The second year on the ballot, though, should be his. It's almost a historical imperative that players who get above 50 percent eventually make it to the Hall. Vlad, though, is north of 70 percent. He's also north of 70 percent in his first year on the ballot. As foundations for eventual election go, that's an impregnable one.

Vlad will never be a first-ballot Hall of Famer -- that much was lost on Wednesday. However, his strong debut showing on the ballot means that he'll certainly get there eventually and almost certainly will make it in 2018.