10 MLB Milestones Within Reach in 2010

Which milestones are in reach?

The last three seasons have been loaded with historic moments in Major League Baseball. During that span, five players have clubbed their 500th home runs: Jim Thome, Alex Rodriguez, Frank Thomas, Manny Ramirez and Gary Sheffield. Ken Griffey, Jr., also joined the 600 club in 2008, becoming only the sixth man to reach that plateau.

Meanwhile, pitchers Tom Glavine and Randy Johnson each reached the 300-win milestone, thereby establishing their own inclusion in an increasingly exclusive Hall of Fame group. Craig Biggio collected his 3,000th hit in 2007, as well.

In 2010, however, baseball fans may have to settle for lesser moments. Rodriguez is only 17 homers shy of 600, and stands an excellent chance of reaching and exceeding that total. Beyond that, however, the definitive milestone numbers are simply not within reach for any of those chasing them. That does not mean that there exists any dearth of quirky, meaningful numbers to be reached, however. Here, then, are ten players (aside from Rodriguez) who have a chance to reach big-time milestones in 2010:

• Francisco Rodriguez: “K-Rod” doesn’t quite have Trevor Hoffman in his immediate sights just yet, but he will almost certainly reach 250 saves this season, and at 28, he will become the youngest (by a mile) ever to have done so. He was also the youngest to reach 100, 150 and 200 saves, and logged 35 saves last season despite a catastrophic decline in his peripheral numbers.

• Albert Pujols: Pujols, who needs 34 home runs to reach 400 for his career, would not be the youngest to that number; that honor is safe with Griffey. Nor would he be the fastest man to the mark in terms of at-bats; that distinction belongs to Mark McGwire. The mark would simply be another step along Pujols’ rapid, clear path to Cooperstown. Thirty-four home runs is never guaranteed, but Pujols has hit at least that many in all but one of his nine seasons.

• Omar Vizquel: From the “if you play long enough” file, Vizquel will almost certainly become the 25th man in baseball history to reach 10,000 career at-bats. Griffey will follow him quickly to that threshold, but needs nearly 300 at-bats to get the job done, while Vizquel needs fewer than 90.

• Ivan Rodriguez: Pudge needs 112 games played to reach 2,500 for his illustrious career. Among players who primarily catch, he would be the first to reach that level. Carlton Fisk, the super-durable Hall of Fame backstop, logged 2,499 career games. Rodriguez also needs only two round-trippers as a catcher to reach 300 in that respect; he crossed that pure threshold last season, but has seven career bombs as a non-catcher.

• Trevor Hoffman: Hoffman should easily make the 15 appearances he needs to become the 14th man ever to pitch in 1,000 games. If he stays relatively healthy, he should crack the all-time top-ten list. Hoffman will also almost certainly become the first-ever closer to notch 600 saves, as he needs only nine.

• Jamie Moyer: If the Philadelphia Phillies give Moyer enough opportunity, he will allow the 14 home runs he needs to tie Hall of Famer Robin Roberts for the most allowed by any pitcher in Major League history. He also has a better-than-even shot at reaching 200 career losses, making for a second bittersweet milestone. Incidentally, Moyer is also the closest active player to 300 wins, but it seems unlikely that his 46-year-old arm still contains the 42 wins he needs to attain that milestone.

• CC Sabathia: With relatively few pitchers closing in on the upper echelon of win totals, Sabathia headlines a long list of pitchers who are nearing 150 wins. Roy Halladay, Tim Hudson, Javier Vazquez, Derek Lowe and Roy Oswalt are all even closer, but then, Sabathia’s tender age (28) makes him the story. Fourteen wins would make the moment for the New York Yankees ace.

• Carl Crawford: The current active triples leaders, Detroit Tigers leftfielder Johnny Damon and Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins, are tied for 179th on the all-time list. Crawford, however, may have a better chance than either to become the first active player to reach 100 triples. At present, he is eight three-baggers short, with Damon and Rollins three such hits ahead of him at 95 apiece. Crawford also needs 38 stolen bases to reach 400 for his career, while White Sox outfielder Juan Pierre needs 41 to reach 500. While speed is on the table, it bears mentioning that Griffey is only 15 swipes shy of the even 200 his father stole during his big-league career. The younger Griffey, however, has only 17 steals since the calendar turned to 2000, and has attempted only eight in the last four years.

• Bobby Abreu: One of the game’s underrated superstars, Abreu can begin building what will someday be a strikingly strong Hall of Fame resume with the handful of small but impressive milestones within his reach in 2010. He needs only 17 doubles to reach 500 for his career, and is two stolen bases shy of 350. He will certainly reach 1,300 career RBI, given good health, and will look to log his eighth consecutive season with 100 or more RBI, and ninth in the last ten. Interestingly, he has never driven in more than 107 runs during that stretch. Abreu, 35, will also look to work on his current career batting average of .2993, a number tantalizingly close to the .2995 he needs to go down as a .300 career hitter.

• Jim Thome: Though he likely won’t reach either in 2010, Thome is within shouting distance of two big-time milestones. First, he is but 36 home runs short of 600. If he can stay healthy and is treated well by the brand-new Target Field, which he now calls home as a member of the Minnesota Twins, he has an outside shot. He had better make plans to play another season, however, if he hopes to claim Reggie Jackson’s most sacred distinction: all-time Major League strikeout leader. Thome passed Sammy Sosa to cruise into second place last season, with 2,313, but now has 284 punch-outs to go to reach Mr. October. Mike Cameron, no threat to the record, will nonetheless make whiff waves this season when he and Griffey assault the category’s all-time top-ten list.