All fair points about Kent being a wingman for Bonds, and at the same time, you could make the same argument about Orlando Cepeda (who had very comparable numbers to Kent but arguably had his best seasons when he was the "wingman" for Willie Mays). There's also no suggestion that Kent was ever a steroid user (a claim that would be highly dubious to make about Bonds). Ultimately, I agree with you that Bonds should also be in the Hall, as MLB in the 1990s was rife with steroid use, and Bonds had HOF stats even before his steroid use allegedly began. But we're clearly in a minority here. But as a corollary in regard to Kent, perhaps one should give credit to him thriving even as many of his competitors (including Bonds) were juicing.
PS Even with his HOF credentials, I strongly believe that Pat Gillick made the right decision to trade him for David Cone. Absent Cone, the Jays likely don't win the 1992 World Series.
The difference with Cepeda is that his superhero was already in the Hall of Fame and Kent’s No.1 is not. There is going to be suspicion unwarranted or not about any Middle Aged player who went to SF in that Bonds timeframe and posted a Ponce de Leon. Benito Santiago at 36 made 122 starts at catcher with a locker next to Bonds. Gillick made the right decision re Kent.
All fair points about Kent being a wingman for Bonds, and at the same time, you could make the same argument about Orlando Cepeda (who had very comparable numbers to Kent but arguably had his best seasons when he was the "wingman" for Willie Mays). There's also no suggestion that Kent was ever a steroid user (a claim that would be highly dubious to make about Bonds). Ultimately, I agree with you that Bonds should also be in the Hall, as MLB in the 1990s was rife with steroid use, and Bonds had HOF stats even before his steroid use allegedly began. But we're clearly in a minority here. But as a corollary in regard to Kent, perhaps one should give credit to him thriving even as many of his competitors (including Bonds) were juicing.
PS Even with his HOF credentials, I strongly believe that Pat Gillick made the right decision to trade him for David Cone. Absent Cone, the Jays likely don't win the 1992 World Series.
The difference with Cepeda is that his superhero was already in the Hall of Fame and Kent’s No.1 is not. There is going to be suspicion unwarranted or not about any Middle Aged player who went to SF in that Bonds timeframe and posted a Ponce de Leon. Benito Santiago at 36 made 122 starts at catcher with a locker next to Bonds. Gillick made the right decision re Kent.