In the aftermath of Jeff Kent's decision to retire from baseball, I was getting ready to do a Hall of Fame article on his candidacy for Dugout Central. But Thomas Wayne, a fine writer on the site, beat me to it.

Wayne argues that Kent, though a "borderline case before accounting for his position," deserves to get the call in 2014.

I completely agree with him.

Kent, hate him or love him, finished with a career line of .290/.356/.500 and 123 OPS+ in 17 seasons. To put it simply, he was one of the strongest offensive second baseman of all time. He hit more home runs (351) at the position than any other player in baseball history, blasting 377 overall.

As Wayne notes in the article, Kent ranked fourth all-time in OPS (.856) among players who spent the majority of their time at the position. He is in elite company for this category; you may have heard of the players ahead of him on the list-Rogers Hornsby, Charlie Gehringer and Jackie Robinson.

When I look at a player's case for the Hall, I like to see an extended period of dominance as well. Kent fits the bill, in my eyes, when it comes to this criterion. From 1998 to 2005, he was one of the most productive hitters in the game, regardless of position. He posted OPS+ totals of 142, 124, 162, 131, 147, 119, 122 and 133, respectively, during stints in that time period with the San Fransisco Giants, Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers. He won four Silver Sluggers throughout this stretch, serving as a model of consistency.

Kent also won the Most Valuable Player with the Giants in 2000, when he put up one of the most prolific single-season performances by a second baseman in baseball history. He hit a career-best .334/.424/.596 in 587 at-bats with 33 home runs and 125 RBIs. More impressive, Kent posted an outstanding 162 OPS+ and .428 wOBA, weighted on-base average. If you're an RBI guy, he will strike your fancy as well. He drove in 100-plus runs on eight different occasions, compiling 1,518 before calling it quits. (Hey, it helps being able to hit behind on-base machine Barry Bonds, who is the all-time leader in bases on balls.)

Kent played in the steroid era. Fair or not, most likely there are some voters who will hold this against him. There is simply no telling which players were using performance-enhancing drugs, and which players were not. The man came out and took a stand against the use of PEDs himself (he even called for stricter testing, which did not make him any friends with his peers), but there are some voters who will still have doubts about any player from this past generation, anyway. As well, he rubbed a lot of people the wrong way with his attitude and off-field behavior. While this should not matter when it comes to the voting, it is surprising how many voters actually care about stuff like that. Kent had some run-ins with Bonds, lied to the Giants about how he injured his wrist in 2002 (motorcycle crash) and allegedly caused a rift in the Dodgers' clubhouse between veterans and youngsters in 2007.

However, the biggest thing, above all else, working against Kent is his defense. Sure, he played a premium, up-the-middle position. But he was below average there for a large portion of his playing days, especially as he got up there in years and his range declined to dangerously terrible levels. In fact, watching him at second base this summer was a fairly painful experience. While Kent delivered some key big hits, his poor range was more than evident, and Los Angeles improved its infield defense dramatically when Blake DeWitt was in the lineup.

Kent registered a -6 UZR/150 rating after 2002; there is no advanced fielding data available prior to that season. According to his FanGraphs page, he was a -37 fielder during that stretch as well. While he was certainly a bit more capable as a defensive infielder during his prime (he had steady hands and was at least average through his peak), he was never exactly a wizard out there in the field.

Still, Kent would get my vote. In or out, what do you think? Make a case in the comments. To contact Tyler Hissey, send him an email here.