Who helped their Cooperstown case the most in 2012?

It's Hall of Fame season, and that means many people are posting who they think should join the Hall of Fame. Other people like to look at players or personnel that could eventually join the Hall of Fame once their careers come to a close. Chris Jaffe, of The Hardball Times, looked at ten people within the game that increased their chances of reaching Cooperstown, based on results from 2012. The article can be read here.

For this analysis, a player who entered the year as a consensus pick for the Hall, someone like Derek Jeter, can’t make the list. If he began the year as a lock, then by definition he couldn’t have done much to improve his candidacy. Frankly, for almost all players that make Cooperstown, there is rarely one season you can point to that got them in, Hack Wilson and Jack Chesbro notwithstanding. It’s a cumulative effort, but some seasons increase a person’s odds more than others do

2012 was the year of the phenom. Bryce Harper and Mike Trout took the year by storm, Trout posting the greatest season by a 20 year old and Harper posting the greatest season for a 19 year old. What these two players did is simply incredible, and while they are still extremely young they both have the potential to reach the Hall.

Miguel Cabrera probably helped his case the most out of anyone. Cabrera has already been in baseball for ten seasons, and according to the Hall a player must spend at least ten seasons in the majors, before being considered for induction. Cabrera already has incredible career statistics, he already has 44 rWAR (baseball-reference), and he is going into his age 30 season. Oh yah, he also won the triple crown in 2012.

Questions for the community:

1) In your opinion, who increased their Hall of Fame chances the greatest in 2012?

2) Who should we be keeping an eye on in 2013?