Baseball writers are currently mulling over this year’s Hall of Fame candidates, with selections to be announced on January 20. None of us at Royals Review has a vote, but who would we vote for if we did?
You can see the list of eligible candidates and their career statistics here. Here are our ballots, with some explanations.
Jeremy Greco: Bobby Abreu, Carlos Beltrán, Alex Gordon, Félix Hernández, Cole Hamels, Andruw Jones, Andy Pettitte, Alex Rodriguez
I wrote extensively about my ballot here, but I’ll just reiterate as a tl;dr that I vote for guys who did steroids because other substance abusers have been elected (see: Mickey Mantle and greenies), we don’t know who used or how much, we shouldn’t know most of the guys we do know because the results were leaked when they were supposed to be private, and lastly because Bud Selig is in the HOF and it doesn’t seem right that the guy who oversaw that whole mess should be in but the guys who were employees trying to compete/make money get punished.
When I filled out this ballot earlier this winter, I didn’t know about Andruw Jones’ off-field issues. I am tempted to remove him, but at this point, it feels like there are probably far more awful humans than I have ever been aware of in baseball, and I’m just exhausted from trying to avoid them. If he fails to get elected, I’m not gonna be upset about it. In the future, I’m going to leave off guys that I know did bad things off the field, but I’m also trying to NOT find out about this stuff because I’m pretty sure I’d never be able to watch baseball again if I actually knew the extent of the objectionable things baseball players do/have done.
Brian Henry: Carlos Beltrán, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Chase Utley
Same as last year, I am okay with the steroid users getting in. I find a Hall of Fame without A-Rod, or Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens for that matter, to be a little ridiculous. They are inner circle level talents and would have been with or without steroids. I believe the hall curators can handle the steroid controversy stuff alongside their plaques in a way that allows visitors to come to their own conclusions.
Beltran deserves it, and I loved watching him play. Utley is in the same realm as Beltran. None of the newcomers to the ballot are good enough this year.
Cullen Jekel: Carlos Beltrán, Félix Hernández, Andruw Jones, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez
Normally, I’m a proponent of voting for the maximum number of Hall of Fame candidates allowed, which is 10. This year, though, isn’t the case. I find this class lacking. There are few who had excellent careers, but most of this class belongs in the Hall of Very Good, not the Hall of Fame.
I’m leaving off my ballot some of the players for whom I voted last year. Obviously, nothing has changed with their careers. But this is how I’m looking at it now: when I think about a player, does he strike me as a Hall of Famer? If yes, do his numbers back it up? If no, do his numbers convince me otherwise?
Take Jimmy Rollins, for example. I voted for him last year. This is his fifth year on the ballot. When I think about Rollins, nothing screams “Hall of Fame,” and then when I dig, the numbers aren’t there to persuade me. Same goes for his former teammate Chase Utley and with pitcher Andy Pettitte, two others I’m dropping. And the new crop of nominees is very weak. None of them get my vote.
Bradford Lee: Bobby Abreu, Carlos Beltrán, Mark Buerhle
Despite the trash can scandal, Beltrán’s numbers carry him. He was an exceptional ballplayer – 2,725 hits, 435 home runs, 1,587 RBI, 70 WAR.
Abreu is probably a little light, with just 60 WAR, but the numbers pop – 2,470 hits, 1,453 runs, 1,363 RBI, 288 home runs. Plus, he drew 1,476 walks and stole an even 400 bases. I’d seen Abreu play a few times and knew he was a good player, but like many, I overlooked him. His career OBP was .395. The guy could flat-out work the plate.
Buehrle was always a thorn in the Royals’ side. Most excellent pitchers of that era were. I believe Buehrle is one of the first pitchers that we need to evaluate under the changes I highlighted above. His won-loss record was just 214-160, but he was a workhorse, starting 493 games and averaging 221 innings a season over his 16-year career. He was a five-time All-Star and a World Series winner in 2005. He threw a no-hitter in 2007 and a perfect game in 2009.
Jacob Milham: Mark Buerhle, Alex Gordon, Félix Hernández, Dustin Pedroia, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley
I am sure many of you are thankful I will likely never have a real say in who enters Cooperstown and who doesn’t. I’ve had a bit of a mindset shift over time, from a “small Hall” guy, to more of a “medium Hall” guy, and at least understanding the “big Hall” argument. After all, go look at how many players were in the Hall of Fame before expansion compared to now. What if the Hall was never meant to be small?
I know my automatic disqualification of known steroid users (Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, Andy Pettitte, etc.) and Carlos Beltrán (go argue with a wall and read Winning Fixes Everything) is a contentious point with my co-host, Hokius. I get the nuance: steroid use lived in a gray area for a long time, the rules shifted, and the era itself helped bring baseball back into the mainstream in a real way. But if we keep celebrating the players who were caught using those means for an unfair advantage, doesn’t that only erode the Hall of Fame’s standing?
Still, I feel like my ballot brings in players who mattered to their era, who had Hall of Fame traits, and yes, I’m tossing in my homer pick of Alex Gordon. My baseball fandom would look a lot different without Gordo patrolling left field for all those years.
Max Rieper: Carlos Beltrán, Andruw Jones, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Chase Utley
I didn’t add anyone new on my ballot. I’m still voting for Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez because their numbers are overwhelming and I suspect they took PEDs later in their career to stave off Father Time – they were already Hall of Famers by then. But I am starting to change how I look at PED users. Yes, it wasn’t against MLB rules, and there was no testing, but that’s largely because the union resisted it. At the time, players knew it was wrong. There’s a reason they denied using.
Supporting PED users has somehow been framed as a pro-player stance, but that argument largely ignores the players who didn’t use PEDs. I think of players like Dale Murphy, Don Mattingly, Will Clark, and Eric Davis, who seemed to be on Hall of Fame trajectories but cratered in their 30s due to injuries. Would they be in Cooperstown had they used some artificial help? Is it fair that we reward the players who did? Should players be coerced into compromising their health to gain a competitive advantage?
I know its difficult to sort out who used, who didn’t use, when they used, and whether they would have been Hall of Famers were it not for PEDs. But that shouldn’t give us a pass to ignore the complexity.
