The case for every player on the 2022 MLB Hall of Fame ballot

The 2022 MLB Hall of Fame class will be announced on January 25, 2022, and this year’s ballot is like a potato skin at T.G.I. Friday’s…loaded to all hell. We got storylines galore with all-time greats like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens; legendary newcomers with people like David Ortiz and Alex Rodriguez; others with incredible peaks who flamed out quickly, and with the emergence of the “ character clause” involving PED users as well as Curt Schilling for insensitive comments he’s made in the past, predicting who will reach Cooperstown has become much more difficult. It feels like almost everybody on the ballot has some sort of character flaw holding them back from the Hall, and because of that it’s not unthinkable that we could have a second consecutive season with zero new entries into Cooperstown. But I don’t want that, and hopefully, you don’t want that either. That’s boring. In fact, the only people who want that are probably the voters who love to sit behind their anonymous ballots and act all smug because they refused to let a guy who hit more home runs than anyone else in baseball history into the Hall of Fame. However, according to the Baseball Hall of Fame Vote Tracker, with nearly 20 percent of all ballots revealed, it appears Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and David Ortiz are on track to be enshrined at the end of January. Perhaps this is the year the BBWAA puts their past behind them and starts to show a little more forgiveness toward players who partook in cheating scandals in the past. It would be good news not just for ballot newcomer, Álex Rodríguez, but also many of today’s pitchers who were involved in the Spider Tack scandal. Basically, this is a momentous year that will set the precedent for Hall of Fame voting for years to come and I’m excited to watch. Just in case the remaining 80 percent of voters are still on the fence about putting anybody in the Hall of Fame though, I’m writing this piece detailing at least one reason for every person on the ballot to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Keep in mind. I don’t think everybody on this list is a Hall of Famer. I’m just making an argument in favor of everyone on this year’s ballot. Yes, even Curt Schilling. With that, let’s get started! Bobby Abreu source: Getty Images Abreu is the type of player you look back on and go “That guy wasn’t a Hall of Famer.” Nobody who watched baseball in the 2000s really thought Abreu had a legitimate Hall of Fame case. He earned only two All-Star nods and reached the playoffs only four times in his career, winning just one series. That being said, Abreu is a “Moneyball” enthusiast’s dream. For 12 straight years, Abreu recorded an OPS of at least .800. He also had eight straight seasons from 1999-2006 where he recorded at least 100 walks. Since MLB integration in 1947, only Abreu and Frank Thomas have done that, and Thomas was a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Another great number to keep in mind is that since integration, only two players have a higher career OBP and more stolen bases than Bobby Abreu. Their names are Barry Bonds and Rickey Henderson. Even in terms of his base statistics, Abreu has some very good marks. He has 400 career stolen bases and over 1300 career RBI. In terms of WAR, his numbers (60.2) are on the same level as Hall of Famers like Vladimir Guerrero (59.5) and soon-to-be Hall of Famers like Ichiro Suzuki (60). Abreu’s power numbers/extra base hit totals could definitely be better, and while he was a great fielder early in his career, he fell off drastically with the leather as he got older. Still, he was a great player for more than a decade even if he never got the All-Star recognition he deserved. Barry Bonds source: Getty Images Here come the fun ones. What can’t you say about Bonds that hasn’t been said by every progressive baseball fan with an agenda to get all the PED users into the Hall of Fame? The man was a walking home run. He’s the only member of the 500-500 club, having smacked 500 over home runs and stolen over 500 bases in his career. He’s got seven MVPs to his name, the home run record, and was once intentionally walked with the bases loaded. Of course, the big problem here is Bonds’ PED usage. It’s been made very clear that even if Bonds had never taken PEDs, he still would’ve been a Hall of Famer, but the fact that he, along with so many others damaged the integrity of the sport by taking substances to give them an upper hand on the competition automatically disqualifies him in many voters’ eyes. To that I say that at least Bonds cheated in an era before MLB rules involving PEDs were clearly defined. The same can’t be said for other people on this year’s ballot like Álex Rodríguez and Manny Ramírez. Furthermore, if Bud Selig is in the Hall of Fame (he is), and much of his “success” as MLB’s commissioner came from being able to grow the game of baseball by turning a blind eye to PED users until their usage became public knowledge, then baseball writers can’t leave guys like Bonds and Roger Clemens out of the Hall of Fame for using PEDs when even MLB itself was encouraging it behind closed doors. Mark Buehrle source: Getty Images If you like consistency, you’ll love Mark Buehrle. Buehrle was an absolute accumulator because of his ability to stay on the field. From his first full season in the bigs to the final season of his career, Buehrle never failed to start less than 30 games. He also reached 200 innings every year except for the final year of his career. The biggest drawback against Buehrle is that he was never truly elite. I don’t know if that’s entirely true though. Buehrle finished 5th in 2005 AL Cy Young voting and was a massive part of the White Sox’s World Series championship that same year. However, it should be noted that Buehrle never received a single Cy Young vote any other season. Still, up until the day he retired, Buerhle was never a bad pitcher. Aside from his 2006 season, Buehrle’s ERA consistently floated between 3.00 and 4.50, never dipping above or below those margins. He was always a pitcher that everybody would’ve loved to have on their staff, especially because he was always available to play. Roger Clemens source: Getty Images Everything I said about Bonds can pretty much be applied to Clemens as well. He’s arguably the greatest pitcher of the modern era, and his PED usage came before PED rules were really defined by MLB. He’s got other character flaws such as his alleged  affair with a 15-year-old, which honestly should be more of a reason to leave Clemens out of the Hall of Fame. Strictly in terms of numbers, statistics, and the way in which he used PEDs in an era where the rules were not entirely defined though, Clemens belongs in Cooperstown. Carl Crawford source: Getty Images There are some people out there who believe the MLB Hall of Fame should be determined by the question: “Can you tell the history of their sport without mentioning their name?” For Carl Crawford, this might be his best argument. Crawford was the first true star of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, a franchise that was birthed into existence in 1998. He’s second all-time in franchise WAR. You can’t really talk about the Rays franchise without mentioning Carl Crawford and you can’t really talk about late 90's/early 2000's MLB without mentioning Tampa. By that logic, Crawford belongs in the Hall of Fame (I know it takes a lot of mental gymnastics, but I’m trying my best). Not to mention, Crawford had a five-year span where he led the Majors in stolen bases four times, and a seven-year span where he stole at least 45 bases six times. The one time he didn’t (2008), Crawford missed 53 games due to an injury on his right hand. Injuries really hampered Crawford’s growth as a player. In fact, Crawford is one of only eight players to have accumulated 1000 hits and 250 stolen bases before turning 27. Despite the incredible speed, Crawford also had a remarkable knack for recording extra-base hits. Crawford led the league in triples four times and even with his tendency to swing first, ask questions later, making it difficult for the base-stealer to get on-base via walks, he recorded an OPS over .800 five times. Of all other players in the 2000s with at least 300 stolen bases, only Bobby Abreu had more seasons with an OPS of .800 or greater. Ichiro didn’t. Jimmy Rollins didn’t. José Reyes didn’t. Not bad for someone who struggled with plate discipline for the entirety of his career. Prince Fielder source: Getty Images The biggest argument against Prince Fielder is his longevity. Not even 7,000 career plate appearances? Yeah, that’s not a serious Hall of Fame candidate. That being said, for the 12 years Fielder played, he was one of the premiere first basemen in Major League Baseball, and if it hadn’t been for his nagging neck injuries that derailed his career and ultimately forced him into retirement, Fielder would’ve been a Hall of Famer and then some. Even while dealing with those injuries during his tenure in Texas, Fielder still managed to earn an All-Star bid and finished 13th in AL MVP voting in 2015. Keep in mind, Giants’ legend Buster Posey played as many years as Fielder. Fielder had more plate appearances, more hits, and was more durable than Posey, and Posey is considered by many to be a sure-fire Hall of Famer. While Fielder never had the accolades and postseason acclaim that Posey accrued during his career, Fielder did have a better career in terms of raw statistics. Of course, Fielder also played first base, a position that requires much more output offensively than the catcher position does, and that’s another huge knock on Fielder. Todd Helton source: Getty Images Say what you want about Coors Field and the effect it had on Helton’s career, but Todd Helton’s raw figures can make any statistician salivate. For the entirety of baseball’s history, the benchmarks for greatness in regards to batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage have been .300, .400, and .500 respectively. Helton’s triple-slash reads .316/.414/.539. He is the type of ball player that everybody could look at and go “Yeah, he’s good.” While Helton never took home an MVP Award, he absolutely should have won the award in 2005 when he led all of Major League Baseball in doubles, RBI, batting average, slugging percentage, and OPS. Helton was also a phenomenal fielder. I’m not even talking about the Gold Gloves he won. In terms of just defensive ability, Helton was incredible at the position. From 2000 to 2010, Helton was fourth among all qualified first basemen in Defensive Runs Saved. He was one of only nine qualified first basemen in that decade with an Ultimate Zone Rating per 150 innings played of at least 2.0. He was an all-around monster on the baseball field and one of the few bright spots for the Rockies franchise over the last two decades. Lastly, if you believe Helton’s DUI charges are reason to leave him out of Cooperstown, just remember that Tony La Russa has a bust in the Hall of Fame, and he’s currently managing the White Sox. Ryan Howard source: Getty Images Former Phillies’ first baseman Ryan Howard was built for the current era of Major League Baseball. If Howard started his career in 2018-ish, he might be considered one of the best players in the league. Maybe. There’s a pretty large chance that Howard’s inability to make contact would only be accentuated given the shift of focus toward whiffability in MLB pitchers. With pitches having more break and coming at hitters faster than ever before, Howard might have struck out even more often now than he did during the height of his career, and he struck out a lot in that short span. Strikeouts aside, Howard was one of the most feared hitters in Major League Baseball. He had a four-year stretch where he smacked 198 dingers. That’s almost unfathomable even by today’s standards where home runs are all anyone cares about. Was Howard good defensively? No. Did he fall off tremendously after his age-31 season? Absolutely. But he did win an MVP Award and a World Series all while being the best power hitter in MLB for half a decade. That’s worth something. Tim Hudson source: Getty Images The case against Tim Hudson is pretty much that the guy played for too long. He accrued a pretty incredible resume over the course of his career and the World Series he won in 2014 as a member of the San Francisco Giants certainly helps his Hall of Fame case, but the fact that he played 17 years, was only named an All-Star four times, and was pulled in the second inning of the most pivotal game of his career (Game 7 of the 2014 World Series), make a lot of people forget just how incredible Hudson was at the start of his career with the Oakland Athletics. After leaving Oakland, Hudson was always great, but never reached the same levels of stardom that he did with Oakland, and that is the biggest knock against him. Hudson has a career record of 222-133. That’s already great. In his six years with Oakland, Hudson went 92-39…that’s just absurd. As a member of the Big 3 in Oakland (Hudson, Barry Zito, Mark Mulder), Hudson was consistently regarded as the best, and while Zito may have been the only one to take home a Cy Young Award (2002), Hudson was still thought of as the team’s ace. It’s hard to explain in words just how good Hudson’s career in Oakland was. His .702 win percentage during the first six seasons of his career is the fifth-best in modern baseball history behind only Johnny Allen, Whitey Ford, Dwight Gooden, and Vic Raschi. Hudson’s 31.0 WAR in that same span is the 28th-best for any pitcher’s first six seasons since 1900. Of all pitchers who want to be on the Hall of Fame ballot in 2022 (meaning not Curt Schilling), Hudson has the lowest career ERA by over a hundredth of a point. That seems much more worthy of the 5.2 percent of ballots he was written on last season. Torii Hunter source: Getty Images We’ll come to find that Torii Hunter’s Hall of Fame case is more reliant on another member of this year’s Hall of Fame class earning Cooperstown recognition than anything else (more on that in a moment). If said player is a Hall of Famer, Hunter has a good case. If not, Hunter doesn’t deserve a plaque in a building in New York. Hunter does have some figures in his favor though. The fact that Hunter spent most of his time in center field puts a much greater focus on his defensive prowess than his offensive output. Hunter was a great defensive center fielder, but also had solid offensive numbers to boot. His 353 home runs are ninth-most all-time for a player who spent 50 percent or more of his innings in center field. His 498 doubles are the seventh-most all-time. When compared to other Hall of Fame center fielders, Hunter has a solid case. However, Hunter played in a much more offensive era than most other center fielders in Cooperstown and Hunter’s career 110 OPS+ is a testament to his numbers being inflated by the era he played in. Nonetheless, Hunter was an elite outfielder in Major League Baseball for close to a decade. He has the longevity, defense, and pure stats necessary to earn Cooperstown credentials. However, if Andruw Jones doesn’t get a Hall of Fame bid, Hunter’s case takes an enormous hit. Andruw Jones source: Getty Images Andruw Jones has everything you could want out of a center fielder, and it honestly astonishes me that he hasn’t been inducted into the Hall of Fame already. If I told you that a player who is thought of by many to be the greatest defensive center fielder in MLB history also hit 434 home runs (348 in center field; 5th all-time), you’d probably think “Oh yeah. That’s a Hall of Famer.” Yet, now in his fifth year on the ballot, Jones has yet to receive 50 percent of the votes on any ballot. Jones is a better version of Torii Hunter in terms of his Hall of Fame case. Jones was a better defender. Jones recorded a better career OPS. Jones had a better career OPS+. Jones had more home runs. Jones had a better peak. Jones had more MVP-caliber seasons and had one season where he led the league in home runs and RBI while finishing second in MVP voting (2005). The highest Hunter ever finished in MVP voting was sixth (2002). Jones has one of the best Hall of Fame cases of anyone this year. If people actually took the time to look at his numbers, analytics, and the impact he had on the Atlanta Braves, who made the playoffs each of the first ten seasons of Jones’ career by the way, he wouldn’t be on the ballot this year, because he would’ve been voted in already. Jeff Kent source: Getty Images Let’s play blind resumé! I’m going to show you three players’ career numbers and you tell me which one you think is most deserving of Hall of Fame recognition. Each of these players spent most of their careers playing at second base, and each of them is either up for Hall of Fame consideration or is already in the Hall of Fame. I will also provide their best five-year spans. Hopefully, by providing both their career numbers and their best five-year stretches, it will offer a better understanding of each players’ consistency and peak. With that said, here are the players. Player A: Career: .285/.344/.452; .795 OPS; 114 OPS+; 282 home runs; 761 XBH; 1.66 K:BB ratio; 344 SB; 57 Fielding Runs Saved Above Average at 2B 5-year peak: .300/.364/.497; .862 OPS; 135 OPS+; 131 home runs; 288 XBH; 1.31 K:BB ratio; 88 SB; 12 Fielding Runs Above Average at 2B Player B: Career: .290/.356/.500; .856 OPS; 123 OPS+; 377 home runs; 984 XBH; 1.9 K:BB ratio; 94 SB; 0 Fielding Runs Saved Above Average at 2B 5-year peak: .307/.378/.548; .926 OPS; 142 OPS+; 146 home runs; 375 XBH; 1.66 K:BB ratio; 46 SB; 4 Fielding Runs Saved Above Average at 2B Player C: Career: .275/.358/.465; .823 OPS; 117 OPS+; 259 home runs; 728 XBH; 1.65 K:BB ratio; 154 SB; 5 Fielding Runs Saved Above Average at 2B 5-year peak: .301/.388/.535; .922 OPS; 135 OPS+; 146 home runs; 265 XBH; 1.58 K:BB ratio; 77 SB; 46 Fielding Runs Saved Above Average at 2B Who would you choose? Player A was the most consistent defensively. He was a great base stealer and his five-year peak isn’t too far removed from his career numbers. Player B is clearly the best offensively. He’s got the best offensive numbers in nearly every category for his career and his five-year peak, but he was only average as a defender at second base. Player C had arguably the best peak, although the offensive numbers weren’t quite up to par with that of Player B. Player C was far better defensively at his peak than either Player A or B though. So, who are they? Player A is Ryne Sandberg: 1984 NL MVP, seven-time Silver Slugger, 10-time All-Star, nine-time Gold Glove winner, 2005 Hall of Fame inductee Player B is Jeff Kent: 2000 NL MVP, four-time Silver Slugger, five-time All-Star, received 32.4 percent of votes on the 2021 Hall of Fame ballot Player C is Chase Utley: 2008 World Series Champ, four-time Silver Slugger, six-time All-Star, will likely make the Hall of Fame when eligible Sure, he was never as great defensively as his contemporaries, but Kent is arguably the greatest offensive second baseman of all-time. During an era where PED usage was running rampant through Major League Baseball, Kent was one of the most outspoken critics of players using steroids. There’s practically nothing against this guy. Tim Lincecum source: Getty Images How much are accolades worth? Big Time Timmy Jim could fill a bookshelf with all the hardware he won during his career. If you compare Tim Lincecum’s accolades to those of other Hall of Famers, Lincecum stacks up pretty well. The only problem is that he won all of that hardware over the course of four years. Lincecum’s career was filled with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows all within the span of a decade. Thus, his career numbers are not anywhere close to those of other Hall of Fame members. Remember what I said about Carl Crawford though? Can the history of baseball be told without Tim Lincecum? Lincecum was arguably the most important part of the Giants’ dynasty in the early 2010's. He was the ace during the 2010 World Series run. He was the number two during the 2012 World Series run, and even though his career had fallen off by 2014, he did make an appearance in the 2014 World Series and pitched 1.2 innings of perfect baseball. Lincecum helped build the Giants back to relevancy after the franchise had gone 56 years without a World Series title. He was pivotal to baseball history for the years 2008-2011. He may not get a plaque in Cooperstown, but that doesn’t make his career any less important. Justin Morneau source: Getty Images He won an MVP Award in 2006 and a batting title in 2014. That’s pretty much his entire case. He had a great career, and a great resurgence with the Rockies after everyone had written him off. All in all though, Justin Morneau’s Hall of Fame case rests on his accolades, of which he has very few. He’s only ever led the league in four categories. Of course, one is batting average, but the other three are games played, sacrifice flies, and intentional walks. Those aren’t the most impressive stats to lead the league in. But like I said, he did win an MVP and a batting title. That’s more than most people on the ballot can say. Joe Nathan source: Getty Images Did you know that Joe Nathan is one of only nine pitchers in Major League history with at least 900 innings pitched and an ERA+ over 150? The other eight are Mariano Rivera, Billy Wagner, Bill Foster, Bullet Rogan, Jacob deGrom, Clayton Kershaw, Pedro Martinez, and Satchel Paige. Those are all Hall of Famers or soon-to-be Hall of Famers. Secondly, if you take a look at the reliever/closer position in general, their job is to help their team win. Relievers are supposed to come into games and effectively shut the door on the opposition, make them feel hopeless, and secure their team the victory. The statistic Win Probability Added (WPA) is a testament to that ideal. Joe Nathan is one of only six relievers in MLB history with at least 20 Wins Above Replacement and a Win Probability Added over 30. The other five are Dennis Eckersley, Goose Gossage, Hoyt Wilhelm, Mariano Rivera, and Trevor Hoffman. That’s pretty good company. David Ortiz source: Getty Images The conversation surrounding David Ortiz is filled with reasons why he should make the Hall of Fame and one reason why he shouldn’t — his failed drug test in 2003. Here’s why David Ortiz’s failed test shouldn’t affect his Hall of Fame credentials though. Ortiz’s failed test was never supposed to be leaked. It was an anonymous survey, there was supposed to be no penalty for failing the test, and we still are not sure what performance-enhancing drug Ortiz tested positive for. That makes it all the more likely that Ortiz’s failed test was a false positive. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred even said in an official statement regarding Ortiz’s failed test that “There were legitimate scientific questions about whether or not those were truly positives. If, in fact, there were test results like that today on a player and we tried to discipline them, there’d be a grievance over it. It would be vetted, tried, resolved. We didn’t do that. Those issues and ambiguities were never resolved because we knew they didn’t matter.” If Major League Baseball itself thinks there were issues with the test, then so should the BBWAA. Jonathan Papelbon source: Getty Images Papelbon is a Red Sox playoff hero. He has a multitude of memorable playoff performances and for a reliever, that’s tough to pass up. Who could forget his 4.1 perfect innings and three saves in the 2007 World Series? Through 27 postseason innings, Papelbon has an ERA of 1.0. He also posted a 0.92 ERA and 35 saves in his rookie season. Papelbon had just two seasons with an ERA over 3.0 for his career. While the requirements for relievers to reach the Hall of Fame is far greater than other positions, Papelbon came up big in big moments and if Billy Wagner and Joe Nathan are serious Hall of Fame contenders, there’s an argument to be made for Papelbon as well. Jake Peavy source: Getty Images Since 2000, there have been six pitchers to win Triple Crowns: Randy Johnson, Johan Santana, Clayton Kershaw, Justin Verlander, Shane Bieber, and Jake Peavy. You can sort of eliminate Bieber’s Triple Crown too since it happened during the COVID-shortened 2020 season. That leaves just five pitchers to have achieved the feat in a full season. Johnson is a Hall of Famer. Kershaw and Verlander will both be Hall of Famers. Meanwhile Santana maybe deserved a few more votes than he got in 2018 when he was knocked off the ballot. The Triple Crown is one of the rarest accomplishments possible in baseball, and the fact that Peavy accomplished that feat is remarkable. It’s something no other pitcher on this year’s ballot can say. In fact, since 1950 only eleven pitchers can say they accomplished the same feat that Peavy did. That’s worth some consideration. Andy Pettitte source: Getty Images Andy Pettitte is a five-time World Series champion. He went to eight World Series altogether over the course of his career. In the postseason, Pettitte posted a .633 win percentage (19-11) and a 3.81 ERA. All of those numbers are good, but not great. The biggest thing going for Pettitte is that the man is a winner. This guy could walk into a Kay Jewelers and they’d marvel at all the bling in his inventory. That was the biggest argument for Derek Jeter, too, wasn’t it? Jeter was a phenomenal hitter as well, but the most common argument for The Captain was his pivotal role in the Yankees’ dynasty. Jeter was the face of the biggest brand in baseball and was a damn good player. Pettitte may not have reached the heights Jeter did, but he was arguably just as vital to the team’s championship runs. Pettitte was the Yankees’ ace in 1996. He led the team in innings pitched in 1998 and 2000. When the Yankees were at the top of baseball’s food chain, Pettitte was Mr. Reliable that fans could always rely on for solid performances. He may not have ever been the best pitcher in baseball, but he was never someone opponents licked their chops at. Pettitte always stayed cool under pressure. That’s a big reason why even in his three years away from the Bronx, he continued to be the ace for a winning franchise. He helped lead the Houston Astros to their first playoff appearance in three years in 2004 and led them to their first ever World Series appearance in 2005. Wherever Pettitte went, wins followed. He was like the Chris Paul of Major League Baseball. A.J. Pierzynski source: Getty Images A.J. Pierzynski is one of just 10 players in MLB history to play a majority of their games at catcher and record at least 2000 career hits. The other nine are Ivan Rodriguez, Ted Simmons, Carlton Fisk, Jason Kendall, Yogi Berra, Mike Piazza, Yadier Molina, Gary Carter, and Johnny Bench. Joe Mauer and Victor Martinez both did not play a majority of their games at the catcher position. Pierzynski is ahead of Hall of Fame catchers like Bill Dickey, Gabby Hartnett, and Mickey Cochrane in total hits. “Sure. That’s a cool list and all, but Pierzynski was never a top-tier catcher. He never even received an MVP vote.” True, but you know who else never received an MVP vote? Buck Ewing, and he’s in the Hall of Fame. What do you have to say about that, huh?! Manny Ramírez source: Getty Images Manny Ramírez is a little more difficult to defend than the other steroid users on this list because not only did Ramírez get caught using PEDs in an era where the rules were well-defined and restricted substances had been established, he got caught twice. That being said, Ramírez is still a 12-time All-Star, two-time World Series champ, and nine-time Silver Slugger recipient. The man had six straight seasons with an OPS over 1.000 for crying out loud. To put that in perspective, Álex Rodríguez, arguably the greatest offensive shortstop of all-time had six such seasons his entire career and he was also using PEDs. Ramírez also recorded seven straight seasons where he finished top-ten in AL MVP voting. Now, if you’ve seen any clips of Manny Ramírez playing defense in his career, you know he was an abysmal outfielder defensively. Ramírez consistently got negative points for his defensive play. The fact that he was able to finish so high in MVP voting so many years in a row while being a walking meme in left field, just goes to show how good Ramírez was with a bat in his hands. He still holds the MLB record for most RBI in a single season since integration (165) and he drove in more runs over the course of his career than David Ortiz, and Ortiz recorded over 400 more plate appearances than Ramírez. Ramírez has a better career batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage than Ortiz, but Ortiz didn’t have the same struggles with PEDs that Ramírez did, and that’s what might keep him out of Cooperstown. Álex Rodríguez source: Getty Images A-Rod, much like Ramírez, is hard to defend because he used PEDs in an era where the rules surrounding PED usage had been clearly defined. That being said, Rodríguez made an effort to fix his image after his career ended and more or less succeeded. Rodríguez became a commentator with MLB Network and became one of the most likable figures in the baseball world. He apologized for his previous PED usages and urged players not to follow in his footsteps. That’s called atoning for your past misjudgments and Rodríguez played it perfectly. From a statistical standpoint, there’s nothing that needs to be said about Rodríguez’s claim for Cooperstown. He’s the best shortstop since integration. He’s got the accolades. He had great defensive metrics. He’s got the rings. He’s got the public appeal. The only thing Rodríguez has going against him is his PED usage. However, as I just stated, Rodríguez made like a devout Catholic and hit the confession booth hard before his name ever appeared on the ballot and that’s why his Hall of Fame stock has skyrocketed in recent seasons. Scott Rolen source: Getty Images There is nothing you could say about Scott Rolen that would make me think he’s not a Hall of Famer. Even with the character clause becoming a bigger factor in MLB Hall of Fame voting, Rolen’s record is immaculate. Spotless. If his career was a college application, the President’s of Harvard and Yale would have a public fistfight for the honor of having Rolen attend their university. Apart from his clean character record though, Rolen has the statistics to back up his Hall of Fame candidacy. Rolen is 10nth all-time in WAR among third basemen. Everybody above Rolen is either a Hall of Famer or will be when they become eligible (Adrián Beltré), and Rolen’s OPS+ of 122 is five points higher than Beltré’s career number figure (117). Honestly, longevity stats like career home runs and RBI aside, Rolen’s career stacks up pretty well to Beltré’s. Rolen’s got a World Series ring…Beltré doesn’t. Rolen recorded 14 defensive runs saved per year from 2003 on (when DRS first started being recorded on Baseball-Reference). Beltré recorded 13 DRS per year from 2003 on. Everybody loves to talk about Beltré, but Rolen still hasn’t gotten the recognition he deserves. Just keep that in mind in case Rolen still isn’t announced on January 25. Jimmy Rollins source: Getty Images DON’T LOOK AT HIS ADVANCED STATS! Don’t look at them! You know Jimmy Rollins won an MVP Award, right? You know he has almost 2500 career hits, right? You know his last name vaguely sounds like a baseball equipment company (Rawlings), right? I just want to make sure you know how good his base statistics and accolades are, because if J-Roll is going to make the Hall of Fame, that’s what he’s going to have to rely on. Never mind that Rollins’ career OPS+ was 95, meaning he was a below-average hitter for his career. Never mind that. Need I remind you that Rollins has more career triples (115) than times caught stealing (105)? Never mind that Rollins never walked more than 65 times in a single season. Forget that. You need to remember that Rollins hit 30 home runs and stole 40 bases in a single season before Mike Trout made it cool. Remember that? Did Scott Rolen ever do that? I didn’t think so. Checkmate! Curt Schilling source: Getty Images Oh boy. How do I talk about this without sending the Twitter comment section into a frenzy? I don’t suppose I can. The case for Curt Schilling has always been pretty clear. Look at his stats. They speak for themselves. Schilling consistently challenged Randy Johnson for the title of ‘ace’ when the pair were teammates on the Diamondbacks. His career ERA (3.46) is the lowest of any pitcher on the ballot. While he never won a Cy Young Award, he did finish second in voting three times. He’s got numbers that other players on this year’s ballot would kill for. He’s got a World Series title, a World Series MVP, and an iconic moment with a bloody sock to boot. The case against Schilling has always revolved around non-baseball actions and comments. His racist, xenophobic, and anti-journalist comments are reason enough for anybody to dislike him. His time spent serving on the board of former Trump campaign manager, Steve Bannon’s border wall group which “defrauded hundreds of thousands of donors”, is just icing on the cake. However, his plea to be taken off the 2022 ballot is likely the biggest reason he will not reach the Hall of Fame in his final year of eligibility. Why would people vote for someone who doesn’t want to be involved in the process? Don’t tell me Schilling made that statement in a fit of rage, because he made an official request to Major League Baseball to be stricken off the ballot and was denied. Schilling would have had a good chance this year considering he was less than 4 four percent of the vote away from induction last year and voters tend to be more favorable towards players in their final year of eligibility. However, Schilling pretty much eliminated himself from contention with his request and no amount of bloody sock games can retract what he said. Gary Sheffield source: Getty Images I’m just going to quote this article by Chris Bodig on Cooperstown Cred: “For 14 years (a remarkably long time for a player’s “peak”), Sheffield posted a slash line of a .304 batting average, .411 on-base percentage, and .551 slugging percentage. His ballpark-adjusted OPS+ was 153 (53% above league average), the fourth-best among all hitters from 1992-2005 (behind only Barry Bonds, Frank Thomas, and Manny Ramirez).” I’ve already talked in this piece about how remarkable a .300/.400/.500 triple-slash is, and Sheffield held that line for 14 years. FOURTEEN! That’s nuts. Sheffield has the numbers to be in Cooperstown, but his links to PEDs are the only things holding him back. Sammy Sosa source: Getty Images Sosa’s PED usage falls into the same category as that of David Ortiz. It was the same exact scenario. So, if we, as baseball fans, are going to give Ortiz a collective pass on his failed test, then we need to do the same for Sosa, for consistency’s sake. Of course, there was also the whole corked bat incident, which definitely classifies as cheating. Therefore, while many voters may view using a corked bat in a better light than using PEDs, it’s still cheating and cheaters shouldn’t be allowed into the Hall of Fame. BUT! Hear me out…he did have a five-year stretch where he hit 292 home runs and drove in 705 runs. For someone who has as much evidence of using PEDs going against him as David Ortiz, a stretch of that magnitude is almost unfathomable. It’s not like Bonds who suddenly discovered immense power in his late thirties. Sosa discovered this power in his early thirties. That may raise an eyebrow or two, but it’s not impossible for players of that age to start putting up career-high power figures. After all, Ortiz hit the third-highest slugging percentage of his career (.620) at age 40. Sosa really didn’t get going until his fifth year in Major League Baseball. Even then it took five more years for Sosa to really find his power stroke. His career numbers may not be that flashy, but his seven-year peak is one of the most remarkable in baseball history. If Sosa had the same level of suspicion in regards to PED usage as Bonds or Clemens, his case would be way worse, but as it stands, there’s no reason to think he used PEDs any more than Ortiz, and as I said a few slides ago, the world has more or less agreed that Ortiz’s failed test was a fluke. Mark Teixeira source: Getty Images Everything I said about Prince Fielder can probably be applied to Mark Teixeira as well. Tex was on a Hall of Fame pace up until his age-32 season. Then, injuries piled up. His power numbers took a dip, and he didn’t see the field as consistently in his final few seasons. While Fielder had a higher peak (career-best 166 OPS+ to Teixeira’s career-best 152), Teixeira had a more consistent, well-rounded career giving him a much better case for the Hall of Fame than his Milwaukee/Detroit/Texas counterpart. Teixeira was also, unlike Fielder, a great first baseman. Tex averaged 7seven defensive runs saved per year according to Baseball-Reference and only ever posted a negative defensive runs saved at the position in the final year of his career. ​ Omar Vizquel source: Getty Images The case for Omar Vizquel lies in his durability. Vizquel played more games than anyone else at the shortstop position. During that time, Vizquel racked up over 2800 hits and over 400 stolen bases. He was an incredible defensive shortstop and a below-average offensive shortstop. But hey, that didn’t stop Ozzie Smith from reaching the Hall of Fame. When compared to Ozzie Smith, Vizquel’s Hall of Fame case seems much more plausible. Smith won 13 career Gold Gloves. Vizquel won 11. Smith had a career OPS+ of 87. Vizquel clocks in with a career OPS+ of 82. Basically, if we lower the requirements for Hall of Fame shortstops just a little bit, then a very good case could be made for Vizquel. Sure, Vizquel doesn’t have the same number of All-Star appearances as Smith, but Smith didn’t have to compete with Derek Jeter and Álex Rodríguez for All-Star selections. Smith also had some iconic moments in the playoffs as well and was one of the most well-liked figures in MLB while he was playing. The same can’t be said for Vizquel, who has faced sexual allegation charges from former batboys, and has been accused of domestic abuse by his ex-wife. Billy Wagner source: Getty Images Mariano Rivera was an  unanimous Hall of Famer — the only unanimous Hall of Famer ever in the history of Major League Baseball. Of all pitchers in MLB history with at least 900 innings pitched, Rivera has the highest ERA+ (205). Billy Wagner is second (187). Wagner is sixth on the all-time saves list. He is also the only pitcher since integration with at least 900 innings pitched to have a career WHIP under 1.0. Wagner never had that great, career-defining postseason moment that all great relievers seem to have. He never had that unhittable pitch like Rivera’s cutter. Hell, Wagner posted a career 10.03 ERA in the postseason. Still, Wagner was one of the most consistent relievers of all-time, posting just one season in his career with an ERA over 3.0. His raw stats are enough to make any statistician foam at the mouth, but we’re just going to leave him out of the Hall of Fame because he didn’t have a great postseason moment? No. I won’t let that happen. Wagner has more career saves than Dennis Eckersley, despite playing eight fewer years. Wagner has a lower ERA+ than Trevor Hoffman. Wagner has a higher strikeout rate than Mariano Rivera. All three of the closers I just mentioned are currently enshrined in Cooperstown, so why is Wagner still on the ballot? 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