Who deserves enshrinement in Cooperstown?
Baseball writers are currently mulling over this year’s Hall of Fame candidates, with selections to be announced on January 21. None of us at Royals Review have 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 writers also providing explanations.
Ryan Heffernon: Carlos Beltrán, Andruw Jones, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, Ichiro Suzuki, Chase Utley, Billy Wagner
Jones is on my ballot every season and we are getting close to desperation hour. Jones has a higher fWAR than Robin Yount, Harmon Killebrew, and Tony Gwynn. 96% of that fWAR came before he turned 30. Only Alex Rodriguez and Chase Utley have a better WAR7 than Jones on this year’s ballot. He is one of the greatest two-way players in baseball history and should be a HOFer.
ARod’s perception was a mixed bag before steroids. Add in the performance enhancers and he is one of the most polarizing figures in baseball history. However, Alex Rodriguez is without question the best player on the ballot and arguably one of the 10 best position players of all-time.
Relievers are tough, especially relievers who weren’t one-time starters or who didn’t break the all-time saves record. But despite being just eighth in saves and having pitched only 903 innings, Wagner was a unicorn in his era and one of the most dominant pitchers of all time. Among pitchers with at least 900 innings, Wagner is the all-time leader in K% (33.2%) and opponent batting average (.184). He is certainly the greatest left-handed reliever ever.
Hokius: Bobby Abreu, Carlos Beltrán, Mark Buerhle, Félix Hernández, Andruw Jones, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, Ichiro Suzuki, Billy Wagner
Obviously, I’m someone who likes a big Hall. I am also the kind of person who hates leaving an opportunity on the table. Free popcorn refills even though the movie is over and I can’t stand the idea of eating another kernel? I’m there. To that end, there are a couple of guys on this ballot that I would leave off without any hesitation if there were more candidates at the top end. But there aren’t, so this is my ballot.
Cullen Jekel: Carlos Beltrán, Félix Hernández, Andruw Jones, Andy Pettitte, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Jimmy Rollins, CC Sabathia, Ichiro Suzuki, Chase Utley
Matthew Lamar: Bobby Abreu, Carlos Beltrán, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, Ichiro Suzuki, Billy Wagner
For the first time in what feels like a long time, I don’t think there are 10 guys who are worthy of getting in. There are just a lot of bubble guys like Mark Buehrle and Ian Kinsler and Andy Pettite who were very good for a long time but were never among the best at their positions. Additionally, I’m a proponent of putting the guys in who clearly deserved it for their level of play—and that includes A-Rod, Beltran, and Manny, even though some might keep them away for off-the-field reasons.
Bradford Lee: Bobby Abreu, Carlos Beltrán, CC Sabathia, Ichiro Suzuki
Ichiro was a phenomenon. Aside from the 3,089 hits, the world-class defense and the rocket launcher of an arm, Ichiro brought unprecedented publicity to the game from his home country. Kansas City fans knew Beltran was something different after he won the 1999 Rookie of the Year. His early combination of speed and power often left us in awe. Sabathia would give you 30 starts and 200 innings a year during his most productive stretch, which ran from 2001 to 2013. Along the way to 251 wins, he made six All-Star teams and won the 2007 Cy Young award.
Is there a more misunderstood and underappreciated player on the ballot? Abreu had a 12-year peak where he averaged: .301/.406/.497 with 172 hits, 104 runs, 21 home runs, 97 RBI and 103 walks. That’s a 12-year average! That’s also elite production for over a decade. Unbelievably, he only made two All-Star teams and never finished higher than 12th in the MVP voting.
Jacob Milham: Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia, Billy Wagner
The top two first-year ballot options should be Hall of Fame shoe-ins this year. Ichiro’s late-career struggles may prevent him from being a unanimous choice, but he should be in Cooperstown nonetheless. Wagner set the bar for left-handed relievers, and good graces and bullpen value should push him into the hall in his 10th and final year. Pettitte’s longevity and postseason success more than make up for his regular-season stats, which are just shy of the Hall of Fame averages. Beltrán, Andruw Jones, Manny Ramirez, Omar Vizquel, and both Rodríguezes are immediately removed from consideration due to the damage they did to the game of baseball and/or off-field wrongdoings.
Max Rieper: Carlos Beltrán, Andruw Jones, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, Ichiro Suzuki, Chase Utley
I’m a small Hall guy, but I think there’s a lot of deserving candidates here. I don’t know why it took me so long to come around on Andruw Jones, I suspect his late career crash impacted me more than it should have. I must admit I hadn’t though of Abreu as a Hall of Famer, but his numbers are compelling. I don’t think I have him in, but he’s an interesting case.
royaltreatment: Carlos Beltrán, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Ichiro Suzuki, 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 h=Hall curators can handle the steroid controversy stuff alongside their plaques in a way that allows visitors to come to their own conclusions.
Beltrán deserves it, and I loved watching him play. Utley is in that some category. Ichiro is a no doubt HoFer collecting 3,000 hits even though he played in Japan until he was 27. He is an incredible player no matter how you slice it.
sterlingice: Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Ichiro Suzuki, Chase Utley, Billy Wagner
Max tries to limit our wordiness and you all know how hard that is for me. To get around that, I’ll just link to last year’s ballot where I laid out most of my rationale for who I voted for and who I left off. The only difference between last year and this year is that Adrian Beltre, Todd Helton, and Joe Mauer were voted in and I added no-brainer Ichiro. I still have a hard time with Beltrán and Jones, but left them off. And, man, I wish King Felix had stayed healthy and aged gracefully after 30 as I loved watching him pitch and would have loved to vote for him.
Greg Walker: Bobby Abreu, Carlos Beltrán, Mark Buerhle, Andruw Jones, Francisco Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, Ichiro Suzuki, Chase Utley, Billy Wagner, Ben Zobrist
With candidates required to be on 75 percent of ballots, Royals Review would select three players for induction into the Hall of Fame - Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia, and Carlos Beltrán.
Who would you select for enshrinement?
