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Elite newcomers join chase for HOF plaques
- Updated: November 21, 2016
NEW YORK — A cornucopia of prominent names, old and new, highlight the annual ballot for the National Baseball Hall of Fame, which was released Monday and mailed to eligible members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
Outfielders Vladimir Guerrero and Manny Ramirez and catchers Ivan Rodriguez and Jorge Posada are the prominent newcomers. First baseman Jeff Bagwell, outfielder Tim Raines and closer Trevor Hoffman missed election in the 2016 vote by slim margins. And with the lack of a first-ballot lock, Bagwell, Raines and Hoffman all have good chances again this time around.
The announcement of the Class of 2017 is scheduled for Jan. 18 at 6 p.m. ET, live on MLB Network and MLB.com. The induction ceremony will be held on July 30 behind the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown, N.Y.
“I do think about it,” Rodriguez said when asked about his first time on the ballot. “Now that the year gets closer, I think about it almost every day.”
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The ballot will grow tighter again during the next three years, with first-ballot certainties Chipper Jones (2018), Mariano Rivera (’19), and Derek Jeter (’20) set to enter the mix. Jim Thome, who hit 612 homers in 22 seasons, will also be on the ballot for the first time in ’18.
Players can remain on the ballot for up to 10 years. Those who receive less than five percent of the vote in any given year are taken out of consideration. A player’s name must appear on at least 75 percent of the ballots to be elected, and voters can list up to 10 names.
Bagwell, who played his entire 15-year big league career with the Astros, fell just 15 votes shy of the 330 required for induction in 2016. Bagwell batted .297 with 449 homers and a .948 OPS, the latter of which is ranked 22nd all-time. Raines, in his final year on the ballot, was 23 votes short a year ago. Raines, who is fifth on the all-time list with 808 stolen bases, played for six teams over the course of 23 seasons.
Hoffman, the all-time National League leader with 601 saves — 552 of them for the Padres — missed by 34 votes in his first year on the ballot. He’s not taking anything for granted this time around.
“It’s a totally different process now. They eliminated a lot of voters,” said Hoffman, noting that the electorate was trimmed to 440 voters from 549 in 2015. “You just never know how that’s going to play into it. I don’t know if it’s easier or harder to get in.”
Of the ballot newcomers, Guerrero might have the best chance of immediate election. In his 16-year career, spent mostly with the Expos and Angels, Guerrero had a slash line of .318/.379/.553 with 449 homers, 1,496 RBIs and an OPS of .931. His WAR of 59.3 is ranked by baseball-reference.com as the 125th-best of all-time among offensive players.
Guerrero could become the first position player from the Dominican Republic to earn a plaque in the Hall. Pitchers Juan …
