My MLB Hall of Fame Ballot for 2021

A little over a month ago, the ballot for the 2021 MLB Hall of Fame induction was announced. Every year, members of the Baseball Writers of America (BBWAA) cast their ballots to see who will be a part of Cooperstown’s next class. I thought it would be fun to fill out a ballot myself to see how I would vote. So that is exactly what I did. I found a blank ballot online and cast my vote for who I found worthy to be included. We are going to go through each selection and I will defend why I included them. With that said, here is who I would vote for.

Scott Rolen

Scott Rolen is one of the best third baseman to ever play in the major leagues. Of the 333 members of the hall, only 17 of them were primarily 3B. Guys like Brooks Robinson and Mike Schmidt come to mind. Rolen belongs right up there with them. In terms of positional rank, Rolen ranks 8th all time in WAR, 6th in home runs, 9th in OPS+, and accumulated 8 Gold Glove awards. The stats back up Rolen as someone who belongs in the Hall.

Billy Wagner

Next on the list is one of the best relief pitchers of all time. I had the pleasure of watching Wagner often when he was a member of the Mets. Wagner accumulated 27.8 WAR in his 16 year career, which is good for 14th all time at his position. What seals the deal for me is the person right above him in WAR is Hall of Famer, Trevor Hoffman. He also ranks above Hall of Famers Rollie Fingers and Bruce Sutter by a decent amount. Wagner and his 422 career saves belong in the Hall.

Gary Sheffield

It used to be a sure fire right of passage into the hall if you hit 500 or more home runs in your career. Sheffield did accomplish that feat (I was at the game) and much more throughout his long career. He also accumulated 60.5 career WAR which is right on the cusp of the number you need to hit. He might not ever get in, but he did enough over his 22 year big league career for me.

Andrew Jones

This one is the last one where I think he has legitimate shot at getting in this year. Andrew Jones is easily one of the best defensive CF of all time. He was a defensive wizard out there and racked up 10 consecutive Gold Glove awards from 1998-2007. He was also an elite hitter. Jones had a career OPS+ of 111, career .823 OPS, and also hit 434 home runs. I know homeruns dont really cut it anymore for a lot of voters, but Jones’s defensive wizardry, combined with his offensive talent means he gets my vote.

Todd Helton and Jeff Kent

These two I am going to put together because I consider them to be in the same boat. Neither of them have a chance to get in this year, or maybe not at all, but they were too good to fall off the ballot. If a player does not appear on at least 10% of the ballots, they fall off and lose their eligibility. Kent and Helton were too good for that to happen so I am using two of my votes to help keep their hopes alive.

Notable absences

You will notice that I did not include Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, or Sammy Sosa on my ballot. Statistically speaking, all 3 of the deserved to get in on their first year on the ballot. However, steroids and other PEDs have prevented them from achieving that goal. Many of the voters are changing the narrative on these guys. As the BBWAA gets younger, Bonds, Clemens, and Sosa have received more support over the years. However, I am in the camp that as long as Pete Rose cannot get in, these guys should not get in either.

Final Thoughts

Obviously, take all of these with a grain of salt. I was nowhere near old enough to truly appreciate some of these guy’s careers so there is definitely some aspects I am misinterpreting or over/under valuing. The people who do have real votes have been in the game for a long time and do far more research than an hour in order to write an article. What is also interesting for this years ballot is that there will be no first year player inducted. There was a streak going back to 2014 I believe where a first year eligible player was elected. This year, that streak will be snapped. Also, this will probably be the year Clemens and Bonds get in as both are right on the cusp of the 75% minimum.

The ceremony will take place on July 25, 2021 and will also include last year’s class as well.

-Pete Chatterton (@Pchat12)