Who I Would Vote For On The Baseball Hall Of Fame Ballot

The Baseball Hall Of Fame Class of 2025 will be announced on January 21st. It's a pretty deep ballot this year. While I desperately want a vote and would push Tommy Smokes down an elevator shaft to get one, the BBWAA decided yet again not to send me a ballot.

This is a pretty stacked class with two guys with a real chance at being first ballot HOFers. Here's who I would put on my HOF ballot:

Ichiro Suzuki

He's a no brainer choice. He has 3,089 career hits…and that's starting his MLB career at 27. He's right there with Tony Gwynn and Wade Boggs as the greatest contact hitters I've ever seen. Plus, he played brilliant defense in right field.

Can I say all that and also say I hope he doesn't get it unanimously? Right now, the only player to get in with 100% of the vote in Hall Of Fame history is Mariano Rivera. Derek Jeter was a vote away and Ken Griffey Jr. missed it by three. I hate the Yankees but Rivera was so clearly the best closer in baseball history that I don't mind him being a 100% guy. 

@NotMrTibbs (used to be on Twitter and is now on BlueSky. I know that is very lame but he does good work) tracks all the public Hall Of Fame votes that come in. There have been 104 ballots so far (27% of total ballots) and Ichiro has been on every one. It's a small thing and while Ichiro is absolutely a HOFer, I put guys like Griffey, Jr., Greg Maddux and Tom Seaver on a different tier. 

Then again, how can I say that when I would never submit a ballot without his name checked off?

C.C. Sabathia

Look at Sabathia's career and try to find what he didn't accomplish. He won a World Series, Cy Young Award and won 251 games in an era when the last 300 game winner retired 10 years before he did. The only pitcher to win more games since Sabathia is Justin Verlander, who will also be a first ballot HOFer. Sabathia also finished with 3,093 strikeouts with is 18th all-time.

I figured Sabathia would get Cooperstown but I worried it would take a couple tries. @NotMrTibbs has him tracked at 89.4%. I could see some private ballots bringing that number down but I doubt it will get under 80%. 

He's in.

Scott Cunningham. Getty Images.

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Andruw Jones

It's pretty wild that the best defensive centerfielder I've ever seen (who also hit 434 home runs) isn't in the Hall Of Fame. But, if you look a little closer, it's at least understandable. The last hitter to be elected by the writers into the Hall with under 2,000 was Ralph Kiner in 1975. For a long time now, 2,000 hits was a necessary benchmark for Cooperstown.

Andruw Jones was good enough to make an exception despite only having 1,933 hits.

I'm willing to look past a shorter career because his peak was that special. He won 10 Gold Gloves playing a very tough defensive position. His defensive WAR is 22nd All-Time.

He'd have my vote but I don't think he gets in this year. He's tracking at 73.1% (you need 75%) and the private ballots will bring that down. But, he'll have two more years on the ballot after this one. He only had 7.5% (!!!) of the ballot in his 2nd year so he's had a sharp rise in votes. He'll get in next year or the year after. I just don't think he joins this class unfortunately. 

MIKE FIALA. Getty Images.

Billy Wagner

For most of Wagner's career, I did not consider him as someone who would be a serious HOF candidate. Great closer? Sure. But enshrined in Cooperstown? It wasn't until near the end of Wagner's career when you looked at his entire career, he was nearly always great. Other than an injury-plagued 2000 season, he never had an ERA over 2.85. His career ERA was 2.31! Not only that but he was also one of the most dominant strikeout pitchers ever with a K/9 IP rate of 11.9. 

It's easy and I think unfair to judge him too harshly on his post-season failures. It was not good at all but it was also only 11.2 IP. I can't judge a man's whole career on that. I can't even say he's not clutch. He had a lifetime ERA in September of 1.70 and that was in 158 IP.

It's Wagner's last year on the ballot. He was only 5 votes short last year. He's also tracking at 85.6%. He's getting in and I think he should.

Kirby Lee. Getty Images.

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Bobby Abreu

Abreu is not getting this year. I don't think the writers will ever vote him in. You may not think he should get in. I disagree. Bobby Abreu is a hitter that did everything right. He had an incredible batting eye (100+ walks 8 years in a row!), was a great baserunner (400 steals and 100+ runs 8 times) and had some real power (25th all-time in doubles).

His consistency was really admirable and was one of favorite players to watch even though he played for rivals like the Phillies and Yankees. I know he never got to a World Series but how much of that is Abreu's fault? I will agree he was never a dominant player and I understand why I'm in a minority wanting him in. But the good outweighs the bad for me.

Jim McIsaac. Getty Images.

Carlos Beltran

This is my last and toughest pick. I wouldn't vote for steroid/PED guys. I know that some players like Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds had HOF careers before they started using steroids. I also believe there are likely already guys in who may have used. But for me, they wouldn't get my vote. If the veteran's committee does vote them in one day, so be it. I will say it does speak volumes that the players and managers who make those selections have also chosen, so far at least, to keep those guys out, too.

So, how can I not vote for those cheaters and vote for a different kind of cheater in Carlos Beltran? That's a really fair question. Is it because he played for the Mets and I rooted for him? Is it because I would have voted for Gaylord Perry who would scuff or spit on balls to gain any advantage he could? Does all of this make me a hypocrite? It probably does.

The 2017 Astros don't get enough shit for cheating both the Yankees and the Dodgers out of post-season success. Rob Manfred successfully swept the whole scandal under the rug and only punished coaches and GM's along with the only retired player in Beltran. But by all accounts, Beltran was a huge part of this scandal.

This is what makes HOF voting so messy. I wouldn't vote for Andy Pettitte who may have only used PED's a couple of times and I would vote for Beltran. Most voters agree with me too as Beltran is tracking at 76.0% and Pettitte at 31.7%. Neither guy will get in this year but Beltran eventually will.

I really believe there is no right answer with this shit. Someone wants to vote for Alex Rodriguez or Manny Ramirez and I may disagree but I'm also supporting Beltran. This was a lot more fun when I could argue that Chase Utley just fell a couple years short or Jimmy Rollins didn't get base enough. We could have those arguments.

Now, the Hall Of Fame is some moral test of which offenses bother you less. What are you willing to turn a blind eye too? I realize asking the internet for nuance here and just accepting that no one is right or wrong goes against everything the internet stands for, but that's where I fall here.

Ichiro, Sabathia and Wagner will get in this year and all deserve it. After that, it gets very muddy. Any combination of names after that and your Hall Of Fame ballot makes some sort sense, moral or otherwise.

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Unless you vote for Fernando Rodney. That's just weird.