5 things you need to know about the 2015 Hall of Fame ballot The Baseball Writers Association of America released the ballot for next years Hall of Fame class Monday and, as expected, its a loaded group of candidates. There figures to be plenty of debate leading up to Januarys announcement of new inductees, but in the interim heres a primer on the main storylines you need to know. Big-time newcomers: Three of the greatest pitchers of their generation - Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz - get their first crack at Cooperstown this winter and it should go without saying the trio all deserve first-ballot entrance. CAREER IP SO ERA/FIP CYYOUNG Johnson 4135.1 4875 3.29/3.19 5 Martinez 2827.1 3154 2.93/2.91 3 Smoltz 3473.0 3084 3.33/3.24 1 Complicating matters, of course, is the rule limiting each BBWAA elector to voting for no more than 10 candidates - no matter how many players might be worthy of endorsement. That provision, coupled with a new eligibility rule (more on that below), promises to leave several strong candidates on the outside looking in, including ... Big-time holdovers: Last years so-called juiced ballot will be looking for sympathy in 2015, but repeat holdover Mark McGwire is proof that the steroid era needs more time to thaw out. Alleged users Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens - as well as guilty-by-association Jeff Bagwell and Mike Piazza - all struggled to receive the consideration their career numbers suggest they should. Bagwells candidacy is less bullet-proof than the other three, who can all make a case for being among the best players all-time at their position. Bonds lack of support (34.7 percent in 2014) is especially controversial, given hes the career home run leader and arguably one of the greatest players in baseball history. Craig Biggio just narrowly missed out on inclusion last year, garnering 74.8 percent of the vote - 75 percent is required for election - while Tim Raines will look to build on the extra boost of support hes managed to muster up since making his debut on the ballot in 2008. Best of the rest: Mike Mussina somehow received just 20.3 percent of voters support last year, despite a career that was statistically better than Jack Morris (hes no longer on the ballot but secured 61.5 percent of the vote in his final year of eligibility). Mussina, and possibly Curt Schilling, could either benefit from a ballot loaded with suspected PED users, or have their candidacy further exposed with the additions of Johnson, Martinez and Smoltz. Other notable names who might steal votes from more worthy candidates include sluggers Edgar Martinez, Fred McGriff and first-year eligible Gary Sheffield. Sheffield has the strongest case of the three - 509 home runs, multiple top-5 MVP finishes and a career OPS+ of 140 - but his inclusion in the Mitchell Report and inferior power numbers to those of Bonds and Bagwell waters down his candidacy considerably. One player who could benefit from the juiced ballot is Larry Walker. He received just 10.2 percent of the vote last year, but his career bWAR of 72.6 is higher than Raines, Martinez, Sheffield, Biggio, McGwire and Sammy Sosa. Eligibility rule: The National Baseball Hall of Fame announced several policy changes last summer, including a significant amendment that promises to affect several fringe candidates. Moving forward, the maximum length a player who receives at least five percent of the vote can stay on the ballot is 10 years. The previous term was 15. Three players - Don Mattingly (entering his 15th year), Alan Trammell (14th) and Lee Smith (13th) - were grandfathered into the new system, meaning they remain eligible for the full 15 years. Morris and Rafael Palmeiro are among those no longer on the ballot. They are still eligible for consideration by the Era Committee. The WAR on HOF: Strictly using a counting stat such as wins above replacement to evaluate a players Hall of Fame candidacy would be short-sighted, but it does offer a nice and tidy number for comparisons sake. Here are the top 20 players eligible for next years class ranked by WAR: Player Eligibility 2014 Vote WAR Barry Bonds 3rd 34.7% 162.4 Roger Clemens 3rd 35.4% 140.3 Randy Johnson 1st. - 102.1 Pedro Martinez 1st - 84.0 Mike Mussina 2nd 20.3% 83.0 Curt Schilling 3rd 29.2% 79.9 Jeff Bagwell 5th 54.3% 79.6 Larry Walker 5th 10.2% 72.6 Alan Trammell 14th 20.8% 70.4 John Smoltz 1st - 69.5 Tim Raines 8th 46.1% 69.1 Edgar Martinez 6th 25.2% 68.3 Craig Biggio 3rd 74.8% 65.1 Mark McGwire 9th 11.0% 62.0 Gary Sheffield 1st - 60.2 Mike Piazza 3rd 62.2% 59.4 Sammy Sosa 3rd 7.2% 58.4 Jeff Kent 2nd 15.2% 55.2 Fred McGriff 6th 11.7% 52.4 Brian Giles 1st - 50.9 (Courtesy: Baseball-Reference)
Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 22:23:04 +0000