Breaking News: Adrian Beltre, Joe Mauer, and Todd Helton were all announced to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame!
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Quick Thoughts:
The writers got this ballot right this year. All three of these players are worthy of the baseball hall of fame and it is a good thing that they all got in.
This years ballot had 26 players with 14 returning names. Next years ballot will include 15 returning names.
It appears that Billy Wagner (who missed by just 5 votes) will get in next year. If you're a "small-hall" guy, this will annoy you. I personally can get behind the vote, though he will slot in as a lower-end hall of famer when he does get in.
Adrian Beltre immediately runs in as an inner circle guy. The 95% vote total is lower than I would've thought. We already knew he wasn't unanimous (thanks to the tracker by Ryan Thibodaux), but 5% of people not voting for Beltre is odd.
Mariano Rivera retains his crown as the only unanimous player. Next year, I hope he gets company with Ichiro!
Joe Mauer's induction should have many people looking back at the cases of other catchers who maybe should be in. This is especially important for Yankees fans as guys like Thurman Munson and Jorge Posada could start gaining bigger cult followings for induction.
Todd Helton is a solid pick to silence the "Coors Effect" crowd. Regardless of where he played, Helton was great and his numbers were worthy.
Interestingly, only Beltre had more than 400 home runs in his career. Helton was at 369 and Mauer only had 143. It appears home runs alone don't win hall of fame votes.
Speaking of home runs, Gary Sheffield is now off the ballot, even after getting 63.9% of the vote. Now his case is entirely up to the veterans committee. To me, 500 home runs is a benchmark for auto-inclusion. And, if Sheffield gets in that will make it even more ridiculous that Bonds, A-Rod, Sosa, McGwire all aren't in.
Homer-ism acknowledged, but Andy Pettitte deserves better than 13.5% of the ballot. If Jack Morris can get in on the backs of postseason status, Pettitte should've been in years ago. My guess is he'll get in via veterans committee one day.
(Below are some predictions of mine.)
Andruw Jones will get in via the vote. He has 3 more years to get that final 15%. Arguably the best defensive center fielder ever, and he has 400 home runs? I'm sold.
Beltran will get in 3 years from now. Right now he's the one facing the biggest punishment from the trashcan scandals of 2017. If both Cora and Hinch can be managers in the MLB currently, it is time to end the Beltran boycott. The hypocrisy is stupid at this point.
Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez will not get in on the ballot. They'll waste away for another 7 and 2 years respectively. A-Rod will get close (probably like Gary Sheffield) but he'll ultimately miss the hall. (Which is egregiously bad.)
Chase Utley has a HUGE uphill battle over the next 9 years. He won't get in via the ballot. To earn another 50% of the vote is going to be incredibly hard for him.
