My Hall of Fame Ballot

By Mike Whiteman January 19, 2026 It's Baseball Hall of Fame time! I love the Hall of Fame voting and speculation. I follow the voting religiously at https://www.bbhoftracker.com/. This years HOF selections will be announced January 20th.

My writing for Start Spreading the News has not afforded me the opportunity to participate in the Baseball Writers Association of America Hall of Fame voting...yet. That doesn't stop me of course from expressing my views. A note on Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez. I continue to keep them off my ballot. I've read some reasonable articles advocating for their inclusion on the rationale that guys like Bud Selig, Joe Torre and Tony LaRussa are in the Hall and benefited from the efforts of PED players. I get it, but have hard time getting past Ramirez and ARod, who were both known multi-offenders. My stance is always open to review, but the line in in the sand I seem to be arriving at is the exclusion of those players who cheated once and were caught, then decided to cheat yet again and were nabbed a second time. I don't think this slate has the depth of previous ballots. I usually vote for ten players, and this time "only" have chosen eight. So, here are my selections:

Bobby Abreu: I've said it before, I think he's highly underrated. Among the Hall of Famers with fewer than Abreu's 60.2 career WAR: Ichiro Suzuki, Yogi Berra, and Dick Allen.

Carlos Beltran: One of the great all-around players of our time. Nine-time All-Star, 70 WAR, 439 career home runs, 312 stolen bases. Dominant 2004 postseason with Houston (.434/.536/1.022 with eight home runs over 12 games) . Part of the 2017 Astros' sign stealing - is this like disqualifying PED cheating or "savvy" gamesmanship cheating? He's in his fourth year on the ballot and I suspect has been penalized up to this point for his role in the scandal.

Felix Hernandez: A real good, maybe great pitcher through age 30. Had a peak from 2009-2014 when he had a 2.73 ERA, 141 ERA+, took home the 2010 Cy Young award and finished in the top five voting three other seasons. His 169 career wins don't line up with what we traditionally look for in a HOF starting pitcher, but I think that expectation is changing.

Andruw Jones: Among the greatest fielders of all time. Any position. Second in career Total Zone Runs behind Brooks Robinson and ahead of Ozzie Smith, Roberto Clemente, and Willie Mays. Ten Gold Gloves, five time all-star. No slouch at the plate with 434 home runs.

Dustin Pedroia: 2007 American League Rookie of the Year, 2008 AL Most Valuable Player. Vital part of two Boston World Series champion teams. Four-time Gold Glover. Over 50 WAR in only 14 seasons. Respected for playing the game "the right way".

Andy Pettite: We all know Andy. One of my favorites. I don't ding him as much for appearing in the Mitchell report due to his immediate apology. On paper a borderline HOFer, his postseason legacy pushes him over the top.

Jimmy Rollins: Fun, exciting player. His 2007 season was one of the great shortstop seasons of our time. Four-time Gold Glover. An interesting fact I read recently - he's the only shortstop since Honus Wagner with 800 extra base hits and 400 stolen bases. That's kind of a big deal.

Chase Utley: Rollins' "Keystone Corner" partner for about ten years. From 2006-2010 he averaged .299/.390/.520 with 27 home runs and 7.6 WAR. Had 64 WAR over his career. Smacked five home runs in the 2009 World Series against the Yankees. Who do YOU think should be elected to the Hall of Fame this year?