The 2025 Contemporary Baseball Era Committee Ballot: (Part 1 of 2)

Ethan Semendinger
2 hours ago
6 min read

By: Ethan Semendinger

November 5, 2025

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Earlier this week, the National Baseball Hall of Fame announced their ballot for the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee to vote on. These are the first four players on the list.

Player: Barry Bonds

Position: Outfield

Key Statistics: +162.8 bWAR, 762 Home Runs, 2,558 Walks, 688 Intentional Walks, 7 MVP's

The Case: The case for Barry Bonds- as well as the case for the next player on this list- is quite easy to make, and has been made ad nauseum. To keep it simple, Barry Bonds is the MLB career leader in Home Runs with 762. Barry Bonds is the MLB career leader in walks with 2,558. Barry Bonds is the MLB career leader in intentional walks with 688...and in careers MVP's with 7...and by career position player bWAR with +162.8. To have a player of that caliber NOT be in the Hall of Fame is itself scandalous...or it means the player is scandalous.

The Anti-Case: It just so happens to be that Barry Bonds is a polarizing figure. He has close connections to performance enhancing drugs (PED's) and is by no means a fan of the media. The writers and voter for the Baseball Hall of Fame took a stance against PED's (albeit one that has flexible rules, where some connected players get a pass and others don't) against Bonds in his years on the ballot, which is how he ends up needing to be inducted by a jury of his peers and other baseball figures from this committee.

What I Think: Baseball, for whatever reason, likes to step on their own toes. They will continue to hold Barry Bonds in a holding pattern until he repents to a standard deemed high enough, even if that standard is unknown. The case for Bonds is clear. The case against Bonds is clear, though flimsy, given how the likes of Ivan Rodriguez, Jeff Bagwell, David Ortiz, and others are enshrined in Cooperstown. If it was me, he'd be in already, but unfortunately, I don't believe this committee will follow my belief.

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Player: Roger Clemens

Position: Starting Pitcher

Key Statistics: +139.2 bWAR, 354 Wins, 4,672 Strikeouts, 7 Cy Young Awards

The Case: The case for Roger Clemens- as well as the case for the player above on this list- is quite easy to make, and has been ad nauseum. To keep it simple, Roger Clemens has the third highest pitching bWAR in MLB history, with +139.2 bWAR. Roger Clemens also has the third most strikeouts, with 4,672. Roger Clemens also has the ninth most wins in MLB history, with 354...and the most career Cy Youngs with 7...and, well, you get the point. So, why is he not in the Hall of Fame as well?

The Anti-Case: Much like Barry Bonds, the case against Roger Clemens stems from his involvement with PED's, leading to many years of waiting on the BBWAA ballot, and falling just short of induction.

What I Think: Roger Clemens is the best pitcher of a generation, and one of the best of all-time. But, I don't think the committee will vote him in until he also meets some arbitrary repentance. He would be a clear member of my Hall of Fame, but I don't believe he will be in the real Baseball Hall of Fame class of 2026. (Though, I think he is seen more favorably than Bonds.)

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Player: Carlos Delgado

Position: First Base

Key Statistics: 473 Home Runs, 2,038 Hits, 44.4 bWAR

The Case: Carlos Delgado has an interesting case for the Hall of Fame, which- interestingly enough- is also mostly about how he fared on the BBWAA writers ballot. Many believe that Carlos Delgado was not given a fair shot, as he received just 3.8% of votes in his one, and only, year on the ballot in 2015. To be fair to Delgado, that year had four members voted in between Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz, and Craig Biggio, while nine other future Hall of Famers were also on the ballot (Piazza, Bagwell, Raines, Lee Smith, Edgar Marinez, Trammell, Mussina, McGriff, and Walker), along with other notable non-Hall of Famers like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling, among others. That was a tough year to be on the ballot for the first time, and Delgado did not receive enough support. Outside of the voting, however, Delgado ranks 34th all time in career Home Runs and has had zero PED allegations going against his name, numbers, and reputation. Given the prior two members on this list, that could be a big deal for the committee to consider.

The Anti-Case: While Carlos Delgado has hit many more home runs than almost every baseball player, that metric alone does not get a player into the Hall of Fame by today's standards. If that was the case, then the likes of Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Manny Ramirez, and Gary Sheffield would all be in Cooperstown. That is seven notable home run hitters ahead of Delgado, all of whom also made it past 500 home runs in their careers. Additionally, Carlos Delgado was not a great defender, he did not have many award wins, and in direct comparisons to Hall of Famers, he tends to most related to those who are seen on the lower end of the baseline.

What I Think: This committees job is to fix the mistakes of a broken voting system. In that regard, there is a case for Delgado having had more time on the ballot and more consideration overall. However, that job does not mean that undeserving players become deserving players just because they didn't get a chance to burn-out after 10 years sitting in the 10-20% range of vote getters. He wouldn't make my Hall of Fame, nor should he be a pick by this committee.

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Player: Jeff Kent

Position: Second Base

Key Statistics: +55.4 bWAR, 2,461 Hits, 377 Home Runs,

The Case: Once again, the case for a player on this list comes down to one simple metric: Home Runs. Jeff Kent is the all-time leader in home runs by a second baseman. He also has a solid amount of bWAR, and he was a MVP.

The Anti-Case: The case for Jeff Kent would seem to be the "next man up" argument for his position. At the current moment, there are 20 second basemen who are enshrined in Cooperstown. Jeff Kent ranks 22nd in terms of JAWS at second base...and then it gets worse. If we take the average career numbers of those already honored players, they far outweigh the numbers of Jeff Kent's career. To be fair to Kent, however, this number is skewed quite heavily at the top by the likes of Rogers Hornsby, Eddie Collins, Nap Lajoie, and Joe Morgan. So, instead let's look at who is above him in JAWS at second base who is not already in Cooperstown. Obviously, it couldn't be many players. Right?

Wrong. The list is: Robinson Cano, Bobby Grich, Chase Utley, Lou Whitaker, Willie Randolph, Jose Altuve, Dustin Pedroia, and Ian Kinsler. And then it is Jeff Kent. Now, not counting Cano because of his a PED history, Altuve because is still active, and Utley who is currently on the BBWAA ballot, there seems to be a case that there are five other second baseman also deserving of this honor. How did they do? Four of them fell off the BBWAA ballot after one year (Kinsler, Grich, Whitaker, Randolph). I may disagree with the BBWAA voting a lot, but even I do not think they could be that wrong.

What I Think: If the committee really wanted to debate on a second baseman from the 1980's to current day, they had much better options to consider between either Lou Whitaker or Willie Randolph. Both have much stronger claims than Jeff Kent does for the Hall of Fame. I don't think he'll be a serious consideration by this committee when all is said and done.

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COMING TOMORROW....

Player: Don Mattingly

Position: First Base

Key Statistics: ...

The Case: ...

The Anti-Case: ...

What I Think: ...

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Player: Dale Murphy

Position: Outfield

Key Statistics: ...