2019 Baseball HOF - Early Look

SDSportsFan

With Vladimir Guerrero, Trevor Hoffman, Chipper Jones and Jim Thome elected to the Hall of Fame today, here's a look at next year's returning players (with their vote totals this year), along with the players who will be first-time-eligibles next year:

Edgar Martinez 297 (70.4),
Mike Mussina 268 (63.5),
Roger Clemens 242 (57.3),
Barry Bonds 238 (56.4),
Curt Schilling 216 (51.2),
Omar Vizquel 156 (37.0),
Larry Walker 144 (34.1),
Fred McGriff 98 (23.2),
Manny Ramirez 93 (22.0),
Jeff Kent 61 (14.5),
Gary Sheffield 47 (11.1),
Billy Wagner 47 (11.1),
Scott Rolen 43 (10.2),
Sammy Sosa 33 (7.8),
Andruw Jones 31 (7.3)

Lance Berkman
Roy Halladay
Todd Helton
Darren Oliver
Roy Oswalt
Andy Pettitte
Juan Pierre
Mariano Rivera
Kevin Youkilis
Michael Young

So, of the listed players, I see the following 12 as the ones who are most deserving:

Mariano Rivera
Edgar Martinez (2019 is last year eligible)
Mike Mussina
Curt Schilling
Roger Clemens
Barry Bonds
Omar Vizquel
Larry Walker
Fred McGriff (2019 is last year eligible)
Andy Pettitte
Todd Helton
Jeff Kent

Steve

grote15

Fairly weak ballot. I can see Rivera, Martinez and Halladay getting in. Possibly Mussina, too.

Of those players, I'd say Rivera and Martinez are locks.

Coinstartled

That half the voters chose Bonds tells me that the Hall delection is in the toilet.

orioles93

From the returning players, these are the ones I think belong with a short note why as well. Obviously steroids don’t get me to overly upset, especially considering some of the slime balls already in the hall from years ago. As for the newcomers, I only see Rivera and Halliday both getting in at some point. Todd Helton has an interesting case that I can see growing over time.

Edgar Martinez- best DH ever
Mike Mussina- near HOF lock numbers while playing in the AL East during the steroid era
Barry Bonds- best hitter ever
Roger Clemens- top 5 pitcher ever
Curt Schilling- great post season numbers
Omar Vizquel- basically Ozzie Smith with a little better bat
Jeff Kent- one of the best hitting 2b ever
Billy Wagner- top 5 relief pitcher ever, easily top 1 or 2 most dominant relievers ever.

Time4aGansett

Just curious, for those who back Clemens and Bonds, why are you not backing Manny?

jay0791

WAS THE ABOVE RESULTS THE FINAL VOTE TALLY?

3stars

Rivera is tier 1, Halladay and Pettitte Tier 2 for the newcomers.

As far as Manny and the Bonds / Clemens issue, Manny got caught twice when official testing was in place, Bonds / Clemens are only rumors based on unofficial supposedly anonymous testing.

SDSportsFan

@jay0791 said:
WAS THE ABOVE RESULTS THE FINAL VOTE TALLY?

Yes, I took the totals from ESPN.com

Steve

breakdown

it will probably be Rivera and Edgar Martinez. As for what should happen, I would put Bonds and Clemens in. Jeff Kent and Manny should also get serious consideration. If the HOF want to note steroids on their plaques, fine, but if Selig goes in, so should those guys.