What my HOF Ballot would Look Like

 The 2024 Hall of Fame ballot came out not long ago, and I would love to tell you who I would vote for.

I will start with the new faces in class and then go on to the grizzled vets.

Jose Bautista
Adrian Beltre
Bartolo Colon
Adrian Gonzalez
Matt Holliday
Victor Martinez
Joe Mauer
Brandon Phillips
Jose Reyes
James Shields
Chase Utley
David Wright

And now for the grizzled vets, those poor unfortunate souls who couldn't make the Hall their first time around:

Todd Helton
Billy Wagner
Andruw Jones
Gary Sheffield
Carlos Beltran
Alex Rodriguez
Manny Ramirez
Omar Vizquel
Andy Pettitte
Bobby Abreu
Jimmy Rollins
Mark Buehrle
Francisco Rodriguez
Torii Hunter

    So, you can vote for 10 players (assuming you're a sportswriter). I would personally vote for the following:

    1: Todd Helton
In his 17 year career, Helton has collected 2519 hits, 592 doubles, 369 homers, 1335 walks (compared to 1175 strikeouts), 1401 runs, and 1406 RBIs. He did get a boost at Coor's field, hitting .345 with a 1.048 OPS compared to a .287 average and .855 OPS on the road. Nonetheless, his career slash line was .316/.414/.539.  His best year was 2000, when he slashed .372/.463/.698, leading the league in all three of those numbers. He also had 216 hits and 59 doubles, both leading the league, while launching 42 bombs and driving in a league-leading 147 runs. But he was only MVP-5, with the winner being the .334 hitting second baseman Jeff Kent.

    2: Billy Wagner
I don't know how on earth Billy Wagner isn't in the Hall yet. The southpaw has a career 2.31 ERA and 422 saves with an 11.9 K/9 rate. Wagner's best year was probably his last one, 2010. While at the age of 38 he compiled a 7-2 record, 1.43 ERA, and 37 saves while striking out 13.5 batters per nine. He is in my opinion the second best closer in MLB history (sorry Trevor Hoffman), and there is no excuse as to why he's not there yet. Obvious hall of famer.

    3: Andruw Jones
I am usually against sub-.260 hitters in the Hall of Fame unless they are Harmon Killebrew. However, Jones had a career 434 homers to go along with 10 gold gloves and a pretty .990 fielding percentage. His career slash line is .254/.337/.486 across his 17 years of service. Though these are not hall of fame numbers, I think his 434 home runs and 10 gold gloves are enough to push him over the top. His best year was probably 2000, when he hit .303 with 36 homers and doubles, 122 runs, 104 RBIs, 21 steals, and one of his gold gloves. I was tempted to go with his 2005 51 bomb campaign, but he hit 40 points higher in 2000.

    4: Gary Sheffield
Sheffield had a monster 22 year career in which he blasted 509 moonshots and slashed .292/.393/.514. He scored a total 1636 runs, drove in 1676 runs, and walked 1475 times against 1171 strikeouts. Though not the best fielder in the world, he did hit over 500 home runs, which should land him a place in Cooperstown. Sheff's best year was 1996, when he hit 42 bombs, drove in 120 runs, and scored 118, all while slashing .314/.465/.624. The OBP was good enough to lead the league, and he also led with a 1.090 OPS.

    5: Omar Vizquel
I know that he had an OPS of only .688, but he was quite possibly the best fielding shortstop of all time. He won 11 gold gloves and has the highest fielding percentage ever by a shortstop (.985). His best season was 1999, when he slashed .333/.397/.436 with 112 runs, 36 doubles, 42 steals, and also a gold glove. Vizquel collected 2877 hits, and for this and the gold gloves, I would put him in the Hall of Fame. For goodness sake, you can't keep the highest fielding percentage by a shortstop out of the Hall. Ozzie Smith's in it. 

    6: Francisco Rodriguez
Francisco Rodriguez ranks fourth all time in saves with 437 and has a 2.86 career ERA. His career K/9 is a solid 10.5 and he led the league in saves thrice. His best season was 2008 when he set the record for saves in a season with 62. He had a 2.24 ERA and finished third in Cy Young Award voting as a reliever. Though his last year seems to kill him a bit (7.82 ERA in 25.1 innings), yeah, he should make it.

    7: Adrian Beltre
I probably don't even need to write for Beltre, but I will anyway. This is his first year on the ballot. Beltre had a great 21 year career, in which he slashed .286/.339/.480 with 3166 hits and 477 home runs. He also won 5 gold gloves at the hot corner and scored 1524 runs. Beltre drove in 1707 and hit 636 doubles. His best season was 2004, when he slashed .334/.388/.629 with a league leading 48 homers, 200 hits, 104 runs, and 121 RBI. He finished second in MVP voting, falling to Barry Bonds who walked 232 times, 120 of them intentionally.

    8: Joe Mauer
Mauer is one of the greatest catchers of all time, slashing .306/.388/.439 across a 15 year career. He won three batting titles and 3 gold gloves, collected 2123 hits, and he threw out 1/3 of the baserunners who ran against him. He was mostly a catcher up through 2013, playing a total 56 games at first from 2011-2013. In that span (2004-2013), Mauer hit .323. His best season was easily 2009, when he won the MVP while slashing .365/.444/.587 with 28 bombs, 94 runs, and 96 RBIs. I would appreciate it if both he and Beltre were first ballot Hall of Famers.

    I have two spots left and there are 5 players who I would consider giving them to.

    1: Bobby Abreu
In his 18 year career, Bobby Abreu got 2470 hits and slashed .291/.395/.475. He hit a career 288 homers and 574 doubles, and he drove in 1363 while scoring 1453 times. He won a gold glove in 2005 and stole 400 career bases. His best season was probably 2004 when he hit 30 homers, drove in 105, scored 118 runs, and slashed .301/.428/.544. He walked 127 times that year to go with a career number of 1476.

    2: Carlos Beltran
Beltran was a solid player through his 20 year career, having a .279/.350/.486 slash line and hitting 434 home runs. He hit 565 doubles, drove in 1587 men, scored 1582 times himself, and stole 312 bases as a power hitter. Beltran also won 3 gold gloves. His best year was 2006 when in 140 games he hit 41 bombs, drove in 116, scored 127 times, hit 38 doubles, and walked 95 times. He finished fourth in MVP voting and won a gold glove. He would be an easy choice for me except that he was quite involved in the Astros cheating scandal, and was reportively a Godfather of the scheme. See https://www.si.com/mlb/2020/02/11/carlos-beltran-astros-sign-stealing-scandal-role. Therefore, I probably cannot put him in the Hall.

    3: Matt Holliday
Matt Holliday had an impressive 15 year career, in which he collected 2096 hits, 316 homers, and slashed .299/.379/.510. He scored a career 1157 runs and had 1220 RBIs. While his offense was certainly very good, he was not a very good defender. Both his fielding percentage and range factor were worse than the league average (though the fielding percentage was worse by only three points). His best season was 2007, when he slashed .340/.405/.607, winning the batting title. In addition to this, he had 216 hits, 50 doubles, 137 RBIs, and 386 total bases, all of these leading the league. He hit 36 home runs and scored 120 runs, and was second in MVP voting. 

    4: Chase Utley
Chase Utley had a very good 16 year career in which he had 1885 hits, scored 1103 runs, drove in 1025, hit 259 homers, and slashed .275/.358/.465. His best season was probably in 2006, although he had a great 2007 campaign, but played in 28 less games. In '06, Utley slashed .309/.379/.527 with 40 doubles, 32 homers, 102 RBIs, and a league leading 131 runs. Another thing lobbying for his Hall of Fame selection is the rule made for him stating that baserunners cannot go out of their way to take out the middle fielder and break up a double play. Please keep in mind that I am paraphrasing. 

    5: David Wright 
In his 14 year career, Wright slashed .296/.376/.491 on 1777 hits. He scored 949 runs, drove in 970 runs, hit 242 homers, stole 196 bases, and won 2 gold gloves. His best season was in 2007, when he hit 30 bombs and 42 doubles, drove in 107 runs, scored 113, and slashed .325/.416/.546. He finished fourth in MVP voting and won one of his gold gloves. He's easily my favorite player on the ballot, and so he may have just a tiny bit of an edge with me.

So, out of these five players, I would probably vote for Matt Holliday and David Wright. Funny, I once thought of these players as practically the same guy (when I didn't know much about baseball), and here I am voting for both of them to make the Hall of Fame.

Here are the ten players I would vote for:

Todd Helton
Billy Wagner
Andruw Jones
Gary Sheffield
Omar Vizquel
Francisco Rodriguez
Adrian Beltre
Joe Mauer
Mat Holliday
David Wright

Please tell me in the comments if you agree with me or not, and please let me know who you would vote for. And, as always, thank you for reading.