The 2017 Hall Of Fame Ballot has been released, and already the speculation has begun as to who the new inductees will be. The 2016 class included one of the smoothest swings of all time Ken Griffey Jr. as well as the greatest hitting catcher of all time Mike Piazza.
The 2017 ballot contains all kinds of players, but there aren’t really any “no-brainers” like Ken Griffey Jr. was last year.
The new additions to the ballot are Pat Burrell, Orlando Cabrera, Mike Cameron, J.D. Drew, Carlos Guillen, Vladimir Guerrero, Derrek Lee, Melvin Mora, Magglio Ordonez, Jorge Posada, Manny Ramirez, Edgar Renteria, Arthur Rhodes, Ivan Rodriguez, Freddy Sanchez, Jason Varitek, and Tim Wakefield.
Here are the returners on the ballot, as well as how many years they have been on it: Lee Smith (15th and final), Tim Raines (10th), Edgar Martinez (8th), Fred McGriff (8th), Jeff Bagwell (7th), Larry Walker (7th), Curt Schilling (5th), Roger Clemens (5th), Barry Bonds (5th), Sammy Sosa (5th), Mike Mussina (4th), Jeff Kent (4th), Gary Sheffield (3rd), Trevor Hoffman (2nd), and Billy Wagner (2nd).
If I had to predict one player that will be inducted, my money would be on Trevor Hoffman who received 67.3% of the vote last year in his first go around. He is second on the all-time saves list with 601 and impressively finished second in Cy Young voting twice as a closer.
While Manny Ramirez and Pudge Rodriguez certainly have the numbers to be inducted, their PED history might put them in similar situations as Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, and Sammy Sosa.
