theScore's mock HOF ballot: No unanimous candidate in class of 5
With the 2020 Baseball Hall of Fame class set to be announced Tuesday, 12 of theScore's news editors submitted their own mock ballots with whom they believe are worthy of enshrinement in Cooperstown.
Inducted
| Player | Votes | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Roger Clemens | 11 | 92% |
| Barry Bonds | 11 | 92% |
| Larry Walker | 11 | 92% |
| Derek Jeter | 10 | 83% |
| Scott Rolen | 10 | 83% |
The two credibly accused users of performance-enhancing drugs lead the way in Clemens and Bonds, as they have pretty much every year we've conducted this exercise, by virtue of being two of the best players to ever play the game.
Walker gets enshrined on his 10th and final year on the ballot. Among outfielders with at least 8,000 plate appearances, Walker's 140 wRC+ - which is league- and park-adjusted - ranks 17th all time, according to FanGraphs.
Unanimous enshrinement eludes Jeter despite ranking as one of the best hitting shortstops in history. In fact, among shortstops with at least 10,000 plate appearances, only Honus Wagner (147) and Alex Rodriguez (141) retired with a better wRC+ than Jeter's 119 mark.
Finally, the underappreciated Rolen - who played every one of his 2,024 games in the field at third base and claimed eight Gold Gloves for his efforts - also earns a plaque. Rolen is in his third year on the ballot and, despite lacking a lengthy peak, still accrued enough WAR to basically equal Jeter's JAWS score (Jay Jaffe's evaluation of whether or not a player is worthy of Cooperstown based on previous inductees).
Missed the cut
| Player | Votes | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Curt Schilling | 8 | 67% |
| Manny Ramirez | 7 | 58% |
| Andruw Jones | 6 | 50% |
| Gary Sheffield | 6 | 50% |
| Sammy Sosa | 6 | 50% |
| Billy Wagner | 4 | 33% |
| Bobby Abreu | 2 | 17% |
| Andy Pettitte | 2 | 17% |
| Jeff Kent | 1 | 8% |
| Todd Helton | 1 | 8% |
| Omar Vizquel | 1 | 8% |
Despite having what would otherwise seem to be a Hall of Fame resume, leading all pitching candidates by JAWS, Schilling misses the cut for the eighth straight year, largely due to his post-career violations of the character clause.
Ramirez, Jones, Sheffield, and Sosa get increased support from theScore staff compared to the traction they've received thus far from the BBWAA but still miss enshrinement.
Notables off the ballot
| Player | Votes | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Josh Beckett | 0 | 0% |
| Jason Giambi | 0 | 0% |
| Paul Konerko | 0 | 0% |
| Cliff Lee | 0 | 0% |
| Alfonso Soriano | 0 | 0% |
A former MVP and Cy Young winner are the most notable of the 16 candidates who didn't receive any votes from theScore staff. All of the candidates who didn't earn our votes were making their first appearances on the BBWAA ballot.