This afternoon the Cooperstown Class of 2026 will be completed with the results of the BBWAA vote. It was a difficult ballot. Here is mine. I’ve been fortunate to vote for more than a decade, and I’ve tried to establish consistency year to year. Excited to share it here with y’all for the first time — and spend time today answering your questions about the process, the vote, and the Hall the best I can …

44 comments

  1. Sooooo PEDs bad for McGwire, but ok for Andy Pettite? Felix Hernandez, but not A-Rod? Also, no vote for Tori Hunter? Some of the voter logic baffles me and it’s because I’m just a fan and not privy perhaps.

  2. I’m assuming Alex Rodriguez is left off due to steroids. If so, why does Pettitte get your vote?

  3. That far right column has several interesting blank boxes. That far left column has some names I’m not sure how they even got on there.

  7. I still like your proposal that every candidate gets a “yes” or “no” vote.

  8. I would be interested to know your thought process in voting for Andy Pettitte and Carlos Beltran, but not ARod.
    Everything I’ve read says Beltran started/ led the 2017 Astros in their scandal. Pettitte was a PED guy. So as a writer, what do you see as a difference in them and ARod?

  11. I’ve been curious about the general perception of K-Rod with the voters. More saves than Wagner and not miles behind in K/9. I’m surprised he hasn’t gotten more traction. What is the main distinction for you?

  12. How did Pedroia’s injuries affect your not voting for him? Since I can ask anything, should Mike Shannon have either his number or mike retired in left field?

  14. How do you factor in WAR for HoF voting? It seems like as the league average player is getting better, we’re seeing very few players with really high numbers, which is already making for less obvious HoF voting. Similarly, the steroid era really skewed WAR numbers.

    Other than WAR, do you have favored metrics or stat milestones to guide our voting and close calls?

  17. I hate how I am in my late 30s, and seeing so many names I remember watching on TV or in person in my teens and 20s. I can’t believe King Felix is now eligible. It doesn’t feel that long ago since he pitched.

    Overall it’s a decent list. I feel like King Felix and Beltran are the best players on this ballot.

    I feel like this ballot is mostly the hall of good, or very good, but arguably HOF. I look at Utley, solid player, but offensively doesn’t stand out as a great imo. No gold gloves either. He can’t run on being a defensive top end player like Ozzie Smith was. That is how I feel about many of these players.

    For me I probably would have only voted for King Felix and Beltran. I am still very mix on steroids, so I won’t vote for A-Rod or Petitite. That said, I also recognize how the steroid era in baseball in a way saved it post-strike which is why I a mixed on it over trying to ignore that era completely.

    Edit: Manny Ramirez might be a yes for me too. Solid season stats with big postseason moments. Especially for Boston, but he was a key player on Cleveland as well in the 90s. Again, steroids near the end of his career. Mixed bag again.

  19. Do you take the character clause into account? Both Jones and Beltran have pretty uh…spotty pasts.

  20. Why Bobby Abreu and not Pedroia? Pedroia had more AS games, an MVP, other top-10 MVP finishes, was among the very best 2B of his era (and the guy who was better, Cano, was a known steroid guy), silver slugger, 4x gold glove, WS.

    Abreu, never finished top 10 MVP, only 2 ASG, 1 GG, 1 SS. He’s got 9 more WAR, but WAR does not seem to be guiding all of your choices.

    Personally, I would have voted for both. Overall, I think you made great picks.

  21. Could you elaborate on the decision to vote for Buerhle and not Hamels? (Not that I necessarily disagree) WAR purists put them very close. Thank you for discussion here!

  22. Genuinely curious why no Torii Hunter?

    Any player that gets more than 5 gold gloves at least makes me raise an eyebrow on whether I’d personally say they get in, and Hunter has 9, plus a pair of Silver Sluggers. Not too mention his counting stats, the vast majority of which came as a Centerfielder: .277/.331/.461. 2,452 Hits, 498 2B, 353 HRs, etc. In fact, by the CF position specifically, and subtracting his non-CF HRs, Hunter is still number 15 all-time.

    I’m personally not 100% sold on him being a Cooperstown member, but the more I look into his career, I feel like he is never really given enough respect.

  23. Felix was a great pitcher in his prime but didn’t have a lot of longevity, do you weight that higher because the peak was so great?

  24. Bobby Abreu is hall of pretty good. Not sure any one is a slam dunk. No expert by any means, but, do you think voters in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s thought the ballots were “watered down ” like in modern day? Excluding steroid accusations, is the list just comprised of eligibility status for former players? Who decides who is on the list? Is this taken to a vote also? Just using Bobby only as an example but does he compare to a Mantle, May’s, etc. I don’t think, in my opinion, he was as good as say, Jim Edmonds, who didn’t receive enough votes to even continue on the ballot. How does this work. And I get it that the accusations of steroids era players aren’t getting votes for obvious reasons. Again, should a very good Chase Utley be in before Rose, McGwire Bonds A-Rod, Clemens etc? Could there be possibly a few years that no one gets in? I guess what I’m asking is this really more about popularity or maybe 2nd best talent just to get in the HOF. Hall players don’t just show up every year, it may take a decade or so. Not being combative just genuinely want to know. Interested in your thoughts. And I thought Abreu and Utley were damn good, no disrespect intended.

  25. On a side note, as a fellow pen aficionado, I’m envious of you’re vanishing point pen.

  28. Thanks for sharing. Do you actually mail a physical piece of paper to the HOF with your votes? Is the one pictured your official ballot? Do they ever get lost in the mail?

  29. Who was the next closest player to getting your vote? Anyone you could see yourself changing your mind on in future years?

  30. are yall ever going to get over the ped thing? bonds and arod not in the HOF invalidates it. Idc, put them ina separate section, but the HOF is worse without them

  31. Are you disappointed the pens ink ran out during your signature portion? Also, did you pull anything good from the card packs?

  32. Hey Derrick! Your ballot looks pretty close to what mine would be, I think. Hard to say without the stakes of submitting a real one.

    Can you share who would have been your 11th vote if you had one? And could you share which decision you found the most difficult? Thanks!

  33. I have not followed your votes on a year in year out basis. You are not a steroids hardliner are you? For example steroids or not if you don’t think Bonds belongs then I’m sorry but you might be blind

  34. What do you think are the odds that Pujols and Yadi go in together?

    Both should be first ballot guys but I worry all the long eligibility steroid guys clog up the ballot and split votes

  35. If you were to play catch with Chase Utley, do you think he would be impressed by your speed?

  36. If you had a Hall of Fun vote (meaning most entertaining, but don’t really have the stats to back it up), how would that change your voting?

  37. Who would you say was the closest to getting your vote that you left off? As well as who got your vote that was closest to being dropped?

  40. Honestly, it’s such a week class that I don’t see anything on your ballot that I would disagree with. If we were looking at impact, I would consider Pedroia and Wright as well but understand that they didn’t have the longevity/counting numbers to get it.

    As a long time Manny fan (I can’t help it, he has the best swing that I’ve ever seen), I hate that he won’t get in but also understand that if someone like A-Rod doesn’t, then he shouldn’t either. Personally, I think all of those guys should be in but that is a topic for another day.

    The only question I do have relates to my first point: why vote for Felix to be in but not Pedroia/Wright if part of the reasoning is the injuries/long impact on the game? Felix was cooked and crispy by the age of 31 which led to his ERA bloating significantly at the end of his career. Wright made it to 33 before his injury completely took him and was still able to put up a comparable bWAR in that time frame even if he was unable to meet those “benchmark” numbers like 2k hits. Pedroia is the same way. He made it all the way to 33 before the wheels fell off and only had four season prior to that with less than 135 games played. Again, he doesn’t have the “benchmark 2k hits but he does have an MVP and more WAR than Felix. So I’m just curious as to your reasoning behind adding Felix but not those two.

    Thanks for doing this Derrick!

  41. The baseball HoF just needs to drop the pretext and go with the NBA and make it the Hall of Good. Most of these players are not HoF’ers and yet the actual HoF players aren’t getting in because of some moral code that has never existed in baseball and certainly doesn’t now.

  44. Derrick, thank you for taking the time to explain your ballot.

    In recent years I’ve come to hate the disclosure of ballots to the public only because of the responses of “Based on that ballot, X should have their vote stripped.” I think if the Hall qualifies a voter, that voter is entitled to a vote, even if it is stupid and I don’t agree.

    What are your thoughts as a voter on those responses. Does this ever come up in discussions with your colleagues?

Leave a Reply