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00:00 – Notable Newcomers
00:09 – Adrian Beltre
1:56 – Joe Mauer
5:52 – Chase Utley
9:20 – David Wright
13:47 – Bartolo Colon
15:49 – SABR Darlings
16:07 – Bobby Abreu
17:50 – Andruw Jones
19:20 – Billy Wagner
20:30 – Todd Helton
22:42 – Scandalized Players
22:55 – Alex Rodriguez
24:38 – Manny Ramirez
26:40 – Gary Sheffield
27:54 – Andy Pettitte
28:46 – Carlos Beltran
32:55 – Omar Vizquel
35:31 – We’re Still Here!
35:42 – Mark Buehrle
38:21 – Torii Hunter
39:03 – Jimmy Rollins
39:41 – Francisco Rodriguez
41:58 – One-and-Dones
48:05 – Filling Out My Ballot
54:21 – Predictions
58:24 – BBHOF Tracker
1:00:21 – Jim Leyland
1:01:42 – Patreon
48 Comments
Quick update. Since recording this video, at least one HOF voter has revealed their Beltré-less ballot, meaning Beltré won't be a unanimous HOFer. You can read more here: https://www.telegram.com/story/sports/mlb/2023/12/21/bill-ballous-hall-of-fame-ballot-includes-just-manny-ramirez-a-rod/71997515007/
If Don Mattingly isn’t a hall of famer, David Wright can’t be. If David Wright is a hall of famer, Don Mattingly has to be.
Molina was a vastly better player than Mauer, and no im not a Cardinals fan.
The job of a catcher is to work with and help the pitcher, their hitting is a nice bonus. Mauer was a good hitter who happened to play catcher when he was younger. Molina is a top 3 catcher all time.
If WAR had a way to properly evaluate how much better a good catcher makes their pitcher perform Yadi's carrier WAR would be in the 80s
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I can’t believe you didn’t mention Home Run Baker on that list right behind David Wright. An all time baseball name.
Sadly, Beltre will not be unanimous for reasons. I think the next unanimous hall of famer will be Ichiro. Otherwise, I tend to agree with your ballot except I leave Buehrle off and vote Sheffield.
Andruw Jones has a domestic violence allegation, the case against him is getting paid and not caring in his 30s.
a lot of these probable one-and-dones deserve to stick in the ballot
Nice use of penultimate. You have my vote.
Why does everyone fail to realize that the reason a player won't be unanimously inducted might be that there are more than ten players deserving of a vote and you know this player will get in without it. I wouldn't vote for Beltre because there are ten other players who are also deserving of my vote and will need it more than Beltre.
His ops and ops plus aren’t hof
Beltre is so overrated his d is only hof he’s a complier I think Joe Mauer is more of hof
Bailey mentioned Albert Pujols may be the next UNANIMOUS hall of fame electee. However, I think Ichiro may have next dibbs on that.
People make way too much of the Astros sign stealing scandal. Just about every team stole signs (probably still do, tbh) in whatever way they could. There are dozens of stories of plants in the stands, base coaches, mascots, and yes, cameras being used to steal signs, and everyone knows that runners on 2nd are always suspect. Was the Astros scandal worse? Yeah it was one of the more egregious examples, but it's hardly the only one. It's ridiculous to keep random Astros players out of the HoF for this. How many players are in the HoF now who stole signs? Given that it used to be a lot more of the wild west out there, I have to assume it's dozens, maybe hundreds.
So is cheating just acceptable then? No, but stealing signs is barely cheating, either. It's legal in many circumstances (it's 100% legal for runners on 2nd to steal signs, though they'll probably get hit for it). Every team is trying to do it so it's almost part of the game. The Astros did break the unwritten rules of breaking the rules in that they both used technology (making it actually illegal and not just against the unwritten rules) and were too obvious about it, giving the whole league a black eye, but they're mostly the scapegoats for a league-wide practice. Quoting the relevant Wikipedia article: "Sign stealing has been in practice almost since the game's origin in the 19th century, and has continued to be used in recent times." It's stupid to single out a few specific players for punishment when stealing signs is so widespread.
WE HAVE BEEN BLESSED
TODD HELTON FTW
The Mauer candidacy is the most interesting to me. He clearly was the best player at his position for an entire decade, and you usually expect those players to get in. But the shorter career, position switch, and lack of postseason success will probably hurt him. I also think his candidacy will be an interesting preview of how Buster Posey gets treated down the road
Even if Jose Bautista isn't a Hall of Famer, he gave us an all-time bat flip and punch taken
Great vid man, love your content. I would have dedicated a bit more to Victor Martínez…his BB/SO ration is absurd.
I hope Torii stays on the ballot because he played for the Twins and Tigers and I'm a Tigers fan from Minnesota and he was just fun to watch and I like reminiscing about seeing him play.
Oh, Billy!
It’s honestly insane that Mariano Rivera is the only player to have entered the Hall of Fame unanimously. At least one person really looked at players like Ken Griffey Jr., Tom Seaver, and Greg Maddux, and decided that they don’t belong in Cooperstown. How?
I think its interesting how a lot of the current generation of Venezuelan MLB players admire Bobby Abreu so much. He's not a hall of famer but he has had a larger impact on the game than a lot of people realize
If I had a vote: A. Beltre – yes ; C. Utley – yes ; A. Jones – yes ; B. Wagner – yes ; T. Helton – yes ; C. Beltran – yes ; A. Pettitte – yes
You really should be invited to join the BBWAA given your writng quality and overall reach and success. I'm still outraged that you couldnt even get a pass for the winter meetings!
People are asking if Taylor Swift wrote “Mastermind” about Carlos Beltran
Yadier Molina is not a HOF
They should let this man vote
I'm fine with Mauer and Utley (eventually) getting in because that opens the door for Dustin Pedroia 🙂
“A rod should’ve known better”
nodding in agreement
“Another guy who should’ve known better, manny Ramirez”
That’s enough outta you
You should drive your car into a road and to a store of your choice to buy a nice treat because this is a good video.
For me, Beltre loses points if he had ever let Andrus touch his head
For me:
Beltre
Mauer
Manny
Jones
Borderline (not sure):
A-Rod (I take character into account and he used steroids his entire career probably)
Utley: good years didn’t last long enough and wasn’t a catcher like Mauer
Sheffield: I’m leaning towards voting for him in final year
Bobby Abreu: never one of the best players in the game
Everyone else is a no for me rn
Nice! Needed something to help me get through this workout. Thanks Bailey!
Personal ballot no order :
Helton
A-Rod (still a beast)
Andruw Jones
Beltre
Mauer
Rollins (keep him around)
Abreu (keep him around)
Hunter (keep him around)
Buehrle (keep him around)
Sheffield
Pettitte
I don’t believe in closers as HOFers. Not enough for me. I like keeping some guys around obviously even if they weren’t clear cut. I voted for one cheater in A-Rod. Like Bailey said inner circle type guy. No Beltran because I believe he’s a jagoff. I’m a pirates fan the Astros WS never crossed with my fandom just never liked him. No Ramirez just a bat no D. Pettitte has been my #1 flip.
And beltre is already not unanimous.
People ignore Billy Wagner’s horrendous playoff numbers. He was the left-handed Craig Kimbrel. Dominant in the regular season, but could never trust him in high leverage situations.
One disagrement, he called Tommy John a stat accumulator.
Go back and look at Tommy John, career 62.2 rWAR, he was not simply a "stat accumulator" he was a very good pitcher.
Maybe not a hall of famer, but he wasn't Jamie Moyer.
my mock ballot would be pretty much identical to yours, but I'd swap Utley for Manny. I don't care about PED usage that much and Manny was just too good of a hitter to not vote for
No, Beltre will NOT go unanimously into the Hall. Thanks Bill Ballou for only voting Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, and literally no one else 🖕
Sheffield was on same list as David Ortiz. He should get in.
Think you nailed it except I might put in Francisco over Buehrle.
i’m sorry foolish, but utley can’t be a HOFer if jeff kent isn’t. kent makes up for the defensive shortcomings with his offense, but still was never truly considered a threat to reach 75%. never even reached 50%.
I read something interesting on Cooperstown Cred's article on Utley. That he gets a lot of his defensive war from superior positioning and there is some argument that its then good coaching rather than personal ability. WARP tries to remove positioning from its defensive component and Utley fairs significantly worse there because of it. What is your take on positioning as a skill versus a product of coaching?
This guys knows ball
There are a lot of names on the ballot that have strong cases. Depending on whether or not you value steroid guys, I can see an argument for about 15 players here to make the Hall, but the Beltre, Beltran, Helton, Wagner, and Andruw Jones should be locks at this point. My personal ballot would be this:
1. Adrian Beltre
2. Carlos Beltran
3. Andruw Jones
4. Chase Utley
5. Bobby Abreu
6. Mark Buehrle
7. Alex Rodriguez
8. Billy Wagner
9. Todd Helton
10. Joe Mauer
I think David Wright is on the razor's edge and would almost certainly be a selection next year personally.
Bobby Abreu is absolutely a hall of famer, and if Barry Bonds hadn’t destroyed our OBP appreciation receptors we would all agree he is
Agree about Wright. Really good until his back happened and then just couldn't follow through and be another Beltre.