The Cycle, Issue 114: Plaque Buildup
Breaking down the Hall of Fame ballot, the Royals' new uniforms, and Wander Franco's extension, among other things
In this issue of The Cycle . . .
The Hall of Fame Ballot: Breaking down the 2022 BBWAA ballot with predictions and picks
Rooting for Laundry: The Royals’ new robes
Newswire: Non-tender date moved up
Transaction Reactions: Wander Franco’s record-setting extension, plus DeSclafani, Graveman, and Loup sign, and Cora and Woodward get some job security
Feedback
Closing Credits
The 2022 Hall of Fame Ballot
The Baseball Writers’ Association of America released its 2022 Hall of Fame ballot on Monday. The ballot includes 17 returning candidates, four of them in their final year of eligibility (including Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Curt Schilling) and 13 first-year candidates, a group led by Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz. As that list of names suggests, the stain of performance-enhancing drugs is all over this ballot, which includes players who played from 1984 to 2016.
As a result, there is no guarantee that the BBWAA won’t repeat last year’s shutout, which saw no player elected. By that same token, there should be plenty of votes available to the many players caught in the middle, many of whom I believe will eventually, and deservingly, be inducted, though not necessarily this year.
Votes are due on December 31 (I am a BBWAA member, but still a few years shy of a Hall vote), and the results are scheduled to be announced on Thursday, January 20 on the MLB Network. Here’s my breakdown of the 30-player ballot.
Top Newcomers
Alex Rodriguez (117.5 bWAR career)
Although Rodriguez’s Hall of Fame chances are complicated by his performance-enhancing-drug use, his candidacy is actually quite simple. Taken on its face, his on-field performance is that of an inner-circle Hall of Famer, a player who would receive north of 95 percent of the vote on his first ballot. However, in the spring of 2009, he confessed to using PEDs during his three years with the Texas Rangers, from 2001 to 2003. Less than five years later, he was suspended for the entire 2014 season after being implicated in the Biogenesis doping scandal. Thought the full extent of Rodriguez’s PED remains unknown, he confessed to juicing during three of the five seasons that he led the American League in home runs, and he was subsequently suspended by the league for a separate period of use. This is not a Barry Bonds–type case of a player who had a Hall of Fame career before ever taking a PED. Nor is this a case of a player plagued by rumors and allegations without hard proof. You either put Rodriguez in despite his PED use, or keep him out because of it. It’s that simple. For reasons I will get into below, I would not vote for Alex Rodriguez for the Hall of Fame.