There are plenty of intriguing new names on this year’s Baseball Hall of Fame ballot. They join a list which still includes players such as Trevor Hoffman, Vladimir Guerrero, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Edgar Martinez, Mike Mussina, Curt Schilling, Fred McGriff, Larry Walker, and Jeff Kent.

So to say the ballot is loaded would be an understatement. Here is a case why each of the top newcomers should eventually be enshrined. Now all of these players might not make it into Cooperstown, but these are just why they should at least be in consideration.

Other newcomers

Jamie Moyer, Carlos Zambrano, Chris Carpenter, Livan Hernandez, Orlando Hudson, Kevin Millwood, Carlos Lee, Kerry Wood, Hideki Matsui, Aubrey Huff, Jason Isringhausen, and Brad Lidge.

Chipper Jones

Jones’ 19-year career, all spent with the Atlanta Braves, make him a very likely first-ballot choice. He was named an All-Star eight times, won a World Series in 1995, and was named National League MVP in 1999. During a seven-season span from 1996-2002, he finished no lower than 11th in MVP voting. Jones won the 2008 National League batting crown and has a career .303 average. He currently ranks 16th all-time in walks (1,512), 30th in doubles (549), 33rd in home runs (468), 34th In RBIs (1,623), 46th in runs (1,619), and 60th in hits (2,726).

Jim Thome

The five-time All-Star was one of baseball’s all-time great power hitters. His 612 home runs in 22 seasons currently place him with the eighth-most in history. Thome had a career-high of 52 in 2002, six seasons with at least 40, and 12 seasons with at least 30. He had eight seasons of 100+ runs and nine seasons with 100+ RBIs.

For his career, his 1,747 walks are the seventh-most, his 1,699 RBIs are the 26th-most, and his 1,583 runs are the 51st-most.

Scott Rolen

Rolen was arguably the best defensive third baseman of his era, and he took home nine Gold Gloves. He was named an All-Star seven times in 17 seasons and was a member of the 2006 World Series-winning Cardinals.

Not just a defensive specialist, he hit 316 homers in his career including 10 seasons with at least 20, and he has a solid lifetime average of .281. Rolen is currently 51st all-time with 517 doubles.

Andruw Jones

Jones was the premier defensive center fielder for a decade straight as he won a Gold Glove 10 straight seasons from 1998-2007. The five-time All-Star led the National League in homers and RBIs with 51 and 128 respectively in 2005. He hit at least 26 long balls in the same 10 years he took home Gold Gloves. Altogether in his 17-year career, Jones currently ranks 47th all-time with 434 home runs.

Johnny Damon

Damon is a two-time World Series winner, taking home championships in 2004 with the Boston Red Sox and 2009 with the New York Yankees.

He scored over 100 runs nine straight years from 1998-2006. Playing 18 seasons, Damon is currently 32nd in MLB history in runs (1,668), 48th in doubles (522), 54th in hits (2,769), and 67th in stolen bases (408).

Johan Santana

Santana was one of the game’s top starting pitchers from 2002-2010. In those nine seasons, the four-time All-Star went 130-66 with a 2.90 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and had slightly over a strikeout an inning. He won the American League Cy Young in 2004 and 2006 and finished top-five three other times in voting (National League in 2008 with New York Mets). He led his league in ERA three times and led the American League four straight seasons from 2004-2007 in WHIP.

Omar Vizquel

24 years in the majors is no small feat as Vizquel played until he was 45 years old.

Through much of that time, he was seen as the best defensive shortstop in baseball and right there with Ozzie Smith as the best of all-time. Altogether, he took home 11 Gold Gloves, which is second amongst shortstops, only behind Smith. He wasn’t a slouch at the plate either. His 2,877 hits are currently 43rd all-time and his 404 stolen bases are 71st. His 2,968 games played have only been topped by 11 people.
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