On Sunday, Cooperstown, NY will celebrate the six newest Baseball Hall of Fame members according to ESPN. They are Jack Morris, Alan Trammell, Vladimir Guerrero, Jim Thome, Chipper Jones, and Trevor Hoffman.
It’s never too early to look at who will be on the ballot come 2019. Here are the six most noteworthy newcomers to the ballot as well as the five players who fell short on last year’s ballot but received at least 50 percent of the votes. Seventy-five percent of the votes must be achieved in order to be enshrined.
Bleacher Report is predicting a 2019 class of only two: Mariano Rivera and Roy Halladay.
Newcomers on ballot
- Mariano Rivera
Why he should get in: Widely seen as the best closer of all-time, Rivera's 652 career saves tops everyone in history. He made 13 All-Star teams, won five World Series rings, and finished top-ten in AL Cy Young voting six times. As impressive as his career 2.21 regular season ERA is, his microscopic 0.70 ERA in 141 innings of postseason play is what legends are made of.
Why he shouldn't get in: All voters decide at the same time that they will not vote a relief pitcher in. Seriously though, what reasoning could someone possibly have to not vote Rivera in?
- Roy Halladay
Why he should get in: Halladay is a former Cy Young winner in both leagues, and he altogether had seven top-five finishes in Cy Young voting.
He nearly had twice as many wins (203) as losses (105). He threw 67 complete games in an era where complete games by pitchers were going out of style.
Why he shouldn't get in: He wasn't on too many teams that reached the postseason and only made five career playoff starts over two seasons (2010 & 2011). Halladay's first career start in the playoffs was the second career postseason no-hitter though.
- Todd Helton
Why he should get in: Helton hit over .300 in 12 of his 17 years (ten straight years from 1998-2007) and owns a career .316 batting average. He has 180 more career walks (1,335) than strikeouts (1,175). His 592 doubles rank 19th in league history.
Why he shouldn’t get in: Playing all 17 of his seasons with the Rockies means Helton played 17 years of home games at Coors Field.
He hit a career .345 with 227 homers at home compared to a .287 average with 142 home runs on the road.
- Andy Pettitte
Why he should get in: Pettitte won 256 games over his 18-year career. He was a member of five World Series-winning teams with the Yankees, and his 19 postseason wins are four more than any other pitcher all-time.
Why he shouldn’t get in: His career ERA of 3.85 isn’t mightily impressive, and half of his seasons ended with an ERA over four. Pettitte also admitted to using HGH in 2002 to recover from an elbow injury after being cited in the Mitchell Report.
- Lance Berkman
Why he should get in: Six times in Berkman’s career, he finished in the top seven of NL MVP voting. From 2001-11, he had a .297 batting average and .959 OPS while averaging about 30 home runs, 34 doubles, 101 RBIs, 93 runs, and 98 walks.
Why he shouldn’t get in: Only five of his seasons came with a WAR higher than five. Many of Berkman’s counting stats such as 366 homers and 1,905 hits don’t scream out Hall of Fame worthy either.
- Roy Oswalt
Why he should get in: Oswalt finished in the top-six of NL Cy Young voting six times from 2001-10. He won 20 games twice, won an ERA title in 2006, and led the NL in WHIP in 2010.
Why he shouldn’t get in: He has 163 career wins which won’t excite Hall of Fame voters. Oswalt’s career ended with a thud which hurt his career numbers as he went 4-9 with a 6.80 ERA in 2012-13 with the Rangers and Rockies.
Those not inducted who received at least 50 percent of votes last year
- Edgar Martinez (70.4 percent)
Why he should get in: He’s one of the best hitters of his generation.
Martinez won two AL batting titles, owns a career .312 batting average, and a .418 on-base percentage. He had power as well: 309 home runs and 514 doubles.
Why he shouldn’t get in: Frank Thomas is the only player in the Hall of Fame who spent more than half of his games as a designated hitter. 71.4 percent of Martinez’s starts came as a designated hitter. He also fell well short of 3,000 hits (2,247).
- Mike Mussina (63.5 percent)
Why he should get in: 270 career wins in 18 seasons. Mussina also fielded his position with the best of them winning seven Gold Gloves. He finished top-six in AL Cy Young voting nine times.
Why he shouldn’t get in: Mussina’s career ERA sits at a not-so-stellar 3.68. He never posted an ERA under three after his first two seasons.
- Roger Clemens (57.3 percent)
Why he should get in: Seven AL Cy Youngs and an AL MVP on his trophy mantle. 354 career wins. Seven times he led his league in ERA and five times in strikeouts. No matter how it’s dissected, Clemens is one of the most dominant pitchers of all-time.
Why he shouldn’t get in: Steroid allegations. It is accepted by nearly everyone that Clemens used them at some point. He was named in the Mitchell Report and his former trainer, Brian McNamee, testified against him.
- Barry Bonds (56.4 percent)
Why he should get in: Bonds is the all-time leader in home runs (762) and walks (2,558). He’s also the single-season leader for most homers as he hit 73 in 2001. He won seven NL MVP awards and eight Gold Gloves.
Why he shouldn’t get in: Steroid allegations. Due to his involvement with BALCO, much like Clemens, it is a near consensus from fans of the game that Bonds used steroids during his career.
- Curt Schilling (51.2 percent)
Why he should get in: While he never won a Cy Young, three times Schilling was voted as a runner-up. His 3,116 strikeouts rank 15th in league history. He won 216 games, and three times won more than 20 in a season. He’s a three-time World Series winner.
Why he shouldn’t get in: Unfortunately, some of Schilling’s comments after his career ended have turned voters off. He was fired as an analyst on ESPN in 2016 due to an offensive social media post on transgenders.