Minnesota Twins: Torii Hunter remains on HOF Ballot for 2022

The Hall of Fame Ballot voting results have been announced, and the three Minnesota Twins players on the ballot found out their fates. One received enough votes to remain on the ballot, one received a couple votes, and one didn’t get any at all.

With no players being elected into the Hall, the largest incoming class of Twins players since 2018 will have to wait to see if Torii Hunter can do better next year. In that 2018 class, Johan Santana, Livan Hernandez, and Orlando Hudson all made the ballot, but didn’t make it to year two. That was different this year.

Michael Cuddyer didn’t receive any votes, which isn’t a big surprise. While he’s a Minnesota Twins star and one of the most beloved players in franchise history, a career .277 batting average, only 197 homers, two All-Star appearances, and one batting title isn’t a Hall of Fame Resume.

LaTroy Hawkins somehow received two votes, good for 0.5% of the voting on the ballot. He also didn’t have a strong Hall of Fame resume, but his longevity (21 years) could have helped him out. With that being said, a 4.31 ERA, just 127 saves, and no awards or black ink (league leads) mean he shouldn’t have even made the ballot.

Torii Hunter was the lone Minnesota Twins player to remain on the ballot for 2022, receiving 38 votes, roughly 9.5% of the vote.

While that’s a number high enough to stick on the ballot (over 5%), it’s still nowhere near the 75% he needed to actually be elected. No one expected him to make it in this first year though, so that’s still a solid number.

Hunter was the player we ranked with the fourth-highest shot at making it in, and he has a very decent case. Armed with nine Gold Glove awards, a 50.7 career WAR, five All-Star nominations and 353 homers, he’s a Twins great and ranks as the 34th-rated center fielder all-time by JAWS.

He’s well-liked across baseball, and despite still having an uphill battle to make it in, it’s encouraging to see that he’ll stick around for another year. Maybe he’ll build up momentum as players on the ballot change.

He will be joined on next year’s ballot by Justin Morneau, Joe Nathan, and A.J. Pierzynski, and while Hunter is more likely to make it than Morneau and Pierzynski, Nathan’s Hall of Fame case is the strongest a former Twin will be able to make until 2024, when Joe Mauer makes his first ballot.