Minnesota Twins: My 2022 FanSided Hall of Fame Ballot, Explained

Candidates that Belong but didn’t make the cut this year: Scott Rolen, Todd Helton, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, and Curt Schilling

After Bonds, Clemens, and Ortiz it gets a little murky. I used all ten of my voting slots, even on a few candidates who probably aren’t deserving right away because I would want them to remain on the ballot. There were a few that I thought should have made it, but didn’t make it in this round of voting (and may miss the official Hall of Fame as well).

The first one I bring up here is Scott Rolen. Rolen is the definition of a borderline candidate. He’s got plenty of accolades as a seven-time All-Star, the 1997 Rookie of the Year, eight-time Gold Glove winner, and one time Silver Slugger award winner. He’s got the accolades, and his defense helped him rack up an excellent 70.1 career bWAR.

With that being said, he doesn’t have incredible offensive numbers, and his lack of black ink (leading the league in an offensive category) hurts him. I don’t think he makes it this year, but with a wide open ballot next year, he should get his hard-earned spot in the Hall.

Todd Helton makes the cut here as well. Helton had an insanely good seven-year-peak of his career, the time where players are really judged for the Hall. His time in Colorado makes his numbers a little inflated, but his 61.8 bWAR and stellar fielding numbers suggest he belongs in the Hall. Similar to Rolen, I expect his odds to boost in 2023.

In addition to being a playoff hero and extremely exciting player, I also included Manny Ramirez as a Hall of Famer. If you look just at his numbers, especially his seven-year peak, Ramirez is a first ballot Hall of Famer. Twelve All-Star appearances, nine Silver Slugger Awards, a batting title 555 home runs and two rings (not to mention a World Series MVP award) is an incredible resume.

Alex Rodriguez also offers that level of a resume, but even better. Three MVP awards, fourteen All-Star appearances, ten Silver Sluggers, 695 home runs and a 117.3 bWAR that ranks sixteenth all-time. Unfortunately, both Rodriguez and Ramirez got busted for doping, which put an asterisk by their names.

It really shouldn’t matter though at this point. If Bonds and Clemens are going in, I want to see Ramirez and Rodriguez follow them in, even if it isn’t this year. Both players were far too good to be kept out of the hall.

The last person I’ll talk about in this section is Curt Schilling. Schilling was one of the best pitchers of the late 1990s and 2000s, not to mention one of the best playoff pitchers of his generation. His oft-outspoken and insensitive political views are going to cost him the Hall, but his pitching ability, especially in big moments, earns my vote here.