As a first-time voter for the Hall of Fame, the responsibility is one I take seriously and one that requires careful consideration of each candidate. Some were easy to analyze and others not so much, with nuances and generational context to take into account.
I cast seven of a possible 10 votes for candidates I deemed worthy of the Hall of Fame. Here are the arguments for some of my votes and no-votes:
Carlos Beltran
This was the easiest vote for me. Being part of the 400 home run, 300 stolen base club along with Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Willie Mays and Andre Dawson speaks for itself, as does his 2,725 hits, 1,587 RBI, nine All-Star Games and 70.0 bWAR. Most people suspect that Beltrán’s support took a while to gain momentum due to his involvement in the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal in 2017. But either way, Beltrán is a solid choice for the Hall of Fame.
Andruw Jones
Jones’ huge decline after his years in Atlanta starting in 2008 has been his biggest obstacle to the pick, but it’s impossible for me to ignore his 434 home runs, 10 Gold Gloves and ranking as No. 11 among all-time center fielders in Jay Jaffe’s JAWS system at Baseball-Reference. Jones got my vote.
Bobby Abreu
This topic has been debated over and over again, which is part of what makes being a Hall of Fame voter fun…and also a great responsibility. As has been well documented, Venezuelan Abreu was a moneyball player before that became fashionable, posting a .416 on-base percentage from 1998 to 2006, along with a .305 average and a .918 OPS. This was in stark contrast to the dominant style of an era when home runs were the norm in the majors — fueled in large part by the steroid era — and was a precursor to the type of offensive play that gained tremendous value in the eyes of evaluators and pundits in later years. With 400 stolen bases, 574 doubles and a bWAR of 60.2 – among other numbers that place him favorably among quite a few Hall of Famers – his arguments were compelling enough for me.
Andy Pettitte
A few years ago, there was a trend among baseball analysts called “Kill the Win.” The idea, of course, was that we should stop giving so much weight to wins and losses when evaluating a pitcher. I not only understand the logic, but I also support it. However, Pettitte’s 256 wins are persuasive to me, in the context of longevity and reliability in the era in which he pitched, and on some of the best Yankee teams in their history (which, obviously, is saying a lot). Of course, the reason they are considered some of the best teams in the Bronx are their seven American League pennants and five World Series titles between 1996 and 2009. Being in the middle of most of the Yankees’ playoff runs in that period, Pettitte holds the all-time Major League records for starts (44), wins (19), innings pitched (276.2) and quality outings (28) in the postseason. So when it comes to a Hall of Fame with so many pitchers based on their winning numbers and longevity, I had to give Pettitte and his five World Series rings their due with my vote.
The second base dilemma: Dustin Pedroia and Chase Utley
This is a topic I will have to look at carefully next year. In Pedroia’s case, he has numbers that by comparison can be considered Hall of Fame worthy, or at least on the margins. As a second baseman, his bWAR and JAWS are superior to those of Hall of Famers Jeff Kent, Bobby Doerr and Nellie Fox (plus several others), and his four Gold Gloves, the 2007 American League Rookie of the Year award and the circuit’s Most Valuable Player honors the following year had an impact on my decision. Pedroia received my vote.
So why Pedroia and not Utley? Utley’s career numbers in most traditional and nontraditional categories are slightly higher than Pedroia’s, with the difference largely being Utley’s years with the Dodgers during the final three and a half years of his career, a period that partially coincided with Pedroia’s final injury-plagued seasons. But Utley’s lack of a Gold Glove and his failure to finish higher than seventh in MVP voting (yes, I’m aware of the competition he had in the National League in his heyday) led to the decision to leave him off my ballot. Believe me, it was a difficult decision and one I will look at very closely next time.
A-Rod and Manny without my vote
I’ve never been a strict “if there was even a hint of performance-enhancing substance (PED) use, I’ll never vote for them” person. Therefore, I voted for Pettitte despite his self-confessed use of Human Growth Hormone (HGH) in two separate seasons to recover from injuries. But in the cases of Alex Rodríguez and Manny Ramírez, there are factors that led me to leave them off my ballot.
Rodríguez confessed in 2009 that when he joined the Rangers in 2001, he began using banned substances and did so only during his three years in Arlington. In those three seasons, he hit 156 home runs and was the American League Most Valuable Player in 2003. But in later years, of course, A-Rod – who was traded to the Yankees in 2004 – was implicated in the Biogenesis scandal in Miami. So, it’s impossible for me to know what his numbers would have been like without his avowed and also documented use of PEDs.
It’s essentially the same when it comes to Ramirez. Being named as one of the 104 players who tested positive in leaked PED results in 2003 – which were supposed to be anonymous – is one thing. Another is having two suspensions for PED use in later years, in 2009 and 2011. To me, that was significant enough for me to question his career numbers, to the point of not giving him my vote for the Hall of Fame.
My complete ballot:
Bobby Abreu
Carlos Beltran
Andy Pettitte
Andruw Jones
Omar Vizquel
Francisco Rodríguez
Dustin Pedroia
