Peter Schmuck: My Hall of Fame ballot exposed

The veteran journalists who vote in the Baseball Writers’ Association of America Hall of Fame election have the option of keeping their ballots secret or making them public. So, in the interests of transparency and filling some space on a quiet news day, here are the players for whom I voted and the reasons why:

(Please note that the players listed are in the alphabetical order they were listed on the ballot and do not reflect their relative importance or likelihood of being chosen by the voting body. I will address that in each case.)

Bobby Abreu

The longtime Phillies– and others – rightfielder was selected on just 19.5 percent of the ballots last year in his sixth year of consideration, so he is highly unlikely to get close to the 75 percent requirement for induction before the clock runs out on his BBWAA eligibility. But I gave him a vote because I believe he could receive future consideration in the Veterans Committee process.

His overall numbers may not put him among the truly elite hitters in the game, but he had a .291 lifetime batting average and amassed 2,470 hits, 288 home runs,1,453 runs, 1,363 RBIs and 400 stolen bases. I’d just like to see his ballot totals go up a bit.

Carlos Beltrán

Despite his involvement in the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal, it took Beltrán just three years on the ballot to reach the threshold of induction with 70.3 percent of the vote last year. I’m one of those old-school voters who don’t view on-field cheating quite as harshly as performance-enhancing drug use and figure he was punished sufficiently by losing an opportunity to manage the New York Mets because of TrashCanGate.

Over a 20-year career, he hit 435 home runs and had eight 100 RBI seasons along with impressive run, RBI and stolen base totals. He’ll get in this year.

Félix Hernández

King Félix didn’t amass gaudy numbers over a 15-year career that was cut short by injuries and his decision to sit out the Covid-shortened season in 2020, but he was a dominant pitcher in his prime who won a Cy Young Award and twice finished second in the Cy Young balloting. He received just 20.6 percent of the vote in his first year of consideration in the 2025 election, which doesn’t bode well for eventual BBWAA induction, but I think his numbers will rise over the next few years and I wanted to help.

Andruw Jones

The long-time Braves center ielder was just a great all-around player who has risen in the estimation of HOF voters to the point where he seems like a lock to gain induction this year.

He hit 434 home runs during his 17 years in the big leagues, but his other cumulative numbers aren’t exactly elite. The thing that set him apart was the way he played center field, and he won 10 straight Gold Gloves from 1998 to 2007 to prove that.

Andy Pettitte

I know, I know. He used performance-enhancing drugs, but he had a terrific career that featured 256 regular-season victories and 19 wins in the postseason. He was a cornerstone of the New York Yankees rotation during their dynastic period in the late 1990s and early 2000s and gets my vote because he confessed to his involvement in the PED scandal and sacrificed his friendship with Roger Clemens to out him, too.

Nevertheless, he isn’t going to get in on a BBWAA ballot after being chosen on just 27.9 percent of ballots in his eighth year of eligibility in 2025.

Manny Ramirez

Strange cat who put up no-doubt Hall of Fame numbers. He hit .312 with 555 home runs, 1,831 RBIs and a fantastic .996 career OPS. The only reason he wasn’t elected on the first ballot was his multiple positive steroid tests late in his career.

He got 34.3 percent of the vote in his ninth year of eligibility, so he has no chance to be elected in his final year of BBWAA eligibility, but my vote for him is consistent with my long-stated intention to vote for the otherwise deserving steroid users on their final year if I believe they would still have had HOF-quality careers if they had not used PEDs.

Francisco Rodríguez

I explained my rationale for selecting KRod in my previous column about the Hall of Fame voting process. His 437 career saves rank fourth among retired players and the top three – and several who are behind him – are in the Hall.

My vote is an acknowledgement of how dominant he was in his prime, while understanding that I am in a small minority of voters who favor his induction, He was named on just 10.2 percent of ballots last year and doesn’t figure to climb that 75 percent mountain even though he is in just his fourth year on the ballot.

I hope I’m wrong because I still think that relief pitchers are seriously under-represented in Cooperstown.