Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Hall of Fame ballot reveal:
The results of this year’s Hall of Fame vote will be announced at 5pm CT this evening. Anyone who receives 75% of the vote or more will join second baseman Jeff Kent as part of the 2026 Hall of Fame class. This year’s class of newcomers to the ballot is headlined by southpaw Cole Hamels, though the lefty won’t be inducted on his first ballot. Outfielder Manny Ramirez is entering his final year on the ballot and will surely miss out on induction due to PED usage during his career, as steroid era legends like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens have before him. Ryan Thibodaux’s BBHOF Tracker records all publicly revealed ballots and estimates that 54% of the total ballots are currently publicly available. If the rest of the votes were to perfectly mirror the publicly revealed ballot outfielders Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones would both be elected this cycle.
2. Rays stadium update incoming:
While the Rays are now under new ownership, that hasn’t stopped the team’s efforts to move out of Tropicana Field and build a new stadium in the area. As noted by Lucy Marques, Colleen Wright, Nina Moske, and Nicolas Villamil of the Tampa Bay Times, the board of trustees for Hillsborough College are scheduled to vote at 4pm local time this afternoon on a memorandum of understanding with the Rays regarding a stadium plan at the college’s Dale Mabry campus. The team’s proposal would see a stadium built at that campus and also upgrades to the school’s facilities on the campus. This is only the first in what would need to be a series of votes and negotiations in order to make a stadium on the campus into a reality, but it would nonetheless be a major step to signal where the Rays might play when their days at the Trop finally come to an end.
3. Phillies media availability:
The Phillies have made their reunion with catcher J.T. Realmuto official, and as they did so the club announced that Realmuto, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, and manager Rob Thomson will all be available to the media over Zoom starting at 10am local time this morning. That virtual presser could provide an insight into the team’s plans for the remainder of the offseason on the heels of not only signing Realmuto, but also narrowly missing out on a deal with star infielder Bo Bichette just hours before the Realmuto deal became official. It’s possible that bringing back Realmuto is the capstone on an offseason that’s largely seen the Phillies focus on retaining their own players rather than make big external additions, though their pursuit of Bichette did suggest that the team is (or at least was) open to retooling the roster in a more significant way this winter.
Hopefully this is the year Andruw Jones finally gets in!
Agree fully Southi but not Beltran who was a main part of the Houston cheating in 17. How do we know that was the only instance? I would rather see for example Dwight Evans or Reggie Smith inducted (as a Sox fan, I’m partial to both, fill in whomever you believe has gotten shafted by cheaters; having Gaylord Perry and other known cheaters in doesn’t mean the door should remain open) as examples of players who in my view are Hall worthy but whose contributions got overlooked due to the cheaters and now have to depend on the three year interval executive committees.
I will say that I fully agree about both Reggie Smith, and Dwight Evans. They were great players that the more modern fan missed out on.
Andruw Jones is quite possibly the worst player to ever wear a Dodgers uniform. If he gets in, the hall will be sullied forever.
One bad season doesnt do that. If that were the case, almost everyone would have sullied the HoF by now.
Haha…. “bad season.” It was absolutely horrible!
Wait..Because I think you already said that. And then I responded..you know how that goes.
south – Yeah. A .254 career hitter. It’s time to start weeding out the non-deserving members and make the HOF great again.
Yeah, because batting average is, of course, the only determining factor in a ballplayer’s worth…
smh
I’d imagine if Andruw Jones gets in he’ll be the only hall of fame hitter to register a sub .160 average at age 31.
He was also dealing with injuries to both knees that year. You know, you’re grievance is really screaming “Im a Dodgers fan making this more important” sort of energy. 😂
Only 4 players with 400 homers and 10 GG. 3 of them were 1st ballot hall of famers (Schmidt, Mayes, Griffey). Let’s get Andruw Jones in. Make it all 4.
Bonds, Clemens, and Ramirez cheat and they’re banned. Beltran cheats and he’s in…
Amphetamines were made illegal to use without prescription by feds before most baseball players were using.
BS Aragon. Doctors provided the amphetamines in the clubhouse and the purpose was alertness. Today’s player does the same with energy shots. Same purpose.
Yeah, cocain, alligedly, do the same but you get bomed from the sky from civilian fighter jets.
Cocaine was more of a recreational drug. You mentioned amphetamines whose purpose was either alertness or to lose weight and most did not use for the latter. Stop trying to compare medically supervised care with illegal drugs. Parker, Jenkins and others used coke but I’ve never heard of anyone using to perform better.
And big Papi, one of the poster boys for the juice era.
Goes from a mid 20s doubles hitter in Minnesota to a legend of the game almost over night.
That was his brother, David Arias 😉
As a Sox fan, I did not want Papi elected. It doesn’t mean we should continue to distort who is enshrined moving forward. I’ve argued that ownership changed their rules of retiring Sox numbers in case it came out officially that Papi used yet Dwight Evans and Luis Tiant’s numbers still haven’t been retired.
And Sludge Rodriguez. A known cheater.
All should be in. Shouldn’t punish certain players for stuff that was done by a majority of the league.
None should be in when it’s kept some truly deserving out. Jeff Kent should have been voted in by the writers and probably would have been had the users not used to inflate their stats. Just my take.
You can use that same logic to say Kent benefited from a lineup that included Bonds.
Kent still did the work of hitting and knocking in runners.
Yes. He was one of the greatest offensive second baseman because he had Bonds in the lineup… What a crappy straw man argument.
Strange way to look at it. So you’re saying a whole bunch of wrongs make it right. Never heard that before.
The worst part is that Pettitte is part of era. He got caught, admitted it, and he has more votes than any of those guys. Anyone want to guess why?
Keeping guys out due to PEDs is so stupid. How do we know that Beltran and/or Jones didn’t use? And we know there are guy already enshrined who used roids. I worked at a radio station where we had access to that list of 104 guys who failed that original test where the results weren’t supposed to be revealed publicly and people would be surprised at a few of the names. Guys like I-Rod and Piazza are obvious, although they are enshrined. I bet many people would be shocked to learn that Pedro Martinez failed, but it was late in his career and he was coming off injury. Point is, with pitchers and hitters using it was a fairly equal playing field except for guys who did horse pills like Bonds. Just let them in with an asterisk or something. Perhaps no face on the plaque?
Agree wholeheartedly. If we can all agree that we have no way of truly knowing who did what, then it seems fairly obvious that we have at least SOME PED users in the hall (cough cough David Ortiz). If there were no rules in place preventing them and therefore got no suspension, you should get in
Nah. Known cheaters don’t deserve glory. Keep fighting the good fight for the PED users though. They appreciate your efforts.
Is that the best you got Chet? I’m not fighting for them ‘Im just saying we don’t know who used we only know who failed the tests after that first one. Look, I’ve come a long way on this. I used to be like you. But then I used my brain. And using your brain is a good fight that I’ll happily promote. Look into it.
I second this
Look, I’m “just saying” too… the cheaters appreciate you and your big brain.
I’m fine with banning those who failed the drug tests, because that’s factual information that can make a rule. Let “no HOF consideration” be a condition of failing a drug test. But Bonds and Clemens didn’t fail the tests. Sure, we have good reason to believe they used, but that’s not why they’re not in the HOF — they’re not in the HOF primarily because they didn’t have good relationships with the media and the steroids make a good excuse for voters to justify excluding a guy they don’t like while letting in cheaters they do like.
Bonds admitted that used cream and the clear. He “just didn’t know what it was”.
None of those guys, nor any of the Astros from 17ish should get in. Players or coaches.
Andruw Jones should be in. Nobody else on this years list.
cencal
Bonds admitted that used cream and the clear. He “just didn’t know what it was”.
=======================
That alone should get him barred. How many people take anything without knowing what it is?
If we’re going to enforce the character clause then get rid of Cap Anson to start
The issue is some get the benefit of the doubt while others are crucified, depending on how the media portrays the player. If you were around the game in any capacity during the PED era you would know how widespread it was. Many very likable players did the same thing Bonds and Clemens did.
If you take away Barry Bonds “PED Years” he is still the only 400HR and 400SB player with multiple GG’s and MVP’s.
He should be in based on that alone…
A clear HoF player before the PED’s. Greed ruins.
Honestly, name a name and it would not shock me. You say Martinez failed, wouldn’t shock me. At this point if someone found an old email from a team that required all players to take steroids it would not shock me.
Jose Canseco thought 80% of the league was on steroids, Ken Caminiti said 50%, David Wells said 25%, Tom House thought 6-7 pitchers (just the pitchers alone) on every team was experimenting with something. A survey in 2003 said 5%-7% failed testing but that also acknowledged it was a massive underestimate due to the fact that players knew when testing was going to be and could attempt to mask their use.
Just going by a conservative estimates of 20%. So you could say on average that maybe 5 players on every 25-man roster was on steroids or HGH or something.
At this point, maybe it’s just like gambling pre-1919 Black Sox scandal. Everyone knew it was happening, everyone turned a blind eye, no one cared until it became a scandal. Yet known gamblers who threw games are in the Hall. So why not the steroid users. Without steroids Bonds, Clemens, Ramirez and the rest would likely have been hall worthy anyway.
One more thing to add, we even had suspicion of steroid use delaying some players. It took Bagwell 7 years to get into the Hall despite him being a fairly obvious entrant. His delay was because of suspicion.
So yeah… that was a long rant to say, you’re right and I agree.
Greg Maddux would shock me.
Ok… maybe half a dozen names would surprise me and truly disappoint me. Maddux would be one.
I think Canseco’s number is likely closer to the right percentage. Baseball is a copy cat league. If one player or team was doing something (and working) a majority of the league is doing the same thing. Too much money, too many friendships on other teams, and too many players changing teams for anything like that to be 20% or less.
Orbits…
Recently Ruben Amaro stated something on air regarding Bonds, Clemens, Ramirez along the lines that, “I was in major league clubhouses and 70% of the guys were using something. Whether it was HGH, TRT, or steroids…whatever, let them in the Hall of Fame.”
Just a BTW, Caminiti won an MVP award and in that season hit .360/28/82 for a second half/post All Star game Triple Crown. Steroids work and they work a lot better and a whole lot longer than amphetamines.
PC, With your argument it almost sounds like you could make an implication that Caminiti only took steroids in 1996 which allowed for his aberrant year.
I’m not saying that’s what you’re saying, just saying it could be implied. But the simple truth is there’s no great evidence of how much steroids help. Yes you’ll get more power, but statistically how much? Enough to add 100 points to your SLG percentage? Enough to add 15 home runs in a year? At what point is luck and skill involved? What would Barry Bonds’s numbers look without steroids? On the flip side if a borderline HOFer like Don Mattingly have HOF quality numbers had he taken steroids (assume he did not for this argument).
Saber, the problem again is by letting cheaters in, many truly deserving are left out.
Bagwell’s physique was not natural. Not even close.
“It’s unfair to prisoners in prison that there are people who committed the same crime but got away with it so we should let them out of prison.”
They got caught doing something they knew was wrong.
We don’t have to honor them.
We just don’t.
Didn’t some guys refuse to be tested which was considered a fail to force MLB to finally do something with steroids testing?
No rules in place? I’m tired of hearing that line of reasoning. There were rules in place. MLB put them in place in 1990.
HOF is a joke
Is the roof at the Trop fixed yet?
Yeah, I saw the picture somewhere.
Did Spitballers, sign stealers, steroid takers, amphetamine takers or gamblers tarnish the game?
I may not like the idea of bending the rules, breaking the rules, but I actually think that Clemens, Bonds, McGwire, Ramirez, Rose etc heightened the sport, increased fanbase & viewership – they are “fame” worthy, hall of fame worthy. No asterisks.
10 or even 5 years ago I didn’t see it this way.
So putting the playoffs on TrueTV and TBS is evidence of increased viewership?
Weird that the BBWAA would elect Beltran who was a big part of the Astros cheating machine. It was even said he was the architect.
They voted Ortiz in with a failed test.
Then they leave out Bonds, Clemens, and others without ever failing a test. They leave out Schilling because he doesn’t say the stuff they want him to say.
Sosa and McGuire saved baseball and the clowns in the BBWAA’s jobs. If not for them most of these hacks would be stuck covering high school track meets for the local paper.
Let’s be honest, the posters on this site know more about baseball than most of the members of the BBWAA. There needs to be a new system of voting for the hall and end of season awards that excludes the BBWAA. They are clown shoes.
They treat the Hall of Fame like some holy sanctuary, it’s a museum where the story of baseball is told. They’ll let Carlos Beltran in, but Bonds and Clemens is crossing a line. It’s a joke.
If you get on the writers bad side, that is always a factor in HOF voting.
Bonds and Clemens use was well known, as was Sosa and McGwire, the latter didn’t even try to hide it, they saw the stuff in his locker. I was actually surprised Ortiz got in but he actually was friendly with the writers. As I said, always a factor.
Also surprised Beltran got so many votes, considering.
Just goes to tell, you never know.
Yep, if you were an a-hole to the media then you’re right. Look, how hard is it to conduct yourself as a professional, understanding that those guys also have a job to do. I have no sympathy for jerks like that.
I’ve covered high school and college track meets for local papers (after competing myself) and until the pitch clock came about baseball was much slower, even when there were 27 heats of the women’s 200m. Track meets also don’t stop for rain…or snow.
The HOF when I was a kid carried a presence. Only the best of the best. A few old Yankees and guys like Mazeroski who were questionable but generally a glittering shrine beyond reproach. I couldn’t wait to be old enough to take a road trip. Then I started paying more attention to the things that went on off the field.
I agree on Ortiz. That was the final straw for me, and I will never waste my time or money to go to the HOF. Also agree on Schilling. I don’t agree on McGwire, who would have been a slightly more successful Ron Kittle without the juice, and Sosa because he was a 15 HR guy who would have played 4-5 seasons and flamed out without the juice. Nor should Selig be in there for presiding over the whole charade.
Now that I’ve seen some of this and the ego-driven stuff the BBWAA pull its not much less dirty than the local strip joint.
Thornton, well said.
I don’t think I’m ever going to get past the PED user “disqualifier” but a lot of people in baseball and among the fans either are there or are getting there. Maybe the best argument for it–for just moving on–is the headlined presence of A-Rod and David Ortiz as TV commentators. If this doesn’t trouble the powers that be at MLB (and it clearly doesn’t) then….use one of the varied committees out there that “reconsiders” candidates and induct the best of them.
But it goes beyond being commentators Mike. Ortiz is in the Hall! So is Piazza and I-Rod, among others. That’s what did it for me.
Which, I suppose, is a hold-your-nose reason for letting them in. Just bugs me. But I’m not the gate-keeper
That location in Tampa would double attendance to Rays games without any improvement to the team. I hope that that location works out
Great call. Dale Mabry is a great rip. Lots of parking and a lot of folks can walk from their homes. Three miles from the Airport hotels, and all the nice restaurants are in that area.
Best location in all of Tampa. Rays will be a hot ticket.
I dont disagree but if it’s such a great spot for success, why the heck didn’t they just build it there first since they calling it the ” tampa ” rays from thr jump
Because real estate is expensive and Tampa has been owned by cheapies who should never have been allowed to buy the team for their entire existence
St. Petersburg wanted a MLB team. So, they built the dome in the late 80s.
The Mariners and White Sox threatened to move there.
St. Pete was passed over in the first expansion round of the 90s for Miami and Denver.
The Giants were going to move there, but the NL nixed it.
Hall of fame is a joke…. Users and abusers are all ready in BUT we’ll enforce code of conduct to what someone says or retweets… so I’ll be positive…. And say…. Hooo Hooo Hooo Hoosiers!!!! Congratulations to a great team of young men!!!
Hello Old York, there are 279 former mlb players in the hall of fame (352 members but the other 73 are execs, umpires etc)
Almost 20,000 have played in MLB. Less than 2% of the players have reached the Hall. Seems elite enough to me. Where would you draw the line? Top 1%?
Okay but how many players reach 10 years service time? Fact is, most players just play a few years then disappear. HOF is a joke and is watered down
Hello Rowsdower, only 10% of mlb players reach the 10 year milestone. In most cases they are special but then again they could just be Bill Plummer, 10 years, 2X WS champ with a career -4.1 bWAR, OPS+ of 53. Made the most out of being Johnny Bench’s backup.
Those 279 enshrined reach back 12 decades. That’s only two dozen players per decade.
Those 5-15 year old dreamers in any given 10 year span have about 24 players in the hall that they can remember back emulating in stick ball & Wiffle ball games as a kid. Maybe 24 is too many, maybe not.
100% agree. LaRussa was able to get his friends on the committee to put Baines in. He and others should not have plaques in my view as well.
You can start with Harold Baines and work your way back IMO.
Harold Baines played a long career. A stat collector. He made it into the Hall of Fame by staying healthy and having a long productive career. If he is not productive he does not have a long career.
Baines
Batting Average: .289
Home Runs: 384
Runs Batted In (RBIs): 1,628
Games Played: 2,830
Hits: 2,843
You honestly don’t believe he belongs in? Almost 2,900 hits, almost 400 homers, .289 BA. Those are great career numbers.
But there are a lot of players who should be in the HOF that are not. They have comparable stats to players that are already in. The two players that come to mind are Lou Whitaker and Dwight Evans.
Whitaker and Dewey belong. Never understood how Trammell got in but Whitaker didn’t. Should have gone in together.
Dewey played with Fisk, Yaz, Rice, Boggs, the spotlight was always on other players, he should be in, but I think the writers put him in the backseat to other Red Sox stars
The HOF is broken because Curt Schilling is every bit as HoF as Manny Ramirez and Sal Brando and Pie Traynor and George Brett and Bret Saberhagen and Sandy Koufax and Chuck Finley and etc etc etc and we’re keeping Beltran out because *checks notes* they stole some signs and people are still crying about it almost a decade after it happened
Just have Ruth Cobb and Mays in the hall of fame. Aaron, Hornsby, Speaker, and a few others are hard passes. Pitchers are just failed 2 way players. The hall could just consist of statues of those 3, and I’m all for building a Jon Dowd statue in place of Barry Bonds.
Andruw Jones getting in while Jim Edmonds was a one and done makes no sense.
I’m not saying Jones isn’t a HOFer or that Edmonds is, but the gap between them in the voting is insane.
Yes. During their time in MLB, more people would have preferred Edmonds over Jones.
Neither belong, enough already.
I agree with you Rabbit. Andruw Jones didn’t become a Hall of Famer until people began propping him up years after eating his way out of baseball. Lower the bar and you have a guy with two massive seasons and a bunch of mehs.
Only 4 players with 400 homers and 10 GG. Schmidt, Mayes and Griffey are the 3 who are in and 1st ballot players. Jones is the 4th player. Ozzie Smith got in because of his defense. Look at his hitting stats. Jones played one of the toughest positions too.
Jones’ hitting stats are not Hall-worthy. We don’t need to check again.
Jones, Hamels, Utley, etc. are not hall of fame worthy.
Carlos Beltrán was a really good player for a very long time. I remember watching him come up with KC and was immediately impressed, and at 39, he was still one of the best hitters in the game.
Why move out of Trop? Also no MLBTR chat?
No.
“Of all of the injustices in the world, I decided to spend my time trying make sure known cheaters are honored for ultimately trivial things.”
“These known cheaters not being honored angers me.”
‘First, 4th, 5th amendment violations galore, whatevs…did you know that known steroid users aren’t being given plaques!!! What kind of world is this?”
Wasn’t Carlos Beltran the brains behind the Astros cheating scandal involving cameras, buzzers, and trash can lids? And now he’s being voted into the HOF?!
I would call that hypocrisy on steroids!
I’m not sure if the Phillies have spoken with the 31 other clubs about Nick Castellanos. If they are going to subtract Casty from the roster, I think there’s two logical landing spots for him.
1. Boston Red Sox for Jordan Hicks.
– Castellanos is owed $20M in the final year of his deal, while Hicks is owed $25M over the next 2 seasons. Boston already had a lefty heavy lineup and has since lost both Alex Bregman and Rob Refsnyder, whom they’ve failed to replace up to this point. Phillies roll the dice and hope Hicks and his 100mph heat can rebound in a full time MR role. They would shave $7.5M off the ledger in ‘26 and could add a lefty mashing corner OF’er, like Starling Marte on the cheap. If they’re not thrilled with the FA options, they could try to trade prospects for a guy like Jake Meyers or Brenton Doyle.
2. Houston Astros for Lance McCullers.
– McCullers 2025 season was wrecked by injury, and he wouldn’t get close to $17M on the open market. This hypothetical ‘bad contract swap’ would provide Houston a solution to their LF problem – after running Jordan Alvarez and Jose Altuve out there last couple years, among others. McCullers could keep a rotation spot warm for staff ace Zach Wheeler, due to return sometime in May. Houston also has the 31st ranked farm system in MLB. Try to exploit this by adding in some upper minors arms or a top 20 prospect and maybe get Jake Meyers in the deal – salaries would essentially be even money. If the Astros still looking to shave that $10M, kick in Jose Alvarado for Josh Hader.
Not sure why the Phillies haven’t been able to find a taker for Casty and I hope it’s not complacency we’re witnessing. I’d be selling teams on the fact that Nick is gamer that’s never injured, comes with a ton of postseason experience and could handle a corner OF spot in the smaller dimensions of Houston and Boston’s home parks. He’s also still an above average league bat, who still hits LHP consistently at the very least. If Lane Thomas got $5.5M coming off a season in which he batted .160 – then Casty has to have some marginal value – especially if the Phillies take back another unfavorable contract in the deal. If it’s a no-go and they’ve exhausted all avenues to trade em, you tell him that. And explain that his role this year will be RF vs. LHP and a potentially PH late in games for Brandon Marsh against high leverage LHP’s.
If any Phillies fans have a better solution or suggestion, let me know. RH bats are a commodity around MLB. I think she’s doable.
Hicks for Castellanos makes no sense. Despite your analysis you’ve left out the Sox already have more potential starting outfielders than spots for them.
Jordan Hicks was statistically the worst pitcher in MLB last year. If Boston and their projected 7 LH hitters in the starting lineup, wouldn’t trade Hicks for Castellanos – then the Phillies aren’t getting anything for him.
I’m not arguing value, I’m arguing place and purpose. No doubt the Red Sox aren’t going to get anything out of Hicks. But usually the argument for trading bad contracts is hoping to recycle junk. I’m just saying the Red Sox have no place for the returning “junk.” Sure he’s not a lefty. But it still makes far more sense to figure out what’s going on with Abreu, Anthony, Duran, Rafaela, and Yoshida before throwing another outfielder in there.
Trade Duran for a solid infielder the maybe the trade makes more sense.
Corner outfielder, not too adept in the field with a deteriorating bat and questionable clubhouse presence
Guessing the Phillies will need to just cut him and eat the contract or pay his salary for someone to take him and hope they can get a couple of low level minor leaguers
I hope the Rays go back to their original name when they get their new ballpark, have a tank of giant manta rays in straight away centerfield stands.
The character clause should keep Beltran out. Hall of trash
When I was a kid, I dreamed of going to the Hall.
I’m still a baseball fan, but the Hall doesn’t have the draw it once did for me.
When I think of Beltran going in, I’m like “meh”. And that “meh” feeling continues.
Some people think of batting avg as way to the Hof. Well Juan Pierre had a career avg of 295. Which is pretty amazing in today’s standard. Of I don’t think he should make it.
But why he is not hitting coach he can bunt make contact and run. It amazes me that they have hitting coaches that hit well under 200 coaching.
Can’t wait till the season starts.
IMO, Jim Edmonds deserves the hall more than Andruw. No one in my memory had a more precipitous decline after he turned 30 than Andruw Jones. If Andruw Jones was the greatest defensive center fielder ever then Jim Edmonds might be the second greatest. Edmonds was far more consistent throughout his career and Edmonds’ lifetime OPS and WRC+ numbers blow Andruw’s out of the water. (.903 to .823 and 132 to 111).
Rays university