Hall Of Fame Announces Eight Names On Era Committee Ballot
Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Carlos Delgado, Jeff Kent, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, Gary Sheffield, and Fernando Valenzuela were revealed today by the Hall of Fame as this year’s candidates on the Era Committee ballot. Previously called the Veterans Committee, a panel made up of 16 former players, executives, sportswriters, and historians from around the game will meet during this year’s Winter Meetings to vote on whether or not these eight players will be elected into the Hall of Fame. At least 12 of those 16 votes are needed to be inducted into Cooperstown, and the results of this year’s vote will be revealed at 6:30pm CT on December 7.
The Era Committee rotates between three pools of candidates every year. The “Contemporary Baseball Era” is split into two pools, one for players from 1980 to the present and one for executives, managers, and umpires from that same period. A third pool is made up of all individuals from the “Classic Baseball Era,” which covers everything from before 1980. This year’s pool is littered with recent stars who should be household names for the majority of baseball fans. Bonds, Clemens, Kent, and Sheffield in particular fell off the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot only in the past few years. This process is separate from the BBWAA ballot, where Carlos Beltran looks like the likeliest candidate to be inducted into Cooperstown this winter after garnering 70.3% of the vote in 2025.
The Hall of Fame tweaked the Era Committee eligibility rules earlier this year. Starting with this year’s class, any candidate who falls short of five votes will be ineligible for consideration during their era’s next cycle. Candidates who receive fewer than five votes multiple times will be made permanently ineligible for future consideration. The change is not retroactive, so it will not impact any previous candidates.
The last Contemporary Era players ballot saw the unanimous election of Fred McGriff in 2022. Half of the candidates from that pool (Bonds, Clemens, Mattingly, and Murphy) will get another shot this year. Curt Schilling, Rafael Palmeiro, and Albert Belle were dropped off the ballot. With many of the names mentioned in this post, the players would have been elected long ago just based on statistics, but connections to steroid use have complicated the process.
Bonds received 66% of the votes in his final BBWAA ballot in 2022. Clemens also came up short that year, getting 65.2% of the vote. Kent got 46.5% of the vote in 2023, his final year of eligibility. Sheffield fell off the ballot after 2024, when he received 63.9% of the vote. Delgado was a one-and-done in 2015 when he received just 3.8% of the vote. Valenzuela was only on the ballot two years, getting 6.2% of the vote in 2003 and then 3.8% in 2004. Mattingly’s last season on the writers’ ballot was 2015, though he has been considered by the Veterans Committee three times since. Murphy has also been considered by the Veterans Committee three previous times, with his last year on the writers’ ballot being 2013.
Gary Sheffield Retires
Gary Sheffield has officially filed his retirement papers, according to George A. King III of the New York Post. After 22 seasons with the Marlins, Dodgers, Brewers, Yankees, Braves, Padres, Tigers and Mets, the 42-year-old is ready to retire. He says his numbers have earned him a shot a Cooperstown.
"I am sure it will be mentioned and debated, but from my standpoint I know who is in the Hall of Fame," Sheffield said. "A lot of them don't belong in the Hall of Fame. If someone wants to debate me, check the stats."
Sheffield posted a .292/.393/.514 line with 509 homers and 1676 RBI in the majors. The nine-time All-Star and five-time Silver Slugger recipient won a batting title and has a career OPS+ of 140. Sheffield came up as a shortstop before transitioning to third base and then the outfield. Sheffield, who earned about $168MM in his career, according to Baseball-Reference, ranks 24th all-time in career home runs.
Gary Sheffield Is “99.9 Percent” Sure Of Retirement
Gary Sheffield is "99.9%" sure he's going to retire from baseball, according to a radio interview the veteran slugger conducted with ESPN 1040 in Tampa Bay (and reported on by Joe Smith of the St. Petersburg Times).
Sheffield was hopeful of a contract with the Rays and met with Joe Maddon last month, though the manager said that the dinner meeting was just an opportunity get to know the Tampa native, not to broach the subject of a deal. Sheffield said he felt a "little disrespected" that the Rays didn't contact him in the wake of the meeting.
The 42-year-old last played in 2009 and posted a very respectable .276/372/.451 slash line in 312 plate appearances with the Mets. If Sheffield did manage to find another contract, you'd think it would have to be as a pinch-hitter or as a DH with an American League club given his -25.9 UZR/150 as a corner outfielder in 2009. If Sheffield retires, his 509 career homers and nine All-Star appearances will undoubtedly garner some attention on the 2015 Hall of Fame ballot.
Odds & Ends: Counsell, Ibanez, Johnson, Sheffield
Exactly one year ago, the Angels signed Hideki Matsui. Today, the slugger finalized his one-year agreement with the A's. Here are today's links…
- The Brewers are having ongoing discussions with the representatives for Craig Counsell, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (on Twitter).
- If you've heard about agent Darek Braunecker, but don't know much about him, you're not alone. David Waldstein of the New York Times introduces us to Cliff Lee's agent.
- The Phillies do not intend to trade Raul Ibanez, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). Joe Blanton, on the other hand, is available.
- Rosenthal also notes that the Rangers and Rockies have not discussed Michael Young since the Winter Meetings (Twitter link).
- The Orioles are still talking to the representatives for Adam LaRoche, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun.
- Indians manager Manny Acta is watching Bartolo Colon's start in the Dominican Republic tonight, according to Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes (on Twitter).
- Kerry Wood told Fred Mitchell and David Kaplan of the Chicago Tribune that he could see himself playing for the Cubs, but probably not for the White Sox.
- In case you were wondering, the Marlins don't intend to trade Josh Johnson, according to MLB.com's Joe Frisaro (on Twitter).
- Gary Sheffield told Mike Ferrin and Tom Gordon of MLB Network Radio that he has discussed a potential deal with the Rays. However, manager Joe Maddon told Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times that the Rays have limited interest in Sheffield, though they wanted to get to know him better.
Damon, Sheffield Interested In Rays
11:16pm: Johnny Damon told Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times that he'd like to play for the Rays. Damon said earlier this offseason that he'd like to re-join the Yankees.
4:07pm: Gary Sheffield told Steve Kornacki of MLive.com that he wants to play next year and that the Tampa Bay Rays are his first choice. Sheffield, who has ruled out a return to Detroit, wants to play for a competitive team. He says one team offered him an everyday job last year, but he turned the gig down because of doubts that the club could compete.
Sheffield batted .276/.372/.451 in 312 plate appearances for the 2009 Mets. It seems unlikely that National League teams would be comfortable allowing Sheffield to patrol the outfield on a daily basis, as he's now 42. Sheffield was born in Tampa and would like to play close to home.
Odds & Ends: Gross, Cubs, Dunn, Ellis, Pujols
Links for the final day of the 2010 regular season…
- Despite seeing limited action, Gabe Gross told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that he would return to the A's "with bells on".
- Carrie Muskat of MLB.com writes that Cubs interim manager Mike Quade expects to return.
- Adam Dunn won't be getting a four-year deal from the Nats, writes MLB.com's Bill Ladson.
- Oakland hasn't decided what to do with Mark Ellis' $6MM option for 2011 but the A's do want the 33-year-old back one way or another, says Buster Olney of ESPN.
- A final announcement on the Brewers field staff is expected Monday, tweets Buster Olney of ESPN.
- The Bucs may retain pitching coach Ray Searage, Pirates GM Neal Huntington told Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- GM John Mozeliak told Joe Strauss of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he plans to engage Albert Pujols and his camp in contract negotiations this winter, but they "have a number of other issues [they] need to get to first." Pujols' ten-and-five no-trade rights kick in today, and he has maintained that he will consider the club's long-term competitiveness when discussing a new deal.
- Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun reports that Orioles' president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail has no plans to approach owner Peter Angelos about a contract extension. His deal expires after next season.
- Carlos Zambrano wants to see the Cubs sign Adam Dunn this winter, writes Paul Sullivan of The Chicago Tribune.
- Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker passes along a report that the Yankees signed lefthander Naoya Okamoto to a minor league contract.
- The Detroit Free Press lists some of the Tigers' dead weight salary obligations. They owe Gary Sheffield between $1MM and $2.5MM annually until 2019.
- Meanwhile, Jim Leyland told Tom Gage of The Detroit News (Twitter link) that an "RBI bat" is one of the team's biggest needs this offseason, in addition to bullpen help.
Jack Of All Trades: Gary Sheffield
How does a player rack up 509 home runs, post a career OPS+ of 140 (better than Reggie Jackson, Chuck Klein and Al Kaline), make nine All-Star teams…and get traded five times?
Ask Gary Sheffield. His career has been a fantastic one, and if he is denied the Hall of Fame, it will likely be due to the perceived taint around his numbers. But Sheffield has also been part of the hot stove for as long as he's been a household name. Let's take a look at the blockbusters involving Sheff – a combined five trades totaling 25 players.
- On March 29, 1992, a disgruntled Sheffield was traded by the Milwaukee Brewers with minor leaguer Geoff Kellogg (not MLB umpire Jeff Kellogg) to San Diego in exchange for Ricky Bones, Matt Mieske and Jose Valentin. While none of the three managed a career close to that of Sheffield, all three went on to be valuable. Bones became a mainstay in the Milwaukee rotation over the next four years, pitching to a 4.40 ERA. Mieske delivered 44 home runs over the next five seasons in Milwaukee as a power bat off the bench. And Valentin spent eight seasons in Milwaukee as an extremely underrated player due to his batting average. Valentin was a tremendous glove at shortstop, and delivered a respectable OPS+ of 89 over those eight seasons, posting double figures in home runs six times.
- Sheffield, however, wore out his welcome in San Diego, despite winning the batting title in 1992 and posting a season line of .330/.385/.580. No, really. So on June 26, 1993, the Padres sent him to Florida along with Rich Rodriguez for Andres Berumen, Trevor Hoffman and Jose Martinez. Berumen and Martinez made no impact, while Hoffman, of course, became the all-time saves leader. Still, it is hard to say that San Diego got the equal of Sheffield's remaining career – not that Florida did, either.
- The Marlins did get a 156 OPS+ over six seasons. But when the post-1997 firesale commenced, the Marlins traded Sheffield on May 14, 1998 with Manuel Barrios, Bobby Bonilla, Jim Eisenreich and Charles Johnson to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Mike Piazza and Todd Zeile. Florida then sent Piazza onto the Mets for prospects. And while it cost Los Angeles the best-hitting catcher in baseball history, Sheffield performed extremely well for them: a 160 OPS+ over four seasons, actually better than his performance for Florida.
- Still, the Dodgers tired of Sheffield as well, and dealt the 33-year-old to Atlanta on January 15, 2002 in exchange for Andrew Brown, Brian Jordan and Odalis Perez. Brown, a top pitching prospect, never amounted to much, though Jordan gave the Dodgers a 116 OPS+ over two seasons, and Perez pitched to an ERA+ of 127 and made the All Star game in the first of five largely successful seasons with Los Angeles. Sheffield? All he did was post a 151 OPS+ in his two years with Atlanta, then signed with the New York Yankees before the 2004 season.
- The haul New York got from the Tigers for Sheffield on November 10, 2006 shows that Sheffield was still a valuable bat late in his career. Though Sheffield was entering his age-38 season, Detroit traded Kevin Whelan, Anthony Claggett and Humberto Sanchez for Sheffield. Sanchez in particular was a highly-touted prospect, though injuries wrecked his career. But for the first time, a team dealing for Sheffield got less-than-superstar production. In two seasons with Detroit, Sheffield had an OPS+ of just 105. The Tigers released him, and even after an OPS+ of 118 with the Mets in 2009, no one wanted Sheffield in 2010.
Though he was a far better player, Sheffield's tale reminds one of Dave Kingman – a prodigious home run hitter who couldn't find a job after hitting 35 home runs in his final season. Kingman was also traded three times and sold once in his career. Overall, Sheffield's career, on some level, has to be considered a disappointment- an astounding thing to say about a player with so much production.
Possible Areas Of Concern: Nationals, Cubs, D’Backs
It's still early – probably too early to draw definite conclusions about teams' strengths and weaknesses – but let's take a look at some clubs that could look to improve in certain areas. This is purely speculative, and remember – these weaknesses could become strengths in a matter of weeks.
- Nationals right fielders are hitting .159/.276/.327 this year. No one player is to blame, as Willie Harris, Roger Bernadina, Cristian Guzman, Justin Maxwell, Mike Morse and Willy Taveras have all spent time in right this season. None of those players has hit more than three homers, but Jim Riggleman recently told Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post that he has confidence in Harris and Bernadina because of their defense.
- Possible solutions: Jose Guillen could become available, though the Royals say they don't expect to make moves soon. Free agents Jermaine Dye and Gary Sheffield would likely bring more power than the Nats' current mix.
- The Cubs have used six right-handers in relief this year and only one – Carlos Marmol – has an ERA below 6.00. Now ERA can be deceiving, but Marmol and Carlos Zambrano are the only Cubs relievers who have struck out more batters than they have walked (Marmol by a wide margin, as he has an astounding 18.4 K/9 rate).
- Possible solutions: As Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune reports, the Cubs could call on Triple A right-handers Jay Jackson and Casey Coleman. The Cubs could also look to the free agent market; is Juan Cruz worth a flier? Alternatively, GM Jim Hendry could call up the Mariners or D'Backs, two teams with all-right-handed bullpens.
- The Mariners appear fine without a left-handed reliever, but the D'Backs, who don't have a left-handed pitcher on their active roster, have allowed a .294/.356/.496 line against lefty batters this year. The D'Backs have a bullpen ERA of 7.09, so righties are hitting them, too.
- Possible solutions: The D'Backs could pursue a trade for a left-hander, but GM Josh Byrnes told Nick Piecoro that he would prefer to be patient. There isn't much available on the free agent market, other than Eddie Guardado. The D'Backs could call on Jordan Norberto, who was in the majors earlier in the year, or Zach Kroenke, also at Triple A. Baseball America placed the two pitchers 29th and 30th respectively when ranking top D'Backs prospects before the season.
The Latest On The Unsigned Position Players
After recapping the most recent news on some remaining free agent starting pitchers yesterday, let's focus on the bats today. Here are the latest updates on a few of the notable unsigned position players:
- Jermaine Dye: Dye had the Mariners on his wish list, but Seattle didn't have much interest in the 36-year-old. Another team out west, the Giants, also had no interest in signing Dye. Washington was in the mix for the right-handed slugger at one point, though they've since backed off. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe thinks Dye will sign somewhere soon, and an American League club where Dye could DH would make sense. Like Jarrod Washburn though, he'll likely need to reduce his asking price.
- Gary Sheffield: Cafardo also believes Sheffield should sign soon, and tweeted that the veteran had "something on the table" a couple weeks ago. The Nationals also had discussions with Sheff, but the club seems happy with their current selection of outfielders for now. Even though he's 41, Sheffield could have value to a National League team as a pinch-hitter and part-time player, like he did for the Mets last year (.276/.372/.451 in 312 PAs).
- Carlos Delgado: Delgado might end up being the offensive equivalent of Pedro Martinez: a hired gun that could contribute to a contending team in the second half of the season. The Mets were considered a possibility prior to their promotion of Ike Davis. Before Delgado catches on with any club, the 37-year-old will have to show that he's fully healthy following his second hip surgery in February.
- Joe Crede: Considering Crede is a Scott Boras client, it's somewhat surprising that we've heard next to nothing regarding his status. Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reported in early March that Crede was hitting and throwing while he waited for an offer, but there has been very little news since then. Crede has homered 32 times over the past two seasons and plays an above-average third base, so it may be health questions that are keeping him on the free agent market. As MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith suggested earlier this month, a healthy Crede "could become an attractive mid-season option for risk-taking GMs."
- Elijah Dukes: Shortly after Dukes' surprising release by the Nationals, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal tweeted that a few teams were interested in the 25-year-old. Since then though, we haven't heard anything concrete. Perhaps clubs are still hesitant to invest in Dukes, given his off-field history.
- Rocco Baldelli: There was some speculation earlier in April that Baldelli could be an option for the Rays if they gave up on Pat Burrell, since Baldelli has been working out at Tropicana Field and wants to play. Burrell has played better since that point, hitting .275/.318/.500 in his last 11 games, silencing those rumors somewhat. For the time being, Baldelli will continue to serve as a special assistant for the Rays.
Check out our full list of available hitters here.
Rosenthal’s Full Count Video: Orioles, Griffey, Braves
FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal has a new Full Count video up, so let's see what he has for us…
- The Orioles will almost certainly be the first team to fire their manager this season, and both Bob Melvin and Bobby Valentine came up in past internal discussions. Bigger jobs are in store for Valentine, but Buck Showalter might also be a candidate. Rosenthal reminds us that the team doesn't have anyone in-house with prior big league managing experience.
- The Mariners expect Cliff Lee back on Friday and Erik Bedard back in four weeks, but the focus will remain on the offense and Ken Griffey Jr.'s .238/.289/.262 performance. Rosenthal says not to expect anything to happen with him anytime soon; Seattle has five Griffey-centric promotions scheduled for the first half.
- The Braves are a logical landing spot for Adrian Gonzalez, but they're also very high on first base prospect Freddie Freeman. The last time they traded for a first baseman with a year-plus left on his contract, they basically rebuilt the Texas Rangers.
- The Nationals made a run at Jermaine Dye and had more than one conversation with Gary Sheffield's agent, but GM Mike Rizzo said those talks were just to gauge interest. For now, they're happy with the a platoon of Willie Harris and Justin Maxwell because of their defensive abilities, and Rizzo says that will remain a point of emphasis as the team moves forward.
- Rosenthal expects the Nats to get better as the season progresses. They'll be adding Stephen Strasburg, Drew Storen, Chien-Ming Wang, Ross Detwiler, and Jordan Zimmermann to their pitching staff at various points this year.