2017 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot

Pat Burrell. LOL.

 

Guerrero was more feared than Bagwell...jk

I've tired of the PED discussion. It's too exasperating to guess who did or didn't, or to judge a guy like Bonds (who was a HOFer before he started juicing) with a guy who wasn't. Just ticking off the 10 I'd vote for

Jeff Bagwell X
Casey Blake
Barry Bonds X
Pat Burrell
Orlando Cabrera
Mike Cameron
Roger Clemens X
J.D. Drew
Carlos Guillen
Vladimir Guerrero X
Trevor Hoffman X
Jeff Kent X
Derrek Lee
Edgar Martinez X
Fred McGriff
Melvin Mora
Mike Mussina
Magglio Ordonez
Jorge Posada
Tim Raines
Manny Ramirez X
Edgar Renteria
Arthur Rhodes
Ivan Rodriguez X
Freddy Sanchez
Curt Schilling X
Gary Sheffield
Lee Smith
Sammy Sosa
Matt Stairs
Jason Varitek
Billy Wagner
Tim Wakefield
Larry Walker

Right behind them: Raines, Sheffield and Walker. Mussina is the Hall of Very Good, like McGriff.

 

I assumed that was why you left Bagwell off and included Guerrero. Didn't you mention keeping guys suspected of PED use out in your initial post? Or am I misremembering?

 

Actually, Matt Stairs may be a bigger LOL on this list than Burrell.

 

I did - Bonds, Sosa, Clemens, Manny, etc. The "etc." was actually to include Sheffield and anyone else. I didn't have Bagwell specifically in mind. Pudge probably would have jumped to mind quicker.

 

I wanna get a Stairs jersey with the logos of all 12 teams he played for.

 

Gotcha. I misunderstood your reasoning for leaving off Bagwell. Some people really seem to have forgotten how good he was.

 

What about guys now who test positive and serve a suspension. Would you ever vote for a guy like that down the road?

 

Jeff Bagwell
Barry Bonds
Roger Clemens
Vladimir Guerrero
Trevor Hoffman
Edgar Martinez
Tim Raines
Manny Ramirez
Ivan Rodriguez
Gary Sheffield

 

Nope.

 

I most definitely forgot how good he was. If you had said to me two days ago that he was as good as Vlad, I would have thought you were drunk or high. If you had asked who was a more fearsome hitter, I would have said Vlad before you finished your sentence. But statistically, they're damn near identical.

 

Guerrero was more impressive to watch. He had that highlight-reel throwing arm. He didn't just have power. His ability to hit a ball hard even if it was way out of the strike zone was often fun to watch. He had all of the physical tools.

Bagwell didn't make the highlight real as often with his glove, but he was a better defender. Guerrero may have been faster, but Bagwell was better on the bases. He also had patience to go with his power, something that Guerrero never brought to the table.