Bonds, Clemens, Ortiz will be close calls to enter Hall of Fame
Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, with eight MVPs and seven Cy Young Awards between them, are in the bottom of the last inning in their Hall of Fame bids. Either they get in today — and it’s going to be close — or Cooperstown may elude them entirely.
David Ortiz knows a thing or two about clutch swings late in the game. But he might put this one away in his first at-bat.
The former Giants star Bonds, along with Clemens and Ortiz appear to be the only players with a chance at Hall of Fame enshrinement when results are unveiled today, with Ortiz most likely to get in on his first try.
Bonds and Clemens are in their 10th and final year on the ballot for the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Due largely to allegations of performance-enhancing drug use, they have been unable to reach the 75% threshold to earn a place among baseball’s greats.
Bonds got 61.8% of the vote in 2021, and Clemens 61.6%. So far this year, Bonds has been included on 76.9% of public ballots tracked by bbhottracker.com, and Clemens is at 75.8%. The tracker has counted roughly 46% of the expected ballots, and players have historically received a lower percentage
of votes from members who don’t disclose their picks.
That means Bonds, with seven MVPs and a record 762 home runs, and Clemens, with seven Cy Youngs and an MVP, are likely to be frozen out.
Curt Schilling is also in his final year, but his support has dropped off since he finished 16 votes shy last year.
Ortiz, a 10-time All-Star who spent most of his career with the Boston Red Sox, is on 84.1% of public ballots. He leads a group of 13 first-time eligible players that also includes exGiants star Tim Linceum, Alex Rodriguez, former Encinal High of Alameda star Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard and Tim Lincecum. Only A-Rod and Rollins seem to be getting serious consideration from voters, but neither will be close to induction this year.
Players elected today will be enshrined July 24 in Cooperstown along with era committee selections Buck O’Neil, Minnie Miñoso, Gil Hodges, Tony Oliva, Jim Kaat and Bud Fowler.
Bonds, Clemens and Rodriguez look like no-doubt Hall of Famers on the backs of their baseball cards, but PED suspicions have tarnished their reputations with many voters. Bonds has denied knowingly using PEDs, while Clemens has denied taking them outright. Rodriguez was banned by Major League Baseball for the entire 2014 season after violating the league’s drug policy.
Ortiz also comes with some PED baggage, but voters are less bothered by the more shaky evidence of his use. His lone reported positive test for PEDs came during survey testing in 2003 that was supposed to be anonymous and used to determine whether to institute regular testing. Ortiz denied using steroids, and Commissioner Rob Manfred said in 2016 “I think it would be wrong” to exclude him from the Hall of Fame based on that lone test.
With a .286 average and 541 home runs, Ortiz may also stand to benefit from a recent shift by voters in their evaluations of designated hitters. Frank Thomas, Edgar Martinez and Harold Baines have all entered the Hall since 2014. Martinez made 71.7% of his plate appearances as a DH, most among Hall members. Ortiz would pass him at 88%.
BBWAA members are instructed to elect Hall members “based upon the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.” Nobody was selected last year, with Schilling coming closest.
Schilling has ostracized himself in retirement by directing hateful remarks toward Muslims, transgender people, journalists and others. He asked the Hall to remove his name from this year’s ballot, but he remains a candidate. Enough voters have given up his cause to ensure he stays out, though — he is on just 61% of public ballots.
MLB NEGOTIATORS MEET IN PERSON >> Locked-out Major League Baseball players withdrew their proposal for more liberalized free agency and lowered their proposed decrease in revenue sharing Monday.
Players had previously asked that players be allowed to become free agents after five years of service with some age provisions rather than the current six.
The union had asked that the revenue-sharing transfer amount be cut from $100 million annually to about $30 million.
A person familiar with the negotiations described the session to the AP on condition of anonymity because no public comments were immediately made.
Negotiators for each side met in person for the first time since Dec. 1, the day before the start of the sport’s first work stoppage since 1995.
Veteran reliever Andrew Miller was the only player to attend the two-hour bargaining session.
Colorado Rockies owner Dick Monfort, the chairman of baseball’s labor policy committee, was part of a four-man delegation from Major League Baseball, arriving at the union office shortly before 1 p.m. He was accompanied by Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem, executive vice president Morgan Sword and senior vice president Patrick Houlihan.
The sides planned to meet again today, though it was not certain whether Miller and Montfort would attend.
The counteroffer by the players’ association was delivered 11 days after clubs gave the union a proposal when the snail-paced negotiations resumed following a 42-day break.
There is dwindling time to reach an agreement in time for spring training to start as scheduled on Feb. 16.
The scheduled March 31 opening day is also increasingly threatened, given the need for players to report, go through COVID-19 protocols and have at least three weeks of workouts that include a minimal number of exhibition games.
Baseball’s ninth work stoppage started Dec. 2, following the expiration of a five-year labor contract. CHÁVEZ UPDATE >> Mets general manager Billy Eppler said he spoke to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman well before hiring away ex-A’s star Eric Chávez as the team’s hitting coach and that both sides had an understanding that Chávez may end up in Queens.
The 44-year-old Chávez was hired by the Yankees in November as one of two assistants to new hitting coach Dillon Lawson. A few weeks later, the Mets hired the 17-year big leaguer to be their primary hitting coach.
Eppler said Monday that he was in contact with Cashman before the Yankees hired Chávez, and that the Bronx Bombers knew Chávez might not end up in pinstripes if he was offered a greater role on the Mets’ staff.