Bagwell joined on ballot by Manny, Pudge, Vlad

Jeff Bagwell is one of 34 players on the 2017 Baseball Writers’ Association of America Hall of Fame ballot unveiled Monday and the returnee who garnered the highest percentage of votes this past year.

The top newcomers on the ballot are outfielder Manny Ramirez and catcher Ivan Rodriguez — both of whom have been linked to the use of performance-enhancing drugs — and outfielder Vladimir Guerrero.

Among the ballot’s returnees, Bagwell (71.6 percent), Tim Raines (69.8) and Trevor Hoffman (67.3) were the closest in 2016 to the 75 percent required for election. This is Bagwell’s seventh time on the ballot. Under the current rules, players can be eligible for as many as 10 years.

For Raines, this is his 10th and final year on the ballot. Results will be announced Jan. 18, with induction ceremonies scheduled for July 30 in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Ramirez was suspended for 50 games in 2009 while with the Los Angeles Dodgers for using a banned female fertility drug. He retired in 2011 rather than face a 100-game suspension after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance. He applied for reinstatement that December, and his suspension for the second failed test was cut from 100 games to 50 because he sat out nearly all of the 2011 season.

Ramirez did not play in the majors again, although he did appear in Class AAA from 2012-14.

Rodriguez, who played the majority of his 2009 season with the Astros, was never disciplined for PEDs, but former Texas Rangers teammate Jose Canseco alleged in a 2005 book that he injected the catcher with steroids. Asked whether he was on the list of players who allegedly tested positive for steroids during baseball’s 2003 survey, Rodriguez said in 2009: “Only God knows.”

A 12-time All-Star, Ramirez helped the Boston Red Sox win World Series titles in 2004 and ’07, the first for the franchise since 1918. He hit .312 with 555 home runs and 1,831 RBIs in 19 big league seasons, and he was voted MVP of the 2007 Series.

Nicknamed “Pudge,” Rodriguez was a 14-time All-Star and 13-time Gold Glove catcher, and he was voted AL MVP in 2008 with Texas, his team for the first 12 of his 21 big league seasons. He batted .296 with 311 homers and 1,332 RBIs, winning a World Series with the Florida Marlins in 2003 after earning MVP of the NL Championship Series.

Guerrero was a ninetime All-Star and the 2004 AL MVP with the Anaheim Angels. He hit .318 with 449 homers and 1,496 RBIs in 16 big league seasons.

Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds, also tainted by steroid allegations, are on the ballot for the fifth time. After a change on voting eligibility rules eliminated some retired writers, Clemens rose to 45.2 percent and Bonds to 44.3 percent in last year’s voting.

Besides Bagwell, Clemens and Rodriguez, Curt Schilling (52.3 percent in 2016), Jeff Kent (14.0) and Billy Wagner (10.5) are former Astros who return to the ballot.

Bagwell missed election by only 15 votes last year, when Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza were elected for induction.

Players who receive at least 5 percent of votes are eligible to return to the ballot the following year.