The 2023 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot is filled with talented players who spent at least a decade playing on a Major League diamond. The election results will be announced tomorrow, January 24th. As is tradition, The Winning Run has filled out its own officially unofficial ballot. We have been writing about baseball for more than a decade, but we lack the credentials to be full voting members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA). No matter, we humbly submit our ballot anyway.

There are 28 candidates on the 2023 Hall of Fame ballot. Each hopes to join Fred McGriff, who was elected in December through the Contemporary Era Committee, in Cooperstown. There are 14 returning candidates and 14 first year candidates on the ballot. The 2023 ballot is also the final year of eligibility for Jeff Kent. If he is not elected this year, his path into the Hall of Fame will be through the committees. 

The BBWAA is the sole voting body for the National Baseball Hall of Fame. As such, only members of the BBWAA who meet the following eligibility requirements can vote.

Voter Eligibility 

1. Any member of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) who has been an active member for ten years.
2. The BBWAA is limited to writers for newspapers only, including some internet newspapers. 

The BBWAA sets the rules for how eligible voters can vote.

Voting Rules

1. Vote for no more than 10 players.
2. A player is eligible for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame if they meet the following criteria:
   1. They competed in ten seasons. A single game counts as a season played.
   2. The player has been retired for at least five seasons. The clock restarts if the player returns and plays in the Major Leagues.
   3. The player is not on the ineligible list; banned from baseball. 
3. The player must receive 5% of the vote to remain on the ballot.
4. The player is elected if they receive at least 75% of all ballots cast. 

In addition to the official voting rules for the Baseball Hall of Fame set forth by the BBWAA, The Winning Run has its own rule for its ballot. 

The Winning Run Rules

1. Known PED users are ineligible.

Every player dreams of reaching the Major Leagues and playing at such a level that their ultimate destination is Cooperstown. However, this dream is a reality for only 1% of those who reach the Major Leagues. Thousands of players begin their careers dreaming of the Hall of Fame and never spend a single day on a Major League roster. The difficulty of reaching the Major Leagues makes simply appearing on the Hall of Fame ballot, even for a single year, an accomplishment reserved for baseball’s elites. Making the ballot is an honor, even if the candidate does not receive a single vote.

The honor of appearing on the 2023 Hall of Fame ballot belongs to these 28 candidates, their year of eligibility, and percentage of the Hall of Fame vote received in 2022. 

1. Scott Rolen- 6th (63.2%)
2. Todd Helton- 5th (52.0%)
3. Billy Wagner- 8th (51.0%)
4. Andruw Jones- 6th (41.4%)
5. Gary Sheffield- 9th (40.6%)
6. Alex Rodriguez- 2nd (34.3%)
7. Jeff Kent- 10th (32.7%)
8. Manny Ramirez- 7th (28.9%)
9. Omar Vizquel- 6th (23.9%)
10. Andy Pettitte- 5th (10.7%)
11. Jimmy Rollins- 2nd (9.4%)
12. Bobby Abreu- 4th (8.6%)
13. Mark Buehrle- 3rd (5.8%)
14. Torii Hunter- 3rd (5.3%)
15. Carlos Beltran- 1st
16. John Lackey- 1st
17. Jered Weaver- 1st
18. Jacoby Ellsbury- 1st
19. Matt Cain- 1st
20. Jhonny Peralta- 1st
21. Jayson Werth- 1st
22. J.J. Hardy- 1st
23. Mike Napoli- 1st
24. Bronson Arroyo- 1st
25. R.A. Dickey- 1st
26. Francisco Rodriguez- 1st
27. Andre Ethier- 1st
28. Huston Street- 1st

Following our own rule, 5 of the 28 candidates were removed from consideration due to their connections with PEDs. 

1. Gary Sheffield
2. Alex Rodriguez
3. Manny Ramirez
4. Andy Pettitte
5. Jhonny Peralta

This left 23 candidates on our ballot, from which we could vote for a maximum of 10. The choices are never easy. Previous ballots we have unofficially voted on have contained more than 10 Hall of Fame caliber candidates. Reviewing our ballot from 2022 helped in beginning the voting process. Were the 10 players we voted for last year still the best choices? The Winning Run’s ballot last year listed these 10 candidates: 

1. Bobby Abreu (8.6%)
2. Mark Buehrle (5.8%)
3. Todd Helton (52.0%)
4. Tim Hudson (3.0%)
5. Torii Hunter (5.3%)
6. Andruw Jones (41.4%)
7. Jeff Kent (32.7%)
8. Tim Lincecum (2.3%)
9. Scott Rolen (63.2%)
10. Billy Wagner (51.0%)

Based upon the voting, none of our candidates were elected to Cooperstown. Two of our votes are open again as Tim Hudson and Tim Lincecum failed to receive the minimum 5% of votes. This left us with eight returning candidates on this year’s ballot. This is our unofficially official 2023 ballot.  

We removed Torii Hunter from our ballot and replaced him with Jimmy Rollins. Hunter was our final choice on last year’s ballot. Rollins was on the ballot in 2022, but after reexamining every candidate, we concluded that Rollins was the more deserving candidate. Hall of Fame voting is not a perfect process, which we have previously examined. The process too is foiled because the voters themselves are imperfect. Reaching rational decisions is not easy when more than 300 voters must agree for a candidate to reach Cooperstown. Francisco Rodriguez and Carlos Beltran took our two open votes. Both are deserving first year candidates. Torii Hunter and Omar Vizquel were the top candidates not receiving our vote. None of these men are flawless, but their off the field actions have no impact on our voting. Yes the character clause exists, but they who are without fault shall cast the first stone. The Winning Run used all 10 of our votes, but we wanted 12.

Who will join Fred McGriff in Cooperstown this summer? (Stephen Dunn/ Getty Images)

Francisco Rodriguez pitched for five teams during his 16 season career: Anaheim/ Los Angeles of Anaheim Angels (2002-2008), New York Mets (2009-2011), Milwaukee Brewers (2011-2013, 2014-2015), Baltimore Orioles (2013), and Detroit Tigers (2016-2017). Rodriguez pitched in 948 Games, Finished 677 Games, converted 437 Saves, Pitcher 976 Innings, posted a 52-53 record, 1,142 Strikeouts, 389 Walks, with a 2.86 ERA, 1.155 WHIP, and 148 ERA+. He won the 2002 World Series with the Angels. He was a six time All Star and twice the American League Rolaids Relief Award winner. Rodriguez finished in the top four of Cy Young Award voting three times. He led baseball in Saves three times and Saved 40 Games six times. Rodriguez’s 437 career Saves are the fourth most all time, behind Hall of Famers Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman, and Lee Smith. 

Jimmy Rollins helped to set the standard for modern Shortstops. He played for three teams during his 17 season career: Philadelphia Phillies (2000-2014), Los Angeles Dodgers (2015), and Chicago White Sox (2016). Rollins played in 2,275 Games, collected 2,455 Hits, 511 Doubles, 115 Triples, 231 Home Runs, 936 RBI, 1,421 Runs scored, 470 Stolen Bases, 813 Walks, 1,264 Strikeouts, posted a .264 BA, .324 OBP, .418 SLG, .743 OPS, and 95 OPS+. Rollins led the National League in Triples four times. He stole 30 Bases ten times. Rollins was a three time All Star, won four Gold Gloves, a Silver Slugger, and the 2007 National League MVP. Defensively, Rollins played 2,227 Games at Shortstop, totally 19,513.2 Innings, had 9,275 Chances, made 2,982 Putouts, 6,139 Assists, committed 154 Errors, turned 1,249 Double Plays, and posted a .983 Fielding %. Rollins played the sixth most Games at Shortstop, the most not in the Hall of Fame. He is 20th in Assists and 12th in Double Plays. He was one of the leaders for the Phillies in their 2008 World Series victory. 

Carlos Beltran went from young phenom to wise veteran. He played for seven teams during his 20 season career: Kansas City Royals (1998-2004), Houston Astros (2004, 2017), New York Mets (2005-2011), San Francisco Giants (2011), St. Louis Cardinals (2012-2013), New York Yankees (2014-2016), and Texas Rangers (2016). Primarily patrolling Centerfield, Beltran played in 2,586 Games, collected 2,725 Hits, 565 Doubles, 78 Triples, 435 Home Runs, 1,587 RBI, 1,582 Runs scored, 312 Stolen Bases, 1,084 Walks, 1,795 Strikeouts, posted a .279 BA, .350 OBP, .486 SLG, .837 OPS, 119 OPS+. Defensively, he had above average Range for two decades. He won the 1999 American League Rookie of the Year. Beltran was a nine time All Star, won three Gold Gloves, and two Silver Sluggers. He helped five different teams reach the Postseason and provided the veteran leadership, not always within the rules, the Astros needed to win the 2017 World Series. 

Removing Torii Hunter from our ballot was not fun. He was our final selection last year, but his career still deserves recognition. Additionally, Omar Vizquel once again comes up short because of his lack of offense. 

We will find out tomorrow if anyone will join Fred McGriff in Cooperstown. There are many deserving candidates, but we must wait to see if 75% of the writers can agree. 

DJ