SoDo Mojo's (un)official Hall of Fame Ballot - Will former Mariners make the cut?

It's that time of the year again, Hall of Fame time! A time for old baseball writers, some of whom have not written an article in years, to get to decide who is a Hall of Fame player or not. A time when name-calling, expletive rants, and armchair fans, who think they know better, yell into the Twittersphere criticizing every ballot that gets publicized. Personally, this is one of my favorite times of the baseball offseason.

If you don't happen to follow Ryan Thibodaux (@NotMrTibbs) on Twitter, you really are missing out. Ryan keeps track of all of the published HoF ballots, giving fans an idea of who will be elected into the Hall of Fame. His tireless work each and every year makes following HoF trends that much more fun.

Here at SoDo, we thought it would be fun to have the staff writers vote and see who we, as SoDo Mojo, elected to the Hall of Fame. No, none of us have an actual Hall of Fame vote. Maybe one day. In total, 9 of us voted to get these results. I am going to highlight the players that I voted for and give explanations as to why a player deserved a vote or not.

We elected 7 players off of this year's ballot. That may seem like a lot, but remember that the BBWAA (Baseball Writers of America Association) has been getting these votes wrong for a long time. The Hall of Fame should be a place to celebrate achievements and the game of baseball. For long enough, the BBWAA weaponized the voting and has tarnished this once great Hall. Yes, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and others belong in the HoF.

Players with one or two votes: David Wright, Andy Pettitte, Jimmy Rollins, Mark Buehrle and Torii Hunter

Out of this crop of players, we find my first two votes - Andy Pettitte and Mark Buehrle. I voted for Andy Pettitte because he is one of the winningest pitchers in the postseason. His postseason record is 19-11, with a 3.81 ERA over 276.2 innings. He pitched an entire season plus some in the playoffs, His 19 career playoff wins are more than the Diamondbacks, Mets, White Sox, Brewers, Blue Jays, A's, Angels, Rockies, Orioles, Twins, Padres, Mariners, Pirates, Reds, Marlins over the last 20 years. Yes, he played on some of the best Yankees teams ever, but he was a big part of that team and a big reason they won so many games.

Andy also racked up 60.2 WAR in his regular season, more than Ichiro (60.0), Yogi Berra (59.5), Vladimir Guerrero (59.5) and Mike Piazza (59.5). All are Hall of Famers except Ichiro, who will be on next year's ballot. Pettitte is a 5x World Series champ and a 3x All-star. He received Cy Young votes in 5 different seasons, finishing 2nd in 1996. Yes, his career ERA is just 3.85. But try to remember the era he played in, the steroid era. Guys like Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Mark McGuire, and others were king in the 90's and early 2000's. Andy Pettitte deserves to at least be in the conversation of the Hall of Fame, and I was disappointed to be one of two people to vote for him.

Mark Buehrle may be one of the last great workhorses we will see in baseball, maybe ever. From 2000-2015, Buehrle did not reach at least 200 innings twice. Once in his rookie year (51.1 innings) and in his final season (198.2). 14 straight 200+ innings is a feat most pitchers today cannot even dream of. He threw a perfect game and a no-hitter and won the 2005 World Series for the Chicago White Sox. When I voted for Buehrle, I knew he wouldn't be getting in. I just think he deserves some recognition, and there should be at least a conversation for him.

Players with 3-6 Votes: Chase Utley, Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, and Bobby Abreu

I will get this out of the way early. Yes, I voted for A-Rod and Manny. Yes, I know both of them cheated by using steroids. Yes, I know it is unpopular here to vote for A-Rod. But I did it anyway. The Baseball Hall of Fame is a museum. It is not the "Hall of Good People". What I care about is on field production, and both A-Rod and Manny have just that. (This rule does not count for guys who get arrested for violent or disgusting crimes, though). You just cannot tell the story of post-strike baseball without these two.

Everybody knows who A-Rod and Manny are. Alex is statistically one of the best players ever in baseball, and Manny is not that far behind him. Manny Ramirez has more career WAR (69.3) than Tony Gwynn (69.2), John Smoltz (69.0) and Edgar Martinez (68.4). He hit 555 home runs throughout his career, and had a .312 career batting average. Manny was a massive part of the curse-breaking 2004 Red Sox team, He won 2 World Series, a World Series MVP, was a 12x All-Star, and won a batting title. Put Manny in the Hall of Fame.

I made my case for Alex Rodriguez earlier this offseason, you can read that whole article here. I know how unpopular A-Rod is, especially here in Seattle. But the fact of the matter is, A-Rod put together a HoF career. You do not have to like him as a person, but his contributions to the game cannot be forgotten. I view A-Rod the same way as I do Pete Rose, Barry Bonds and the other steroid guys. They belong in the Hall of Fame. Note on their plaque that they cheated, or were banned from baseball, and move on.

Players we voted into the Hall of Fame: Adrian Beltre, Todd Helton, Joe Mauer, Billy Wagner, Andruw Jones, Gary Sheffield, Carlos Beltran

And here is out (un)official SoDo Mojo ballot for the 2024 Baseball Hall of Fame. 7 getting in may seem like a lot, but in my opinion, we are just correcting the mistakes of previous hall of fame votes. Newcomers Beltre and Mauer each gained 100% of out votes, along with Todd Helton. Helton should have been voted in a long time ago, so we have correctly voted him in here.

Adrian Beltre is the only former Marner to enter the Hall of Fame for us in 2024. He played for Seattle from 2005-2009, and really struggled here. He slashed .266/.317/.442 with 103 home runs and an ops+ of 101. Beltre spent the previous 7 seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and spent the 2010 season with the Red Sox, turning his career around. He would go on to sign with the Texas Rangers, where his career flourished. Beltre finished his career third all time in WAR for a third baseman, only trailing Mike Schmidt and Eddie Matthews.

The only player listed above that I did not vote for is Carlos Beltran. I still can not get over the 2017 Houston Astros cheating scandal. To me, what that team did was much worse than taking steroids. And he was allegedly the mastermind. So for me, he does not get my vote.

The case For Billy Wagner is one I have been making since the day his name first appeared on the ballot. Sure, he is farther down the all-time saves list than you would like, but the man was a dominant reliever. He boasted a career 2.31 ERA and a 2.73 FIP in his career. In 16 seasons, he only finished with an ERA over 2.85 once. ONCE! He received Cy Young votes in 2 different seasons and went to 7 all-star games. 11.9 strikeouts per 9 innings, 0.8 home runs per 9 innings. He was unhittable. Put this man in the Hall of Fame.

A little rapid fire with the last group of guys here. Joe Mauer was one of the best catchers in baseball from the moment he was called up to the day he retired. Minnesota kid born and raised, and played his entire career as a Twin. Andruw Jones was quite possibly the best defensive CF in baseball history, and had a good bat to go along with it. Gary Sheffield hit 509 home runs in his career and had a career 140 OPS+. Put him in.

Personally, I love that we elected 7 players this year. Hopefully, we elect even more in the future. Next year's class will include Ichiro for the first time, and Felix Hernandez. I will be pounding the drum for both of those guys, for as long as it takes. Congrats to all of the new Hall of Famers, and as always, Go Mariners!