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 zero votes: Bartolo Colon, Matt Holliday, Adrian Gonzalez, Jose Bautista. Jose Reyes, Victor Martinez, James Shields, Brandon Phillips, Omar Vizquel, Francisco Rodriguez

There are some obvious names here that will fall off the ballot both here and in real life. Obviously, James Shields, Brandon Phillips, and Matt Holliday are not going to be Hall of Famers. The same goes for guys like Adrian Gonzalez and Victor Martinez. Great players during their prime, but not particularly "Hall of Fame worthy".

Francisco Rodriguez, or K-Rod, is one player I really wanted to vote for but just ran out of votes. He is 4th ALL-TIME in saves with 437. He has more saves than Billy Wager (Who I voted for) and a career 2.86 ERA. He pitched 16 seasons and saved 40 or more games 6 times. In 2008, K-Rod saved a Major League record 62 games, a record that still holds true today. Ultimately, K-Rod probably will miss out on the Hall of Fame, which is a shame.

Jose Reyes and Omar Vizquel have had their fair share of off the field issues that will likely keep them both out. Jose Bautista was a great player in his prime, and who can forget his bat flip against the Texas Rangers in the playoffs. Joey Bats just didn't have a long enough prime part of his career. Bartolo Colon is a cult hero in the baseball world, but his steroid suspension along with a middle of the road stat line will keep him out of HoF talks.

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!