Red Sox: David Ortiz highlights expected additions to 2022 Hall of Fame ballot
Red Sox legend David Ortiz will join next year’s Hall of Fame ballot
For only the ninth time in history and the first since 2013, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America did not elect any players to the Hall of Fame this year. The countdown now begins toward the Class of 2022. While the official list of first-time candidates won’t be revealed until later this year, we can anticipate several prominent names being added to the ballot, including a few with ties to the Boston Red Sox.
The expected additions are highlighted by David Ortiz. The former Red Sox slugger has all the accolades worthy of Cooperstown. He’s a 10-time All-Star and seven-time Silver Slugger. He smashed 541 home runs and owned a career .931 OPS. Ortiz can fill a highlight reel with epic postseason performances, earning a reputation as one of the most clutch hitters in the game on his way to leading the Red Sox to three World Series championships.
Edgar Martinez’s induction into the Hall of Fame last year removed the stigma from the designated hitter role, paving the way for Ortiz. The only roadblock standing in his way is a vague connection to the PED scandal..
Unlike his former teammate Manny Ramirez, Ortiz never served a suspension for failing a performance-enhancing drug test. While there’s plenty of damning evidence to convince us that Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds were guilty, the only stain on Ortiz’s reputation is the circumstantial evidence of his name appearing on the infamous leaked Mitchell Report.
Ortiz passed every routine drug test once MLB started cracking down on PEDs. He doesn’t belong in the same category as the other suspected cheaters who continue to fall short on the ballot each year but I suspect some voters will lump him in with that tainted batch based on rumor and suspicion.
That might prevent Ortiz from being a first-ballot Hall of Famer but with the percentages slowly creeping higher for other suspected users, we should see some of them get in within the next few years, at which point there’s no excuse for excluding Ortiz.
A former Red Sox closer warrants Hall of Fame consideration
Jonathan Papelbon will be an interesting case when he joins the ballot. The former Red Sox closer ranks ninth on the all-time career saves list with 368 and his 19.3 fWAR is tied for 14th among relief pitchers. Papelbon’s 2.45 ERA is the 12th-best among relievers with 200+ career innings.
Papelbon spent his first seven seasons in Boston where he established himself as one of the game’s most dominant closers. He won a World Series ring in 2007, notching four saves during that flawless playoff run, and he owned a sparkling 1.00 ERA in 27 career postseason innings.
The franchise’s all-time saves leader has the credentials to be enshrined in the Red Sox Hall of Fame but getting the call to Cooperstown will be a bit tougher.
Billy Wagner, who spent a brief stint in Boston at the end of his career, made an encouraging leap from 31.7% to 46.4% on this year’s ballot but remains well short of the 75% required for induction. Wagner has Papelbon beat in most of the significant pitching categories. Papelbon might eventually get in but he certainly shouldn’t get there before Wagner.
These former Red Sox are long-shots for the Hall of Fame
Jake Peavy won a World Series ring with the Red Sox in 2013 but his short tenure in Boston was otherwise mildly disappointing. The three-time All-Star had his best years with the San Diego Padres and Chicago White Sox. Peavy earned the NL Cy Young award in 2007 when he captured the pitching version of the Triple Crown.
Peavy had an accomplished career with a dominant peak but nothing about his overall numbers stands out as being among the best in baseball history. His 43.5 fWAR falls outside of the top-100 starting pitchers.
Red Sox fans will feel nauseous at the sight of Carl Crawford’s name on the ballot. He may have been building a borderline case during his nine successful years with the Tampa Bay Rays but his disastrous tenure in Boston made him one of the all-time worst free-agent signings. Crawford’s poor production, disgruntled behavior and bloated contract made him a key part the biggest salary dump in baseball history.
The move to Los Angeles did little to revitalize his career, which ended early when the Dodgers released him with nearly two years remaining on his contract. Crawford was a four-time All-Star early in his career but he never factored in the MVP conversation and he didn’t have the longevity as a useful major league player to earn any Hall of Fame votes.
Hall of Fame ballot holdovers with Red Sox ties
Curt Schilling came the closest to induction this year, falling 16 votes short with 71.1% of the votes. The controversial Schilling then threw a temper tantrum, demanding that his name be removed from the ballot next year in what would have been his last chance. Apparently he doesn’t want to give BBWAA writers the satisfaction of leaving him off their ballots so he’ll leave his fate up to the veterans committee to punch his ticket to Cooperstown.
Former Red Sox ace Roger Clemens inched closer to induction by moving up from 61.0% to 61.6% this year but he’s still well short. 2022 will be his last year of eligibility so we’ll see if the voters truly intend to keep one of the greatest pitchers of all time out of the Hall of Fame or if they simply wanted to make The Rocket sweat it out for a full decade.
Manny Ramirez held steady at 28.2%, same as last year. It was only Manny’s fifth year on the ballot so he still has time to make progress but it’s clear that voters hold his two drug suspensions against him more than other suspected PED users.
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The ballot is going to get a bit crowded next year with several big names joining the list. That will make it more difficult for these former Red Sox players to make progress but fans will have plenty of options to pull for when ballots are counted at this time next year.