The 2016 Hall of Fame Ballot Custom Leaderboards and Survey

In case you haven’t heard, the new Baseball Hall of Fame ballot was announced today. Fifteen newcomers — players who retired in 2010 — join 17 holdovers. As usual, the list is a mix of token candidates, interesting players and slam dunks. Here is a custom leaderboard for position players and pitchers for just the newcomers. And here’s a table for them, in case you don’t want to play around with the leaderboard.

2016 Hall of Fame Ballot – Newcomers
Name G IP ERA FIP xFIP PA wOBA wRC+ BsR Off Def WPA RE24 WAR
Ken Griffey Jr. 2671 11304 0.384 131 -7.3 444.1 -39.6 45.2 529.0 77.7
Jim Edmonds 2011 7980 0.385 132 -8 317.7 73.3 31.5 352.0 64.5
Jason Kendall 2085 8702 0.334 99 0.7 -6.8 130.8 11.1 92.8 39.8
Mike Hampton 425 2268.1 4.06 4.27 4.57 845 0.289 67 -1.2 -36.9 91.2 0.4 -5.3 35.9
Troy Glaus 1537 6355 0.365 120 -2.4 157.7 -20.4 12.1 159.1 34.4
Luis Castillo 1720 7471 0.327 97 33.4 7.1 37.9 1.4 18.3 28.4
Randy Winn 1717 6878 0.333 100 28.2 28.8 23.5 9.7 70.1 28.1
Mike Lowell 1601 6500 0.346 108 -39.7 25.8 22.7 1.8 77.9 26.0
Trevor Hoffman 1034 1089.1 2.87 3.08 3.78 32.2 174.8 26.0
Billy Wagner 853 903 2.31 2.73 2.76 28.5 196.6 24.1
Garret Anderson 2228 9177 0.334 100 -7.2 -12.6 -59.6 5.5 101.6 24.0
Mark Grudzielanek 1802 7603 0.32 91 4.1 -80 69.4 -8.2 -60.1 23.2
Mike Sweeney 1454 5848 0.366 117 -2.7 121.2 -106.5 15.0 206.1 21.1
Brad Ausmus 1971 7102 0.299 76 -23.2 -244.9 183.7 -22.5 -219.2 17.2
David Eckstein 1311 5705 0.316 92 10.6 -49.7 28.6 -2.7 -40.7 16.8

Note that for the pitchers, I included their position player WAR, as well as their RE24 and WPA. For Mike Hampton, that’s a bump of 7.9 WAR. For the two relievers, it’s a demerit of 0.1 WAR.

The most interesting questions are what you think of Jim Edmonds and Trevor Hoffman. Edmonds makes for a fascinating debate. I’m not sure Hoffman does. Honestly, looking at these dashboard numbers, it’s hard to make the case that Hoffman deserves inclusion. Or, if he does, then Wagner definitely deserves inclusion as well.

Here’s the same leaderboards (position players, pitchers) and table for the entire ballot.

2016 Hall of Fame Ballot – Everyone
Name G PA wOBA wRC+ BsR Off Def RE24 WPA WAR
Barry Bonds 2986 12606 0.435 173 30.4 1173.8 67.6 1348.3 127.0 164.4
Roger Clemens 360 213 0.207 15 0 -23.8 23.2 736.4 74.3 134.4
Mike Mussina 376 54 0.172 5 0 -7.1 5.9 400.4 39.2 82.3
Jeff Bagwell 2150 9431 0.405 149 6.5 594.6 -82.1 698.7 59.6 80.2
Curt Schilling 495 901 0.161 -16 -0.3 -132.8 94.6 277.5 25.0 78.8
Ken Griffey Jr. 2671 11304 0.384 131 -7.3 444.1 -39.6 529.0 45.2 77.7
Larry Walker 1988 8030 0.412 140 21.5 427.9 3.5 534.1 48.9 68.7
Tim Raines 2502 10359 0.361 125 100.4 408.2 -109.6 503.5 50.4 66.4
Mark McGwire 1874 7660 0.415 157 -2.5 555 -138.5 581.3 53.5 66.3
Edgar Martinez 2055 8678 0.405 147 -21 500.5 -133.5 514.9 45.2 65.5
Jim Edmonds 2011 7980 0.385 132 -8 317.7 73.3 352.0 31.5 64.5
Alan Trammell 2293 9376 0.343 111 2.3 124.1 184.4 124.9 13.0 63.7
Mike Piazza 1912 7745 0.39 140 -31.6 370.1 20.7 497.4 43.5 62.5
Gary Sheffield 2576 10947 0.391 141 9.7 575.7 -300.9 625.2 60.2 62.1
Sammy Sosa 2354 9896 0.37 124 -7.9 300.4 -8.1 383.0 24.9 60.1
Fred McGriff 2460 10174 0.383 134 -8.6 409.1 -186.3 527.6 47.5 56.9
Jeff Kent 2298 9537 0.367 123 -19.8 259.7 1.2 346.5 24.3 56.1
Nomar Garciaparra 1434 6116 0.376 124 4.8 199.9 18.8 239.2 17.1 41.4
Jason Kendall 2085 8702 0.334 99 0.7 -6.8 130.8 92.8 11.1 39.8
Mike Hampton 425 845 0.289 67 -1.2 -36.9 91.2 -5.3 0.4 35.9
Troy Glaus 1537 6355 0.365 120 -2.4 157.7 -20.4 159.1 12.1 34.4
Luis Castillo 1720 7471 0.327 97 33.4 7.1 37.9 18.3 1.4 28.4
Randy Winn 1717 6878 0.333 100 28.2 28.8 23.5 70.1 9.7 28.1
Lee Smith 549 71 0.09 -55 0 -13 6.1 156.4 22.9 26.1
Mike Lowell 1601 6500 0.346 108 -39.7 25.8 22.7 77.9 1.8 26.0
Trevor Hoffman 551 36 0.127 -28 0 -6.3 3.8 174.8 32.2 26.0
Billy Wagner 452 21 0.119 -30 0 -3.8 2.2 196.6 28.5 24.1
Garret Anderson 2228 9177 0.334 100 -7.2 -12.6 -59.6 101.6 5.5 24.0
Mark Grudzielanek 1802 7603 0.32 91 4.1 -80 69.4 -60.1 -8.2 23.2
Mike Sweeney 1454 5848 0.366 117 -2.7 121.2 -106.5 206.1 15.0 21.1
Brad Ausmus 1971 7102 0.299 76 -23.2 -244.9 183.7 -219.2 -22.5 17.2
David Eckstein 1311 5705 0.316 92 10.6 -49.7 28.6 -40.7 -2.7 16.8

Again, the RE24, WPA and WAR numbers are combined for the pitchers.

So, who would you vote for? I made a survey so you can vote. You’re on the honor system here — don’t pick more than 10 players, please. If you’re looking for my two cents, here’s how I’d vote:

  • No Doubters: Bonds, Clemens, Griffey, Mussina, Piazza, Raines
  • Don’t Want To See Fall Off Ballot: Sheffield, Walker
  • Last Chance: McGwire, Trammell

Because I would want to give McGwire and Trammell their best shot in their final year on the ballot, I’d leave off Bagwell and Schilling, and cross my fingers that Edmonds gets enough votes to stay. Either way, it’s a tough puzzle. Rock your vote below!





Paul Swydan used to be the managing editor of The Hardball Times, a writer and editor for FanGraphs and a writer for Boston.com and The Boston Globe. Now, he owns The Silver Unicorn Bookstore, an independent bookstore in Acton, Mass. Follow him on Twitter @Swydan. Follow the store @SilUnicornActon.

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BlerickMember since 2024
9 years ago

Im as conflicted about Bonds as ever.

Yirmiyahu
9 years ago
Reply to  Blerick

Was he one of the greatest baseball players ever? yes
Was he one of the most famous baseball players ever? yes
Did he have a historic impact on the game? yes
Was he a good guy? not relevant

Dan
9 years ago
Reply to  Yirmiyahu

…conveniently ignoring the single biggest reason to not vote for him…steroids. Whether you want to vote for him or not, you can’t just ignore it.

Wildcard09
9 years ago
Reply to  Dan

So are you conveniently ignoring the fact that the whole game was juiced, including the pitchers he faced? To me, it all comes out to a wash.

olethros
9 years ago
Reply to  Dan

And you’re conveniently ignoring the rampant use of plenty of other drugs/medical treatments/methods of cheating used by nearly every single other HoFer.

JK
9 years ago
Reply to  Dan

The use by other players is a red herring, so yes, I would ignore that for the most part.

Yirmiyahu
9 years ago
Reply to  Dan

I’m not ignoring it. It’s included in my reasons #2 (fame) and #3 (historical impact) for voting for him.

You’re ignoring the issue by trying to tell the story of baseball’s history while not acknowledging Bonds.

Andrew
9 years ago
Reply to  Yirmiyahu

For me, it comes down to the point that no matter what you think of if he took steroids (he did) and what effect they had on his performance (maybe not nothing), he was one of the best hitters to ever play the game. Even without all that steroid drama, he would have made it to the Hall easily. Maybe he doesn’t beat Aaron’s record or maybe he does, but he’s still in the Hall regardless. It’s the same argument for Clemens.

Paul KasińskiMember since 2016
9 years ago
Reply to  Yirmiyahu

First of all, a huge amount of his biggest accomplishments were achieved while cheating, so their status is wholly dubious. And second, being a “good guy” (even by the low standards of not being a legendary asshole and now cheating) is, in fact, absolutely relevant, per the integrity clause of the voting rules.
So, yeah.

Steve Perry
9 years ago
Reply to  Paul Kasiński

Bonds was arguably the best player in the game before he started using. If you believe that vast numbers of players, including stars, from that era were using, then he really didn’t gain much advantage, and still was the best player in the game.

The Hall has plenty of cheaters in it. And many more tried to cheat, or thought they were; they just had the misfortune of being born in an era of bad science.