My mock 2020 MLB Hall of Fame ballot: Not this time for San Diego Padres

Returning candidates

Curt Schilling returns for the eighth time and got the most votes from last year of those returning to the ballot with 60.9 percent.

Just as a reminder, you need 75 percent of the vote to get in.

According to Baseball Reference, Schilling finished with a WAR of 79.5, which is right behind Hall of Famer Tom Glavine at 80.7.

Longevity certainly helped Schilling accumulate such a high WAR playing 20 years, but that also hurts his standing a little as he only won 216 games even in all that time and finished with a career ERA of 3.46.

The righty has a lot of accolades that makes him a great Hall of Fame candidate with 6 All-Star appearances, 3 World Series titles, an NLCS MVP, and a World Series MVP.

Larry Walker enters his last year on the ballot and is gaining a lot of momentum because of it, but he also gets hurt by those who think his stats were padded in Colorado.

The big steroid guys, Bonds and Clemens, return for the eighth time and both received around 59 percent last year. You could probably throw Manny Ramirez in this group to a lesser extent.

Interestingly, Andruw Jones received the least votes of those returning, but he seems to be gaining the most momentum on the 2020 ballot.

I don’t think anyone else returning to the ballot is really all that close to being considered.

Newcomers on the list

This isn’t the greatest list of newcomers, but there is one that sticks out above the rest in Derek Jeter.

The former New York Yankees shortstop was a 14-time All-Star, a Rookie of the Year winner, a 5-time World Series champion, a 5-time Gold Glove winner, a 5-time Silver Slugger winner, and a World Series MVP.

He also finished with a career WAR of 72.4, which ranks him 10th all-time among shortstops.

I will admit that his status and popularity are heightened because of who he played for and how much he won, but that doesn’t take away from his accomplishments.

And the fact that he’s one of the 10-15 best shortstops of all-time.

Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi are the only other newcomers that accumulated over 50 WAR in their careers.

Neither of them will likely ever get close to getting the votes to be a Hall of Famer. And Giambi will get the steroid treatment from most voters.

Our good buddy, Heath Bell, actually has the least amount of WAR among those on the ballot with 7.1.

From 2002-2008 when Alfonso Soriano was a perennial All-Star it looked like he was on a Hall of Fame path, but he tailed off at the end.

As a Braves fan as well, Rafael Furcal was one of my favorite players and was a fun to watch with one of the strongest arms I’ve ever seen with such a small frame at shortstop.

My ballot

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Let me first explain the type of Hall of Fame voter that I am. I will never vote for suspected steroid users, and I am more in favor of a “Small Hall” rather than the “Hall of Very Good.”

I’ve never actually been to the MLB Hall of Fame, but if there isn’t, I do believe there should be a section in the Hall of Fame to document the steroid era because it is part of the game — even if it’s a bad part.

But I’m not about to award players who knowingly did something wrong and cheated the game. Not only that, but they hurt players who were trying to play the game clean during that time, and that’s the biggest crime in my book.

And I love that the MLB Hall of Fame is very hard to get into; although that’s been changing over the past couple of years with all of these other committees that just vote their friends in.

But on my ballot I’m always going to vote for those who I think are the greatest of all-time in our game.

With that, my 2020 mock MLB Hall of Fame ballot only includes two names…

Derek Jeter

Andruw Jones

Jeter is obvious and will get in easily, the only question will be whether or not he gets 100 percent of the vote.

Andruw is the one that will be controversial, but allow me to explain.

First, as I said earlier, I grew up a Braves fan so I’m a little biased. But I also believe he’s the best defensive center fielder of at least the past decade if not of all-time.

And if Ozzie Smith gets in simply for being the best defensive shortstop of all-time, then Andruw should be in for the same reason.

Jones won 10 straight Gold Glove awards and finished with 434 home runs. I think some people remember his end and not the 10 years when he was one of the best players in the game.

Schilling was very close to making my list, and I wouldn’t be upset if he got in. But I think he was a good pitcher with a couple of moments of greatness.

Still, I wouldn’t be upset if he got in.

In the end, I think Jeter is the only player who gets voted in for the 2020 class. And that’s probably the way it should be. Let us know in the comments below who you think gets in this year.