If you thought the 2021 Hall of Fame ballot was a contentious debate over statistics, character and PEDs, just wait until Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz join next year. Not only will it be the first chance for writers to weigh in on Rodriguez and Ortiz, it will be the final time on the ballot for Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling (although Schilling did ask to be removed from his final year on the ballot) and Sammy Sosa.
While Bonds and Clemens have seen their vote percentage increase in recent years, the BBWAA has failed to elect them despite their standing as two of the most statistically accomplished players in the game's history. Sosa, who hit 609 home runs, hasn't even cleared 20%. Schilling, with 216 wins and his record as one of the greatest postseason pitchers of all time, had the highest vote total of any player this year but fell just short -- no doubt in part to his controversial social media behavior.
Now Rodriguez and Ortiz will join the fray, making the 2022 ballot perhaps the most difficult one yet in clarifying where we are going with all this.