This story was excerpted from Mark Bowman’s Braves Beat e-newsletter. To learn the complete e-newsletter, click on right here. And subscribe to get it repeatedly in your inbox.
ATLANTA — Bear in mind a pair months in the past, after I wrote about how Andruw Jones has dined on the identical Buckhead sushi bar whereas watching every of the previous eight Corridor of Fame bulletins?
Nicely, it appears to be like his rolls gained’t be the one factor that’s dynamite this 12 months.There’s all the time an opportunity for a shock, but it surely appears to be like like Jones and Carlos Beltrán will probably be introduced because the 2026 inductees when the Baseball Corridor of Fame balloting outcomes are introduced on MLB Community on Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET.
A lot of you watched Jones’ total profession, particularly these nice years spent with the Braves. And plenty of of you will have spent the previous 9 years studying why I and others consider Atlanta’s former heart fielder ought to be enshrined alongside a lot of his former teammates (Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and Chipper Jones) in Cooperstown.
As glad as these guys will probably be for Jones, I can’t even think about the enjoyment one other Corridor of Famer, Bobby Cox, will really feel. Jones was like a bit of brother to the aforementioned gamers, and he was like a son to Bobby. You’ve heard him say many instances that Bobby was like his second father.
Anyhow, sufficient of the emotional stuff.
This marked the primary time I and lots of of my longtime MLB.com cohorts had an opportunity to vote for the Corridor of Fame. Why? Nicely, the Baseball Writers’ Affiliation of America didn’t embrace us till 2015, when a few of my coworkers and I had already been doing this job for 10-15 years. However as a substitute of permitting us to vote instantly, the BBWAA required 10 years’ value of annual dues to realize the distinction to vote.
So, do we have now probably the most certified voters? Is that this the place I can say that each residing Corridor of Famer also needs to have a vote? And why is it simply the writers? Why can’t some longstanding broadcasters vote?
All proper, sufficient of me complaining.
After I acquired my poll this 12 months, I used to be assured I used to be going to vote for Jones and Beltrán. I had a reasonably good concept that I’d additionally give Chase Utley a vote. Past that, I used to be pondering I’d put a verify subsequent to the names of David Wright and Nick Markakis.
Why Markakis? Nicely, if I used to be beginning a membership, I’d prefer to have about 10 Markakises. These of you who keep in mind him as a pitcher at Younger Harris would possibly argue I might get away with carrying about 20 Markakises.
Markakis was one of the crucial skilled gamers I’ve ever encountered. He performed a major function within the Braves’ rebuild. However we’re not right here to handle folks we preferred. We’re right here to vote for Corridor of Famers.
So why did I find yourself voting for Jones, Beltrán, Utley and Bobby Abreu?
Nicely, together with numbers, I talked to gamers who competed in opposition to lots of the gamers on the poll. One of many responses made me take a more in-depth have a look at Abreu.
Right here’s what led me to vote for him:
A decade of elite manufacturing is sufficient for me. The very fact Abreu had simply two All-Star alternatives and no high 10 MVP poll finishes bothers me. However I’ve acquired a sense that wouldn’t have been the case had decision-makers had entry to among the metrics we use right now.
Who do I want I had voted for? My first voter’s regret is aimed towards Felix Hernández.
Hernández led all AL pitchers (min. 150 begins) with the 127 ERA+ he constructed over a decade from 2006-2015. Justin Verlander, who’s a projected first-ballot Corridor of Famer as a result of he had the longevity that Hernández’s candidacy lacks, ranked third with a 123 ERA+ throughout this identical span.
This actually isn’t the one cause to vote for Hernández. But it surely’s one of many causes I’ll be taking an extended have a look at his candidacy subsequent 12 months.
See how different MLB.com reporters voted on this 12 months’s poll right here.
