The BBWAA recently released their ballot for the Hall of Fame class of 2020. The results of the vote are due to be revealed on January 21st, with induction taking place July 26th.  After Mariano Rivera, Mike Mussina, Edgar Martinez, and Roy Halladay were elected in last year’s voting, the new ballot contains 14 holdovers along with 18 newcomers, which may potentially continue the logjam caused by the current BBWAA rules which limit the number of votes on one ballot to 10 and the ongoing refusal by some writers to vote for players tainted by PEDs, leaving too many qualified candidates fighting for limited spots.

Let’s take a look at the returning candidates today before moving on to the newcomers.

Barry Bonds
Years on ballot: 7
2019 Percentage: 59.1

The all time home run champion saw his vote percentage rise for the fifth straight time last year, so the PED bias holding him back may be slightly subsiding.  But, with only 3 more shots with the writers, it remains to be seen if he has enough time to get up to 75%.

Roger Clemens
Years on ballot: 7
2019 Percentage: 59.5

Roger Clemens, he of the 354 career victories and 7 Cy Young awards, also found himself with a fourth consecutive rise after his seventh run through the voting process.  For some odd reason, perhaps by having played for more teams, Clemens continues to get marginally more support than his fellow PED poster child Barry Bonds.

Todd Helton
Years on ballot: 1
2019 Percentage: 16.5

A fine first showing for Helton, but it looks like he’s going to suffer from the same Colorado bias as Larry Walker.

Andruw Jones
Years on ballot: 2
2019 Percentage: 7.5

If voters were to stick to his first 11 seasons, Jones looks like a shoe-in for the Hall.  His last 7 seasons, though, were so bad that it makes it hard to consider him.  Based on his initial vote total, those final seasons seem to be holding sway.

Jeff Kent
Years on ballot: 6
2019 Percentage: 18.1

The 2000 NL MVP saw his vote percentage rebound slightly last year.  He still has a long way to go and not a whole lot of time left, so the future does not look good for him.

Andy Pettitte
Years on ballot: 1
2019 Percentage: 9.9

The stain of PEDs looks to be keeping Andy Pettitte closer to the Sammy Sosas of the world than the Roger Clemens of the world.

Manny Ramirez
Years on ballot: 3
2019 Percentage: 22.8

The numerous PED suspensions at the end of Ramirez’s career look to be holding him back, as his vote percentage stayed just about the same in his third go-around on the ballot.

Curt Schilling
Years on ballot: 7
2019 Percentage: 60.9

I certainly never thought of Schilling as an all-time great while he was still playing, but many people view him as an obvious Hall of Famer.  His post-season success, with three different teams, certainly helps his case.  His totals started edging up again last year, despite his numerous bigoted screeds on social media gaffes, and it looks like he may eventually make it, if he can keep his mouth shut.

Gary Sheffield
Years on ballot: 5
2019 Percentage: 13.6

Another case of PED use derailing what would otherwise be considered a sure-fire HOF career.

Sammy Sosa
Years on ballot: 7
2019 Percentage: 8.5

With only 3 years left on the ballot, Sosa is destined to be left on the outside looking in.

Omar Vizquel
Years on ballot: 3
2019 Percentage: 42.8

I would assume that he will eventually make it in, but may have to wait a while.

Billy Wagner
Years on ballot: 4
2019 Percentage: 16.7

The former Astro and Phillie closer continues to earn little support, but he did increase his percentage a little in year three.

Larry Walker
Years on ballot: 9
2019 Percentage: 54.6

Walker got a large boost last year, but has only one year left to get that last 20 percent to make it to Cooperstown.