Shaughnessy On Zo & Bertrand: Who Will Get Call To Hall Of Fame In 2017?
BOSTON (CBS) -- There are 19 new players on the Hall of Fame ballot, but who will ultimately get the invite to Cooperstown this year?
Manny Ramirez, Ivan Rodriguez and Vladimir Guerrero highlight the list of first-year eligible players on the ballot, the Hall of Fame announced on Monday. Jeff Bagwell and Trevor Hoffman could get in after just missing the cut in 2016, and there are always those "steroid era" players like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens who may benefit from a year without many clear-cut inductees.
The Boston Globe's Dan Shaughnessy, a Hall of Famer himself, joined 98.5 The Sports Hub's Zolak & Bertrand on Tuesday to discuss who will giving a speech come July, 2017. Players need to appear on 75 percent of the ballots in order to be enshrined, and Shaughnessy says Bagwell (71.6 percent last year) and Tim Raines (69.8 percent last year) should both get inducted this year.
But he said Hoffman, who got 68 percent last year, is a no-go.
"Anti-closer backlash. I'm probably wrong, but I'm not voting for him," Shaughnessy said of Hoffman.
Shaughnessy added that Clemens and Bonds should both see an increase in voting this year, but isn't sure if it will be enough to get them in.
As for the newcomers, Shaugnessy said it's very unlikely Manny Ramirez will get the call any time soon. Ramirez was a 12-time All-Star, a two-time World Series champ and MVP of Boston's dramatic 2004 title, not to mention baseball's all-time leader with 29 home runs in 23 postseason games. But he has a PED cloud over him, much like Clemens and Bonds
"He is not going to get in. He was caught three times. [His talent is worthy], of course, but when we have a commissioner going around saying which positive tests are questionable and which are not...," said Shauhgnessy.
Shaughnessy said that both Rodriguez and Guerrero are Hall of Fame worthy players, but it will probably take them a few years before they get their spot among the greatest to play the game.
"He is going to get a ton of votes. Some people say he's the greatest catcher of all time and the numbers are there," Shaughnessy said of Rodriguez. "But it took Piazza four years and he was the greatest hitting catcher ever."
Listen to the full discussion in the podcast below, as Shaughnessy gives his take on the Hall of Fame worthyness of players like Curt Schilling, Jorge Posada and Matt Stairs: