Get ready, folks. On Wednesday afternoon, the results of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America vote for the 2016 Baseball Hall of Fame class will be announced.
It’s unlikely that the 2016 class of inductees will be as big as last year’s, which saw a whopping four players elected into Cooperstown. But with enough cunning, we can make a fair guess about what is going to happen with the 32 players on the 2016 ballot.
Ahead lies a full set of predictions for what will be announced on 6:00 PM ET on Wednesday afternoon, ranging from which players won’t come close to those who will remain in the mix to the guys slated to get in. But before we get going, a few reminders:
- It takes 75 percent of the vote to be elected into the Hall of Fame, and at least five percent to stay on the ballot.
- In 2014, the Hall of Fame reduced the maximum number of years a player can stay on the ballot from 15 to 10, save for a few holdover exceptions.
- More recently, the Hall of Fame stripped the lifetime voting rights from BBWAA members who are at least 10 years removed from covering baseball.
OK, then. Enough stalling. Let’s get going.