The 2015 MLB Hall of Fame ballot is set to officially be released Monday, and with it comes the start of this year’s debate over who deserves to be immortalized in Cooperstown.
Among the newcomers to the ballot are a trio of pitchers who were among the best of their generation in Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz.
The first-timers will join 17 holdovers from last year’s ballot, led by Craig Biggio, Mike Piazza, Jeff Bagwell and Tim Raines, who all received at least 45 percent of the vote last year.
Rather than predicting who will be enshrined and laying out who the deserving candidates are, the following will take a crack at predicting which superstars will be snubbed.
For the sake of argument, two different levels of snub will be considered.
- Snubbed off the Ballot: These are first-time guys who have the body of work to at least stick around on the ballot for a few years and have their case debated but will receive less than the necessary 5 percent of the vote and be eliminated from further consideration.
- Snubbed from Induction: These are the guys who are genuinely worthy of induction but will fall short of the necessary 75 percent of the vote to officially earn their way into Cooperstown.
So, with that in mind, here is my best guess for the biggest superstar snubs in the 2015 MLB Hall of Fame vote.