With the Contemporary Era on the ballot in 2026, this year’s nominees range from controversial steroid era greats to other recent players with overlooked cases.
Outside of the madness of free agency and unexpected trades that occur every offseason, a marquee part of the winter months for baseball fans is looking back on the game’s past as Hall of Fame balloting gets underway.
While the results of the primary Hall of Fame ballot voted on by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America won’t be revealed until late January, a separate ballot with plenty of intrigue is also on the table.
The Contemporary Era will be voted on this year as part of the Eras Committee, which alternates between this, a Contemporary managers/executives/umpires ballot and a Classic Era ballot, differentiating them based on whether a player’s contributions to the sport came before or after 1980.
This year’s ballot features eight players with vastly different histories with Hall of Fame voting, with steroid era stars Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens headlining the ballot.
While their presumed use of performance-enhancing drugs stunted their candidacies while on the initial BBWAA ballot, other names on this year’s ballot were simply borderline names for voters of the past.
Among them are Don Mattingly and Jeff Kent, both of whom spent years on the lower echelons of BBWAA ballots without ever making it in, though Kent came notably closer with a peak of 46.5% of the vote in 2018. In both BBWAA and Eras Committee voting, players need at least 75% of the vote to be elected.
The ballot also includes steroid-connected Gary Sheffield, along with three other borderline Hall of Fame cases in Dale Murphy, Carlos Delgado and the late Fernando Valenzuela.
Although I certainly won’t be casting a vote on this year’s ballot (we don’t even know who will be yet), here’s a look at how I would construct my ballot of the eight players up for consideration this winter.
Before I get into the first part of my ballot, I’ll get some basic details regarding my thought process and rationale on Hall of Fame candidacies out of the way:
-The current composition of the Hall of Fame proves writers have been wildly inconsistent over what is tolerated for their vote into Cooperstown over the years. While most steroid era players have been wiped out from consideration, I feel fans and writers alike would be fooling themselves by believing that Mike Piazza, Ivan Rodriguez and David Ortiz never touched PEDs. This uneven standard for “cheating” extends well beyond PEDs as well, with a book literally named after a banned pitch not stopping voters from electing Gaylord Perry without much of a thought.
-While steroids certainly turned plenty of fly balls into home runs, they didn’t create clutch hitters or players with otherworldly talent – take a look at the players who have tested positive for PEDs over the years, and that becomes rather obvious. When it comes to the generational greats of the turn of the century that were tied to PEDs, the majority of them deserve to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
-The use of steroids during the late 1990’s and early 2000’s was an open secret across MLB. League officials were not going to dare tamper with the increase in power that helped the sport bounce back from the 1994-95 players’ strike, with the juiced up home run record chase of 1998 widely being cited as the catalyst for revival. The league and writers alike taking on this bogus stance of morality while not making a peep about it when it was all actually happening is and always has been beyond laughable to me. If Cap Anson, the man that made it his life and career mission to keep baseball segregated, can be honored in Cooperstown, then I think we’re okay if Barry Bonds gets in.
-Lastly, setting steroids aside, I think the Eras Committee standards are and should be a little different than the BBWAA standards. That’s not to explicitly say they are lower standards, but I think they should match the precedent that has already been set. This is most notably seen with an induction like Harold Baines, a career 38.8 WAR player who was almost certainly boosted by his incredible durability and longevity, playing 2,830 games. I personally don’t have any issue with Baines being in the Hall of Fame, especially as I personally value longevity quite a bit, but I think his inclusion (and that of Fred McGriff, Dick Allen and Dave Parker as well) should be kept in mind when exploring these ballots.
With that said, here’s a look into the first part of how I’d break my ballot down:
1. Barry Bonds, OF
Pittsburgh Pirates: 1986-1992, San Francisco Giants: 1993-2007
Career stats: 162.8 WAR, 2,986 G, 2,227 R, 2,935 H, 601 2B, 77 3B, 762 HR, 1996 RBI, 514 SB, 2558 BB, 1539 K, .298/.444/.607/1.051, 5,976 TB, 688 IBB
Awards: 7x NL MVP, 14x All-Star, 8x Gold Glove, 12x Silver Slugger, 2x Batting Title, 1996 HR Derby champion, 13 top-10 MVP vote finishes
If you couldn’t tell from above, it’s ridiculous to me that we even have to have this conversation.
I consider myself lucky enough to have gotten to watch Barry Bonds’ insane 2001-04 run as a young child, which very much so felt like watching a superhero play the game. Seemingly every Barry swing was a home run in this span, which saw him total 43.4 WAR with 209 home runs, 755 walks and just 239 strikeouts.
Today, Bonds remains the sport’s all-time leader in Wins Above Replacement for position players, home runs, walks and intentional walks – the latter two clearly speaking to Bonds’ reputation and status as perhaps the game’s most feared hitter of all-time.
While Bonds is the most prolific home run hitter of all-time, it isn’t as if he was isolated completely in the way Wayne Gretzky is on the all-time NHL points leaderboard – Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Albert Pujols have all also hit 700 home runs, with several others topping 600 for their career. What set Bonds apart was his robotic eye for the strike zone, something that steroids simply had nothing to do with – by the end of his second prime with the Giants in the 2000s, opposing pitchers had essentially conceded. Bonds’ .609 on-base percentage in 2004 remains the highest mark ever recorded in MLB history.
I could easily write 5,000 words about Bonds’ incredible career, but his Baseball Reference page truly speaks for itself – the longer you look at it, the more incredible things you will find. Baseball simply can’t pretend that this guy didn’t exist.
The Verdict: Yes. Obviously.
2. Roger Clemens, SP
Boston Red Sox: 1984-1996, Toronto Blue Jays: 1997-1998, New York Yankees: 1999-2003, Houston Astros: 2004-2006, New York Yankees: 2007
Career stats: 139.2 WAR, 354-184, 3.12 ERA, 707 GS, 118 CG, 46 CGSHO, 4916.2 IP, 1,580 BB, 4,672 K, 143 ERA+, 3.09 FIP, 1.173 WHIP
Awards: 1986 AL MVP, 7x Cy Young, 2x Pitching Triple Crown, 11x All-Star, 2x World Series champion (1999 Yankees, 2000 Yankees), 7x ERA title, 10 top-three Cy Young Award vote finishes
One of the sport’s most recognizable and durable pitchers of all-time, Clemens never made it in on the BBWAA vote due to his ties to performance-enhancing drug use, earning similar support to Bonds before falling off the ballot.
Similar to Bonds, Clemens’ career featured two distinct arcs with two different teams/sets of teams – with Clemens initially making his name over a 13-year tenure with the Boston Red Sox. After a few years of diminished production and a quietly stellar 1996 campaign, Clemens left Boston for the Toronto Blue Jays, where he experienced a career rejuvenation.
I always felt Clemens’ case was a little more complicated than Bonds’, as Clemens’ alleged steroid use is said to have started around his time with the Blue Jays. Additionally, it’s fair to believe that PEDs were particularly helpful in ensuring Clemens’ durability, with The Rocket winning four of his seven Cy Young Awards after leaving Boston.
Even with that said, Clemens’ late-career resurgence and dominance is incredibly impressive – and that’s all on the heels of a Hall of Fame career with the Red Sox that included 80.8 WAR, three Cy Young Awards and 192 wins over 13 seasons.
I understand the hesitancy due to Clemens’ longevity being such a big part of the story with his career, but he also had a Hall of Fame resume before any of that. After all of it, he only solidified his reputation as one of the game’s most feared pitchers of all-time and an integral part of his generation of baseball.
Verdict: Yes.
3. Carlos Delgado, 1B
Toronto Blue Jays: 1993-2004, Florida Marlins: 2005, New York Mets: 2006-2009
Career stats: 44.4 WAR, 2,035 G, 1,241 R, 2,038 H, 483 2B, 18 3B, 473 HR, 1,512 RBI, 14 SB, 1,109 BB, 1,745 K, .280/.383/.546/.929, 138 OPS+, 3,976 TB
Awards: 2x All-Star, 3x Silver Slugger, four top-10 MVP vote finishes, 2000 AL Hank Aaron Award, 2006 Roberto Clemente Award
A feared slugger throughout his 17-year career, Delgado consistently flew under the radar as one of the game’s best hitters in an era dominated by unprecedented power.
Even in an era of Bonds, Sosa, Big Mac and A-Rod, Delgado still found a way to stand out on multiple occasions – his 2000 season chief among them. Perhaps the peak of his career, Delgado posted 7.3 WAR with 41 home runs and 137 RBI alongside a video game-like 1.134 OPS while leading the AL with 57 doubles and 378 total bases.
Mostly known as a Blue Jay, Delgado’s 36.8 WAR with Toronto ranks him fifth all-time in franchise history, only trailing Tony Fernández, José Bautista, Roy Halladay and Dave Stieb.
While Delgado was no perennial All-Star and never took home an MVP, his career numbers would have you think he would have compiled more accolades. Delgado finished not too far below major milestones such as 500 home runs and 4,000 total bases, with a .929 career OPS appearing titanic when looking at the hitting of today.
I’m a huge fan of Delgado’s, and he was undoubtedly one of my favorite players to watch growing up – but I’m still not so sure he’s a Hall of Famer. While the star first baseman provided more than enough power and consistency to pave his way into Cooperstown, his defensive struggles and relatively shorter career cut into his case.
Delgado’s -17.2 defensive WAR cut into his overall value throughout his career, even when posting MVP-caliber numbers at the plate. Delgado never finished with a positive defensive WAR, even posting as low as a -2.9 dWAR in 2005 during his lone season with the Marlins.
While he played in parts of 17 seasons, Delgado only played full or close-to-full seasons in 13 of those years – undoubtedly impressive by MLB standards, but noticeably below most players that already have plaques hanging up in Cooperstown.
I’m sympathetic to Delgado’s case for the Hall, especially in the context of Baines’ inclusion – but Delgado unfortunately had nowhere near Baines’ durability and longevity. If he had lasted just a few more years, it would be a slam dunk yes for me.
Verdict: Not quite.
4. Jeff Kent, 2B
Toronto Blue Jays: 1992, New York Mets: 1992-1996, Cleveland Indians: 1996, San Francisco Giants: 1997-2002, Houston Astros: 2003-2004, Los Angeles Dodgers: 2005-2008
Career stats: 55.4 WAR, 2,298 G, 1,320 R, 2,461 H, 560 2B, 47 3B, 377 HR, 1,518 RBI, 94 SB, 801 BB, 1,522 K, .290/.356/.500/.855, 123 OPS+, 4,246 TB
Awards: 2000 NL MVP, 5x All-Star, 4x Silver Slugger, four top-10 MVP finishes
Regarded as one of the best second basemen of his generation and one of the best offensive second basemen of all-time, Kent’s excellent career has already been the subject of much debate regarding his Hall of Fame candidacy.
After 10 years on the ballot, Kent fell off after peaking at 46.5% of the vote in 2023, his final season on the BBWAA ballot. While Kent certainly doesn’t have the long list of awards that many Hall of Famers do, his durability and career 55.4 WAR make a good argument for his case.
Kent was notably a late bloomer, spending part of his 20’s as a role player for the New York Mets before finding his stride upon arrival in San Francisco in 1997. While Kent and fellow star teammate Barry Bonds notably had a poor relationship, a fan would have been none the wiser during the turn of century as the two formed perhaps the most potent offensive duo in baseball.
Kent’s career peaked alongside Bonds with winning the 2000 NL MVP award on the heels of a 7.2 WAR season with 41 doubles, 33 home runs and a 1.021 OPS, with Bonds finishing second in MVP voting that year.
Turning 30 ahead of the 1998 season, Kent had among the most impressive decades for a player in his 30s of all-time, posting 40.8 of his 55.4 career WAR between 1998 and 2007, slashing .301/.373/.529/.902 with a 133 OPS+ and 258 home runs.
Kent was a great player, and as someone who grew up during his prime, his name quickly comes to mind when thinking of premier National League sluggers from the era. Yet Kent’s Hall of Fame case was never a slam dunk – he finished his career with -0.1 defensive WAR, with a precipitous drop in his defensive contributions coming late in his career. Additionally, Kent’s beef with Bonds and ensuing reputation that he wasn’t a great teammate certainly could have impacted the votes of some BBWAA members, with his relative lack of awards serving as another strike against his case from voters.
Yet to me, putting all of that aside, Kent had an incredible career, one that undoubtedly stands out when talking about the game’s greatest second basemen. Excluding Bonds and Clemens, Kent stands out to me as perhaps the most clear-cut case in support of an HOF election from this year’s Contemporary Era ballot.
Verdict: Yes
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