It’s Hall of Fame voting season and fans eagerly peruse X waiting for the small drip of public ballots to see who writers from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America think are worthy of enshrinement in Cooperstown. The BBWAA is the official voter for the Hall of Fame (something I hope to be part of someday) but I’m a member of the Internet Baseball Writers’ Association of America, an organization meant to celebrate and promote content creators for blogs and other platforms that aren’t part of the major landscape of baseball media.

The IBWAA recently emailed ballots for members to vote on before a January 1 deadline. The voting rules for the IBWAA are generally the same as the BBWAA with the added caveat that voters can choose up to 12 players as opposed to 10. The IBWAA ballot mirrors the BBWAA ballot this year and after careful consideration and preparation for my second year of voting here are my selections for the 2024 IBWAA Hall of Fame. I don’t subscribe to the belief in a small hall and aimed to use all 12 votes, with a heavy emphasis on my first 10 selections, followed by the two IBWAA extra votes.

Bobby Abreu

In the history of baseball, only 48 players have gotten on base more times than Bobby Abreu, 38 of whom are already in the Hall of Fame. Abreu may not have the accolades and notable MVP finishes for his resume, but the subjective opinions of fans and writers of his era shouldn’t negate what he did on the field, something he could control. He was an on-base machine. Abreu led the majors with 1,396 walks from 1998-2011 and ranks 20th on the all-time list. He recorded at least 100 walks or a .400-plus on-base percentage eight times over a nine-season span from 1998-2006. He never put of huge home run numbers, but he was an extra-base machine and danger on the basepaths. He had nine seasons with at least 60 extra-base hits and 20 stolen bases, which eventually equaled out to 921 extra-base hits and 400 steals to go along with 288 career home runs. A .291/.395/.475 career slash, 60.2 rWAR and over 2,400 hits tells me that he was a Hall of Fame caliber players.

Adrián Beltré

Adrián Beltré is one of the surefire locks on this year’s ballot. In his career, he had 3,166 hits, 477 home runs and 93.5 Wins Above Replacement, third-most among third basemen behind only Mike Schmidt and Eddie Mathews. He was best known for his joyous antics on the field and dominance at the plate while not being too shabby at the hot corner. He was a great contact hitter, produced plenty of pop, and his signature golf swing on low pitches that drop him to a knee is Hall of Fame worthy in and of itself.

Carlos Beltran

Carlos Beltrán is another player with a wrinkle on his resume due to his involvement with the Houston Astros cheating scandal of 2017. At age 40, he put up one of his worst seasons and was believed to be one of the masterminds behind the implementation of the trash can system. It may come as a double standard to withhold votes for PED users while voting for Beltrán but his entire career before 2017 helps his case. He goes down in history as one of the best offensive center fielders to ever play the game and had a 70.1 WAR. Still, there are compelling arguments to not vote for him, but it’s well-known that sign stealing was more rampant around that time in baseball, driven by teams and not so many players. Beltrán may have just been sharing strategies and info that he learned elsewhere. His career numbers speak for themselves, however.

Todd Helton

It was a matter of about a dozen votes by the BBWAA that kept the Colorado Rockies’ legendary first baseman from reaching the 75% threshold needed for induction. Helton had 369 home runs and 2,519 hits in his career and was a .316 lifetime hitter and the 2000 MLB batting champion. He spent his entire 17-year career in Colorado, and while many uninitiated fans will immediately cry “Coors!,” remember that his career road numbers are better than the likes of Ken Griffey Jr. and other Hall of Fame players. He was a prolific doubles hitter and can be considered one of the best defensive first basemen in the history of the game. If you need more reasons, check out the @TH17HOF account on X for various stats and reasons why Helton is a Hall of Famer.

Matt Holliday

I recently wrote about Matt Holliday’s Hall of Fame candidacy and I’ll admit that I chose to vote for him simply out of a guilty pleasure and personal vote. Holliday had a significant and stellar career in MLB and was often quite underrated. He was a feared slugger during his time in Colorado and was a driving force of leadership for the St. Louis Cardinals. His 2007 season will go down as one of the greatest in the Rockies’ history. While he never lit up the stat sheets year-to-year, he was consistently good. He was always reliable for 20+ home runs per season and was a career .299 hitter. His 44.5 career WAR may fall short of Hall of Fame expectations, but Holliday deserves more recognition for his prowess as one of the best hitters of his generation. I’ll admit he probably shouldn’t cut, but I’m allowing myself a sentimental vote as the 10th selection on this ballot.

Torii Hunter

Much like Holliday, Torii Hunter is one of those players who had a sneakily good career and would earn a top 10 vote from me because of the defensive qualities he contributed to his game. A career 50.7 WAR player over 19 years, Hunter was one of the best center fielders of the 2000s as from 2001-2009 he won nine straight Gold Glove awards. Along with the defensive greatness, a longevity of steady production aids his case. Hunter is one of 15 players in MLB history to record at least 350 home runs, 150 stolen bases, 450 doubles and 2,400 hits. By modern standards and metrics he may not appear as favorably but when compared to his generation of players, Hunter did enough to earn my vote.

Andruw Jones

A good comp for Hunter is Andruw Jones who is one of the best defensive center fielders in National League history. From 1997-2007 he led baseball with a 26.6 defensive bWAR and had the third-best bWAR in baseball from 1998-2007 behind Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez. He won 10 Gold Gloves, a Silver Slugger, and was a five-time All-Star. He crushed 434 career home runs, including an MLB-leading 51 in 2005 and from 1998-2006, he hit 319 of those homers while slugging .513. During his peak, he was one of the best players in baseball but things did trail off offensively in his final five seasons. Gold Gloves are subjective awards, but they paint a picture of one of the best defensive gloves to grace the game and Jones did enough in his career on offense to garner my vote.

Joe Mauer

Catchers aren’t exactly the greatest bats in the history of baseball. They are generally valued more for their prowess behind the plate, and whatever offensive output they add is a nice bonus, so they don’t have the general kind of no-doubter stats that would make them locks for the Hall of Fame. Spending his entire 15-year career in Minnesota, Joe Mauer was a model of consistency on both sides of the ball. From 2004 to 2013 Mauer was one the best catchers behind the dish, pulling in three Gold Glove awards, and had a career 33% caught stealing rate. He led the league twice in CS%, including a 53% in 2007. When concussions forced him to move to first base full-time for the last few years of his career, he was still a solid defender. But what makes Mauer interesting is his batting profile. He was a big-time slugger but was one of the most consistent and reliable bats over his career. He had a .306 lifetime AVG, won a batting title three times, was a six-time All-Star, won five Silver Sluggers, and finished top 10 in MVP voting including being named MVP in 2009. During his era, Mauer wasn’t just one of the best catchers in the league, at times he was the best player in baseball. He easily earns my vote for the Hall of Fame.

Francisco Rodriguez (12th selection)

Despite being fourth on the all-time saves list with 437 and holding the single-season saves record (62), Francisco Rodriguez is still trying to garner support for the Hall of Fame. He had six seasons of at least 40 saves, placing him behind Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman, both of whom are in the Hall of Fame. 16 years in the big leagues as one of the best closers with a 2.86 ERA helped his case along with a 10.5 K/9. He falls as a 12th selection due to legal troubles off the field in the later part of his career that should rightfully be scrutinized when evaluating his career.

Gary Sheffield

Gary Sheffield posted a career slash line of .292/.393/.514, winning a batting title in 1992, leading the National League in on-base percentage in 1996, and was selected to the All-Star Game nine times. A five-time Silver Slugger winner, Sheffield finished in the top 10 six times in MVP voting including a third-place finish in both 1992 and 2004 and a second-place finish in 2003. He was a bonafide slugger with over 500 home runs in his career and had 2,689 career hits. His ability to draw walks was considerable and deserves plenty of recognition, as do all the players limited strikeouts and often walked more than punched out. His defense was pretty weak, but it never detracted from his incredible offensive prowess.

Chase Utley (11th selection)

In terms of all-time second baseman in MLB Chase Utley managed to carve a place for himself as one of the best to play the position. His 65.4 WAR places him 10th between Craig Biggio and Jackie Robinson while his career OPS (.823) would place him eighth and his 259 homers would rank fifth. Much of the heavy lifting for Utley is done thanks to his opportunities to play for the Phillies and later the Dodgers, giving him ample time to play in the postseason. While the numbers are fairly lackluster in the postseason, he was still a grinder in the league that played hard. He never really lit up the box score, but he was a six-time All-Star and four-time Silver Slugger with a World Series ring. It was a good career, but he and fellow Phillie candidate Jimmy Rollins fall into the same category for me. They were pretty good middle infielders, but not sure they are exactly Hall of Fame-worthy.

Billy Wagner

Rounding out my ballot is Billy Wagner, one of the most dominant closers in baseball. The fireball left-hander notched 422 saves in his 16-year career with the Astros, Phillies, Mets, Red Sox, and Braves. He totaled 1,196 strikeouts and had a 2.31 ERA while also being a seven-time All-Star and the NL Reliever of the Year in 1999, and he helped lead his teams to the postseason seven times. In terms of career ERA and ERA+, only one reliever was better than Wagner and that was Mariano Rivera. He was a prolific strikeout pitcher, the exact type of guy you want closing out games, which helped him record at least 30 saves in nine seasons. He also had a rare four seasons with 100+ strikeouts. The BBWAA voters are coming around on him, and he deserves a spot on the ballot.

Closing Thoughts

And there you have it, my 12-vote ballot for the IBWAA Hall of Fame. I know it’s not a perfect ballot and there is a lot of nuances and subjective opinion that goes into the voting process. There are cases to be made for and against every player on the ballot and that’s a good aspect of the voting process. The only thing I can hope for is that fellow voters put a lot of consideration into their ballots as they make their selections because it’s not an easy process.