In past years, the maximum of ten votes for candidates on the Hall of Fame ballot were not enough to recognize all the game’s best players. The sportswriters who make up the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) often had difficult choices as numerous superstars filled the ballots, especially during the period when the candidates were eligible to stay on the ballot for 15 years. (That has changed to 10 years now.)

This year’s ballot is a challenge, but for a different reason. There are no absolute shoo-ins, like a Derek Jeter or a Mariano Rivera. Some would even argue there aren’t any players on the ballot that warrant election. The two best players on the ballot have a PED cloud hanging over their heads. The top two carryovers from last year aren’t names that immediately come to mind as Hall of Famers. Even the new crop of eligible players on this year’s ballot wasn’t exactly the game’s top headliners when they played.

The ballot creates a dilemma for the voting sportswriters. On the one hand, do they still go ahead and cast their full ten votes for players they believe are the ten best available players? Or maybe stretch their personal criteria to elect at least one deserving player? Or do they make a statement by withholding all their votes, a situation that would be awfully extreme.

Ever since I have been writing this blog, I have cast a “mythical” Hall of Fame ballot. It counts for nothing, but it’s fun to put myself in the shoes of an official BBWAA voter.

I’m of the opinion that if you previously voted for a player, you stick with him until he’s either elected or falls off the ballot after the standard 10 years. There’s no wishy-washy voting from year-to-year.

I have voted for Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez in the past, despite the veil of PEDs. They were simply great hitters, and I’m voting for them again (although their actual chances of ever being elected by the BBWAA are practically nil, based on Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds being previously shut out from the Hall).

I voted for Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones last year, and I’m voting for them again. They were the top two vote-getters last year by the BBWAA, receiving 70.3% and 66.2%, respectively.

With Beltran, if you exclude his first three seasons and last two seasons of his 20-year major-league service, he was consistently well above average in term of OPS+ (averaging 125). It’s true, he wasn’t a league leader in offensive categories, yet he received MVP votes in seven seasons. He was a two-time Silver Slugger Award winner and three-time Gold Glove Award winner as an outfielder.

A ten-time Gold Glove Award winner, Jones was one of the best defensive centerfielders ever. During his peak, 1997 to 2007, he rarely missed a game. His slash line (.254/.337/.486) wasn’t all that impressive, but he managed to hit 434 home runs and 1,289 RBIs. He was a huge contributor to the Braves’ winning the NL East Division from 1997 to 2005.

That’s it for my votes this year—just four players. None of the 12 newcomers on the ballot are Hall-worthy. Not even close. The 2027 ballot is projected to have slim pickings again, regarding first-time players on the ballot. Buster Posey and Jon Lester will rank well above the rest of the pack.