A-Rod, David Ortiz miss cut on 2022 Hall of Fame ballot revealed here by Anthony Andro

The former Texas Rangers beat writer checks the boxes of the same eight players who received his nod a year ago.

David Ortiz’s career took off after being dumped by the Minnesota Twins, under the suspicion that he used performance-enhancing drugs(The Associated Press/LM Otero).

Editor’s note: Anthony Andro covered the Texas Rangers and Major League Baseball for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Fox Sports Southwest for more than a dozen years, making him eligible to vote for the Hall of Fame. He reveals his 2022 ballot exclusively here at the Texas Rangers Newsletter.

I’ve never understood why some National Baseball Hall of Fame voters dread this time of year.

Getting a Hall of Fame ballot in the mail is something that I look forward to like a 12-year-old looks forward to Christmas. Whether my vote makes a difference in someone getting into the Hall makes no difference. It’s an honor to have a chance to vote, and it’s something I’ll cherish until I lose the right in the next few years.

And it’s even OK that whoever I vote for is wrong in someone’s eyes. It doesn’t matter to me. It’s my vote, and I’ll do with it as I please.

When I vote, the only parameter I use is to look at the guys I consider to have a real chance of making it with fresh eyes every year. That’s how Andruw Jones made my ballot last year after not making it in the past. So, with that said, here’s my vote for the 2022 Hall of Fame.

Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Andruw Jones, Jeff Kent, Scott Rolen, Curt Schilling, Gary Sheffield and Billy Wagner. Those happen to be the same eight I voted for last year.

That means no on Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, Mark Teixeira and the rest of the newcomers. Rodriguez was an easy pass. I didn’t have to look past 2014 when he hit no homers and drove in zero runs because he was suspended for cheating the game for drugs.

Ortiz was never busted for cheating, but he didn’t pass my smell test. Why did Minnesota give up on him in 2002, and suddenly the following year he had a new career-high in homers and was an MVP candidate in Boston? And then again. And again. And again. Maybe he figured it out. It just seems like strange timing to me. Again, it’s my vote. But someone I trust in the game said there’s no way it happened naturally. So it’s a no.

Teixeira I gave a deep dive into. Really good player. And he was a good dude. My first year on the Texas Rangers beat was 2007, the year he was traded and set the stage for the Rangers to rise in the American League.

Jake Peavy is to pitching what Teixeira was to hitting to me. Really good player. Not great. The same could be said for Jimmy Rollins, Justin Morneau and many other newcomers.

As for the guys I did vote for, well, if you’ve followed me you know my thinking so I’ll be brief. Bonds/Clemens were Hall of Famers before the steroid frenzy. Schilling wouldn’t be the first vile human in the Hall of Fame. His numbers are worthy. Jones was a great two-way player. Wagner was a great closer from start to finish. Rolen’s defense pushes him in, and he wasn’t bad offensively either. Kent was underrated at second and great offensively. Sheffield doesn’t get enough support, but he’ll get mine.

My holdover misses include Omar Vizquel. His offense doesn’t make up for his defense. His offensive numbers are only decent because he kept hanging around. Todd Helton belongs in the Coors Field Hall of Fame. Andy Pettitte was close. The same for Mark Buehrle and Bobby Abreu. But, it’s not the Hall of Close.

Again, it’s an honor to even have a vote. I take it seriously. You may not like the vote or my reasoning, but I’m OK with that. I hope to see a ballot again next November and do it all over again.