There were quite a few players on the ballot who received zero votes. One of those was Matt Cain, former pitcher for the Giants. Cain did not make it through his prime years, having his last good season at seasonal age 27. The years leading up to that were good indeed, consistently pitching 200 strong innings and making three All-Star teams. One would think that Cain would have at least one fan among the writers who would throw a vote his way. Bronson Arroyo did get a vote, and Cain was a somewhat better pitcher.

Alex Rodriguez picked up a few votes in his second year on the ballot. I suspect his course will be similar to Bonds and Clemens, where he gets close over the years but does not make the 75%.

Carlos Beltran starts at 46.5%. I think next year is the big one for Beltran. There are likely writers who did not want to give him the first ballot vote due to the Astros sign stealing scandal. If he leaps forward next season, then he’ll likely be in the Hall sooner than later.

It’s fairly clear at this point that Gary Sheffield is not getting elected, and Jeff Kent is now off the ballot after ten tries. Andruw Jones made a very nice leap upward, and I suspect he’ll reach the 75% threshold in a couple of years.