Who would Pinstripe Alley elect to the Baseball Hall of Fame from the 2021 ballot?

At 5pm tomorrow, the National Baseball Hall of Fame will reveal if anyone from the 2021 ballot will be inducted this summer in Cooperstown. The BBWAA has already counted its votes, and while none of us are members, we have, too.

I asked the Pinstripe Alley staff to weigh in on the debate and vote for up to 10 members deemed worthy of induction. Six players cleared the 75 percent threshold and would be honored as Hall of Famers:

Here’s how the voting broke down by each member of the PSA staff:

(Note: Joe, Erica, and Dan K. all chose to abstain from voting.)

Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were unanimous selections, as they have been pretty much any time Pinstripe Alley has polled its staff about the Hall of Fame ballot. They’re inner-circle Hall of Fame talents who were never formally suspended for using PEDs (unlike, say, Manny Ramírez). While I don’t think there’s much doubt that they did, they were operating within baseball’s very loose rules of the Bud Selig Era.* A Hall of Fame without them seems lacking.

*If anywhere, the commissioner’s office is where the blame should be directed, but somehow, Selig has a plaque in the gallery.

Longtime Rockies first baseman Todd Helton was also a near-unanimous pick. He was not an aberration created by Coors Field. The dude could rake anywhere, and he was an elite defender in his prime, too. Scott Rolen got the nod as well, missing just two votes. He put on a fielding clinic throughout his 17 years at the hot corner, winning eight Gold Gloves while also bashing 316 homers. Third basemen are underrepresented in Cooperstown, and Rolen is more than worthy.

Andruw Jones and Billy Wagner round out our Hall of Fame class. Much like Rolen, Jones was always on the highlight reel for his defensive mastery in center field for the Braves in the late nineties and early aughts, notching 10 Gold Gloves in a row. He also had the power to mash 51 dingers in a single season, finishing with 434 homers even though his career ended at age 35. Wagner was the most dominant southpaw reliever of his era, about as menacing an opponent on the mound from the left side as Mariano Rivera was from the right. He had an eye-popping 11.9 K/9 in 16 years, earning 422 saves and — much like Mo — retiring from the game while still in outstanding form.

An honorable mention goes to former slugger Gary Sheffield, who missed the cut by a single vote. Andy Pettitte will always be loved by the PSA staff, but he only earned three votes by our count. None of the new names on the ballot who retired in 2015 earned much consideration from us, though a couple folks had room to honor Nick Swisher for his superb relief pitching exploits.

Disagree with us? Well, there’s still time to submit your own ballot in our community Hall of Fame vote! I’ll reveal the results of that survey tomorrow in the same article about the official Hall of Fame ballot results.