The Major League Baseball Hall of Fame announced Monday, Nov. 3, the eight new players on this year’s Era Committee ballot, stirring up many mixed opinions by fans of the sport. 

The ballot is composed of a few players with drama-indulged careers, such as Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, as well as Carlos Delgado, Jeff Kent, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, Gary Sheffield and Fernando Valenzuela. Each player is based on their contributions to the sport of baseball since 1980. 

The candidates need to receive at least 75% of the votes on ballots cast by the 16-member committee to become part of the 2026 Baseball Hall of Fame Class. The identities of the committee members are currently unknown, and this information will be made public later in the fall. The voting results are scheduled to be announced on MLB Network at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 7. 

The eye-catching players on the ballot are Bonds and Clemens, who were significant figures in the steroid era of the sport’s history. 

Beginning with Bonds, Major League Baseball’s home run king, having the records for both career home runs and single-season home runs, 762 and 73, respectively. He’s also the career leader in walks, with 2,558, bWAR, or Baseball-Reference WAR, with 162.8, and he holds the record for most Most Valuable Player Awards, with seven. 

Bonds was not only the greatest power hitter in the history of the sport, but he was also a threat in the outfield, accumulating eight Gold Gloves, as well as 514 stolen bases. He had nine seasons with at least 30 steals, including a 40-home run/40-stolen-base season in 1996.

It’s easy to look at the numbers, even with just a glance and assume he’s a first ballot Hall of Famer; however, in the ten years he was on the ballot following his retirement in 2007, he only ever received a maximum of 66% of the vote, shy of the 75% threshold. Bonds used steroids, arguably the most infamous case of abusing performance-enhancing drugs in the history of sports.

Many believe that if a player uses substances to improve their performance, they should instantly be barred from the ability to be commemorated in any special way. However, because of the history that Bonds has contributed to the sport, especially with the records and stories that follow him everywhere, he needs to earn that 75% vote threshold and enter the Hall of Fame as soon as possible.

History, even sports history, is often forgotten, and while the records that Bonds holds may need an asterisk next to them, they should be remembered as the decades pass. 

The same can be said about seven Cy Young award winners, including Roger “The Rocket” Clemens. The 11-time All-Star dominated through three decades, winning seven earned run average titles, collecting a triple crown in consecutive years (1997 and 1998) and having the third-most strikeouts in MLB history with 4,672. 

Once again, Clemens is connected to performance-enhancing drugs. While I’d have the same explanation in terms of history that I’d want to see him in the Hall of Fame, even as a fan of the New York Yankees, I do believe his personality on the playing field needs to come into consideration. Clemens was seen on multiple occasions as not the best representation of Major League Baseball, often acting as an unpleasant teammate and opponent. 

While there is only an opportunity for one or two players to be part of the 2026 Hall of Fame Class from this new ballot, there are cases for other players. 

Carlos Delgado slugged 473 home runs during his 17-year career, being the Toronto Blue Jays’ all-time leader in the category. 

Jeff Kent is the best run-producing second baseman in the history of the sport, slugging 377 career home runs, a milestone for players who played at the position. 

Don Mattingly, arguably one of the most iconic and yet forgotten about Yankees in the history of the organization, won an MVP Award during his 14-year career, batting .307; however, injuries stunted his job, forcing him into retirement in 1995, yet he has returned to coach with the Dodgers, Marlins, Angels and Blue Jays since then. 

Dale Murphy, a familiar favorite among Braves fans, is the only player in the top-13 leaders of bWAR during the 1980s who is not in the Hall of Fame. Murphy’s 2,796 total bases during the 1980s are the most in that time span. 

Gary Sheffield cracked 509 home runs and drove in 1,676 runs during his 22-year career, having eight 30-home run/100 runs batted in seasons. Sheffield helped the then-Florida Marlins win the World Series in just their fifth year of establishment, slugging an impressive 1.061 OPS. However, once again, with the era, some of his direct links to performance-enhancing drugs were exposed. 

Fernando Valenzuela, who would be inducted posthumously, is the only player to win a Cy Young and Rookie of the Year award in the same season, doing so at 19 years old. The left-hander completed 11 of the 25 starts he had that season, finishing eight shutouts. 

A player’s relations with steroids do not matter to me; what does matter is the history that the players brought to the game. Only one, possibly two of these players will enter the Hall of Fame after their 10 years on their original ballot have expired.