Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds Headline 2022 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot

Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz will get their first shot at Cooperstown while Barry Bonds, Curt Schilling, Sammy Sosa and Roger Clemens will get one last opportunity on the 2022 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot.

The 30 names being considered were revealed Monday: Bobby Abreu, Barry Bonds, Mark Buehrle, Roger Clemens, Carl Crawford, Prince Fielder, Todd Helton, Ryan Howard, Tim Hudson, Torii Hunter, Andruw Jones, Jeff Kent, Tim Lincecum, Justin Morneau, Joe Nathan, David Ortiz, Jonathan Papelbon, Jake Peavy, Andy Pettitte, A.J. Pierzynski, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Scott Rolen, Jimmy Rollins, Curt Schilling, Gary Sheffield, Sammy Sosa, Mark Teixeira, Omar Vizquel, Billy Wagner.

The list includes 13 new players and 17 holdovers from the 30 previously considered by the Hall. Much of the focus will be on Bonds, Schilling, Sosa and Clemens in their final year of eligibility on the Baseball Writers Association of America ballot.

Based on their on-field merits, all four are shoo-ins. Bonds is MLB's all-time home runs leader, Sosa is ninth on the home run list and Clemens ranks third all-time in strikeouts and ninth in wins. However, all three former MLB cornerstones are either confirmed or suspected users of performance-enhancing drugs.

Rodriguez, who is fourth on the all-time home run list and is one of only four players in MLB history with 600 home runs and 3,000 hits, faces a similar uphill battle over his PED use. Ortiz is an interesting case because he has a history of PED use but never faced the same level of backlash as the aforementioned names. 

Schilling would likely already be in the Hall of Fame if it weren't for his history of bigoted and racist social commentary. He was fired from his job as an ESPN analyst in 2016 for making a derogatory post about transgender people, he's defended the use of the Confederate flag, and he tweeted a defense of the pro-Trump insurrectionists who stormed the United States Capitol building in January.

Schilling requested his name be taken off the ballot after not making the Hall of Fame last year. 

No players made the Hall of Fame on the 2021 BBWAA ballot. Schilling was 16 votes shy, Bonds needed 53 and Clemens 54.