Outside The Confines: Feeling Hall of Fame-ish

We’re less than a week away from the announcements of who will be in the 2023 MLB Hall of Fame class heading for enshrinement in Cooperstown. With only a portion of the ballots being shared publicly it can be exceptionally difficult to predict which players (if any) will make the cut. But every year Ryan Thibodaux does his best to track and share a percentage of the ballots with the public.

As of January 19 only about 42 percent of votes were known and only two players seemed likely to garner the votes to make it to Cooperstown: Scott Rolen and Todd Helton. As an eternal Todd Helton apologist who believes he belongs in the Hall, this makes me happy, but it’s also not a sure thing by any means. Billy Wagner is the only other player near the 75% mark needed to get in, appearing on about 72 percent of counted ballots.

Anything could happen between now and the 24th when the inductees are revealed, but it’s sure to be a topic we see a lot over the coming days (and you’ll notice plenty of posts about it below).

Which of the candidates would get your vote?

Now on to today’s links.

• The Spanish-language announcers for the Angels are speaking out against poor treatment, putting the bilingual broadcast in uncertain waters. Story by Sam Blum. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• I’m sorry (my heart tells me I should cheer for Canada) but this is a very VERY good team.

• Mike Napoli is more than just a fantastic beard. Jay Jaffe looks at his odds for the Hall of Fame.
• The staff over at Sports Illustrated have gone Hall of Fame wild. Will Laws looks at players over the age of 30 who are likely Cooperstown candidates. But not to be ageist, he also wrote about players under 30 who are already creating buzz about their future chances. And Nick Selbe makes a case for Torii Hunter,
• Where does Tommy Pham fit in the new bustling Mets roster? Michael Baumann assesses the new Mets outfield.
• Zach Buchanan shares the story of how one of the grandchildren of a Negro Leagues great is helping to keep his family legacy alive. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Aroldis Chapman is heading to the Kansas City Royals, shares Nick Selbe.
• Dogs and baseball is a combo I will always share.

• MLB has promoted 10 umpires ahead of the 2023 season, all are believed to be human and not robot. Story by Anthony Castrovince.
• On a non-joking note, MLB has also named its second and third ever Black crew chiefs among umpiring moves this offseason.
• Jayson Stark and Nick Groke share a very unusual perspective. What’s it like to be banned from (and then restored to) MLB? They speak to John Coppolella about just that. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Will Leitch tries to predict which basement dwelling club will skyrocket to success first.
• Jeff Passan does a breakdown of the winners and losers of free agency.
• Dan Hayes looks inside the three-week thrill ride of Carlos Correa’s bumpy free agency journey right back to where he started. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Are you ready for this?

And tomorrow will be a better day, Buster. Make it so.