On Monday, the ballot for the 2022 BBWAA Baseball Hall of Fame was announced. The 30-player ballot featured several notable newcomers including David Ortiz, Alex Rodriguez, and Mark Teixeira.
During Tuesday's installment of "Nothing Personal with David Samson," the podcast host and former Marlins president weighed in on the ballot and one of the controversial first-timers. Samson said he does not expect Alex Rodriguez to get voted in on his first time on the ballot.
"A-Rod was a first-ballot Hall of Famer before he put the first needle in just like Barry Bonds was," Samson said. "We can't reward Alex Rodriguez by putting him in in his first year. We can't send that message to young players, any players, any owners, and any fans that what Rodriguez did is in any way redeemable and should in any day be rewarded by a Hall of Fame election. Will Rodriguez be elected into the Hall of Fame? That's a definite maybe, but a guarantee that it won't be in his first year."
In order for players to gain enshrinement into the Hall of Fame, they need at least 75 percent of the ballots that are turned in. In order to stay on the ballot, a player needs to have at least five percent of the votes and they can stay on for 10 annual voting cycles if they keep getting at least five percent.
Samson believes that it's possible that Rodriguez eventually makes it into the Baseball Hall of Fame. However, he's very confident that it won't be in his first year.