There’s nothing sports radio pundits like more than to debate who had a Hall of Fame career and who had a Hall of Very Good career.

I like these debates. Very much, actually. So, when the 2019 Baseball Writers’ Association of America released its eligible class for 2019, I jumped right in and pretended I was a voter myself.

The first thing I do is read all the names and start separating with a simple “let’s debate” or “no, he’s not good enough.” It helps me get rid of those who have no shot and then I can focus on the rest.

Not good enough:

Rick Ankiel, Jason Bay, Freddy Garcia, Jon Garland, Travis Hafner, Placido Polanco, Juan Pierre, Darren Oliver, Derek Lowe, Ted Lilly, Vernon Wells, Michael Young and Kevin Youkilis.

While yes, some of these guys were great stars and sustained career-long success; Hall of Fame-worthy they are not.

My next step is to go through the remaining list and see how many are still leftover from my list last year that didn’t make it in. Edgar Martinez, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Omar Vizquel.

Each of these four should already be in. Martinez was the original stud designated hitter and Vizquel was a wizard with his glove and a competent bat to boot. Last year, a lot of writers came out against Vizquel, a guy commonly thought of as the next Ozzie Smith, and stated that his “range” and ability was not great and he shouldn’t be considered because of his lack of all-star appearances. Yet, all of defensive numbers year in and out were better than Derek Jeter, Nomar Garciaparra or Miguel Tejada — all of whom had better bats and played for bigger markets.

Then comes Bonds and Clemens, who were the best hitter and pitchers in my lifetime. Steroids, schmeroids, in my opinion. To me, I don’t care about PEDs. I’ve discussed this before at length in years past and will gladly have a 17-hour chat on the merits of the debate — but it doesn’t bother me as a fan of sports. Pitchers did it, hitters did it and I’m willing to bet that probably 90 to 95 percent of players did “something,” be it steroids like Canseco, amphetamines like Feller, Aaron, Mantle and Mays or ibuprofen like your next-door neighbor. 

Bonds is the best hitter in my lifetime — he had Hall of Fame attributed before he juiced up and became the second-coming of Babe Ruth. Clemens was a polarizing figure for several reasons, but whether he was in Boston, or Toronto, or Houston or Yankee Stadium — the dude could pitch. Not just over-powering hitters, but actual pitching.

So that gets us through the leftover no-doubt-they-should-be-in guys, according to me. Next, we have our newcomers, of which there is one no-doubter — Mariano Rivera. If he doesn’t get a unanimous selection (like Griffey should have gotten, like Ripken should have gotten, like Jeter should get), then the system is broken and those who did not vote “yes” need to be given their pink slip immediately.

That’s five on my list, out of a possible 10. If I stopped right here, it would be OK with me.

But there are other guys who could and should be in the debate — Larry Walker, Roy Halladay, Todd Helton, Jeff Kent, Roy Oswalt and Scott Rolen. I would vote for them to at least keep them on the ballot, as they certainly are borderline HOFers. 

But notice I left out a couple of bigger names: Curt Schilling, Gary Sheffield, Manny Ramirez, Andruw Jones, Billy Wagner, Berkman, Mussina, Pettitte and Tejada. People make cases for Schilling, and I just don’t see it. I don’t believe the bloody sock was real, and while he had a stretch of a couple of years of pure dominance, his career was no better than Halladay or Oswalt.

Schilling’s numbers across the board are better than Mussina and Pettitte — both get higher calls at the national level because they played for the Yankees. Schilling was a late bloomer, and only years 10 through 20 of his career did he reach all-star levels — including his four-year stretch between Arizona and Boston that he made three all-star teams, finished second in the Cy Young three times and won two World Series titles. That can’t be understated, but outside of that, his career was, frankly, blah.

Oswalt and Halladay had almost identical careers — 3.36 ERA to 3.38, an average of 178 strikeouts per season to 179, and both averaged 50 walks every year. Oswalt made the Cy Young ballot six times and was an all-star thrice, while Halladay won two Cy Youngs, had votes in seven other years and made eight all-star teams pitching against Boston and New York.

Manny was Manny — a feared hitter and a goof elsewhere. He didn’t take baseball seriously but was fun to watch. Andruw Jones was amazing when he entered the league, then after a couple of injuries became replaceable. Sheffield was a Manny-lite. Wagner was a feared reliever but did not have the sustained success of Lee Smith, who’s not in the Hall. Helton and Walker played in Colorado, which shouldn’t matter but still does, so they will likely miss out, and Jeff Kent will be the best second baseman to never get in.

There, I think that covers it. Just 74 days until Boston’s pitchers and catchers report to spring training, and 83 until exhibition play begins.

— Adam Krebs is a reporter for the Times and spends his nights streaming Australian baseball on his iPad to get his daily fix in. He can be reached at akrebs@themonroetimes.net.