Baseball Hall of Fame: 10 things to know about 2023 ballot as Carlos Beltrán joins A-Rod, other notable names

The 2023 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot was revealed on Monday. This is the BBWAA ballot, meaning it features players who have been retired at least five years and those who are holdovers from previous ballots for having received between five and 75 percent of the vote. Here’s the full 28-player ballot.

Players who receive less than five percent of the vote fall off the ballot and those with at least 75 percent will be enshrined in Cooperstown as Hall of Famers next year. Everyone else will have 10 chances on the ballot to make it in before lapsing. The 2023 Baseball Hall of Fame class will be announced in January.

Let’s run through the biggest storylines on the ballot this year. 

1. The Era Committee ballot is separate

First things first: The ballot that has Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling and more isn’t this one. The ballot revealed Monday was the BBWAA ballot — something Bonds, Clemens and Schilling are no longer eligible for. 

The Contemporary Baseball Era Players ballot has Bonds, Clemens, Schilling, Rafael Palmerio, Albert Belle, Dale Murphy, Don Mattingly, and Fred McGriff. There is a 16-person committee that will hold a vote during the winter meetings on Dec. 4 and if any of the players get 12 votes, they’ll get into the Hall of Fame in the 2023 class.

This has absolutely nothing to do with the BBWAA vote; they are two totally different things. 

Onto the BBWAA ballot! 

2. The Beltrán question

We will be delving into many individual candidacies more at a later date, but just on the surface, Carlos Beltrán looks like the only Hall of Famer from this group of ballot rookies. The other first timers of note: John Lackey, Jered Weaver, Francisco Rodríguez, Matt Cain, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jayson Werth, J.J. Hardy, Mike Napoli, Andre Ethier and, well, you get the point. It’s Beltrán or bust for this class. 

He has the numbers. Beltrán in parts of 20 seasons was a nine-time All-Star and had the “it” factor as a five-tool superstar. He hit .279/.350/.486 (119 OPS+) with 2,725 hits, 1,582 runs, 1,587 RBI, 565 doubles, 435 homers and 312 stolen bases. In 65 career playoff games, he hit .307/.412/.609 with 15 doubles, 16 home runs, 42 RBI and 45 runs. Among center fielders, he ranks eighth in WAR (not far off Joe DiMaggio and ahead of Duke Snider, Andre Dawson and Richie Ashburn). 

It would’ve been a lot less complicated to argue his numbers — and I have no…