Jan. 05--The voting for the 2016 inductees into baseball's Hall of Fame will be announced Wednesday at 3 p.m. PST, with Ken Griffey Jr. expected to gain entry -- 630 home runs are pretty persuasive. Here is a look at some of the other top candidates on the ballot:
Mike Piazza (fourth year on the ballot)
The former Dodgers and New York Mets catcher appeared on 69.9% of the ballots (75% is needed for election) last year. Piazza had a .308 career average, 427 home runs and 1,335 runs batted in. He was the 1993 National League rookie of the year, was in 12 All-Star games, won 10 Silver Sluggers and finished in the top 10 of most-valuable-player voting seven times. He has said he would go in the Hall as a Met.
Jeff Bagwell (sixth year on the ballot)
He was on 55.7% of ballots last year. The former Houston Astros first baseman finished his career with a .297 average, a .408 on-base percentage, 449 home runs and 1,529 RBIs. There are 17 Hall of Famers who played at least half of their major league games at first base. Bagwell ranks fifth in home runs and eighth in RBIs.
Tim Raines (ninth year on the ballot)
Raines had his best seasons in Montreal. He is fifth all-time with 808 stolen bases and at various times led the league in runs, doubles, steals, batting average and on-base percentage. Raines stole 70 bases or more six times, second in history behind Henderson. During his peak, from 1981 to 1987, Raines hit .310 and averaged 195 hits, 116 runs and 82 stolen bases per 162 games. Raines was on 55% of ballots last year.
Edgar Martinez (seventh year on the ballot)
Martinez finished his career with a .312 average, a .418 on-base percentage and a .515 slugging percentage. He won two batting titles. He was feared as a designated hitter, but also played 564 games at third base. The annual award for the best DH is named after him. He was on 27% of the ballots last year.
