Andruw Jones seeing more support in early Hall of Fame voting returns

BBWAA votes for this year’s Hall of Fame induction were to be submitted by December 31. While it will still be a few more weeks before we know the final results, Ryan Thibodaux’s excellent Hall of Fame tracker gives us some insight into the early returns.

As I write this, just under 28% of the voting returns have been tracked in Thibodaux’s tracker. While that is still too small of a number to make any firm predictions it does give us an idea of who is trending in the right direction.

Currently, Derek Jeter, Larry Walker, Curt Schilling, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens have eclipsed the 75% mark that would allow induction. Jeter is on track to join Mariano Rivera as the second player to be an unanimous selection. Walker is in his final season on the ballot and has seen increased support checking in at 86.1%. Schilling also appears to be in good shape at 79.1% while Bonds and Clemens are right at the line at 76.5% each. Jeter looks like a lock with renewed hope for Walker as well. However, it looks like Schilling, Bonds and Clemens will have to sweat it out a while longer.

Former Braves outfielder Andruw Jones is among a group that has seen a significant increase in support this offseason. Jones has picked up 21 votes from returning voters while only losing one for a net gain of 20 votes per the tracker. Jones is currently tied for fourth with Todd Helton for the most net votes gained. Only Scott Rolen (30), Gary Sheffield (29) and Billy Wagner (21) have more.

Jones still looks like a long shot to ultimately gain induction but we will have to see where his final numbers fall when the results are released later this month. In the meantime follow be sure to follow Ryan Thibodaux on Twitter as he reveals new ballots daily.