No one for the Hall?

 We'll get the announcement this evening -- will anyone make the Baseball Hall of Fame this year? To be honest, I doubt it. Here's the list of candidates:

Curt Schilling -- I think he's worthy. The only guy with a shot this year. His tendency to be a conservative loudmouth has hurt his candidacy. It shouldn't matter, but sportswriters tend to be PC and it's hurt him. He has one more year on the ballot and the writers may decide to throw him a bone then; otherwise, he's a cinch on a Veterans' Committee in the future.

Bloody socks and bloody shirts

Roger Clemens -- Steroid guy; not proven but strongly suspected. Also a prickly personality. He was clearly the greatest pitcher of his generation and probably top 5-6 of all time, but he's probably not going to make it.

Barry Bonds -- Mr. BALCO. If he'd been able to control his jealousy at McGwire and Sosa and had stayed off the juice, he'd have been in the HOF years ago. Now, probably not.

Omar Vizquel -- great defensive player and ended up close to 3000 hits. Unfortunately, he seems to be a domestic abuser as well. Don't think he's gonna make it.

Scott Rolen -- one of the best third basemen in history, but he wasn't flashy and didn't attract attention to himself, so he's underrated. He's climbing the ladder and should make it as early as 2022 or 2023.

Billy Wagner -- dominant lefty relief pitcher. Not sure he's special enough to make it.

Gary Sheffield -- a legitimately fearsome hitter, but has the steroid taint and was also roundly considered a bad dude. Not likely to make it.

Todd Helton -- climbing the ladder; he played his entire career for the Rockies, so his power numbers are suspect, but he was a great hitter and won three Gold Gloves. Not this year, but eventually, yes.

Manny Ramírez -- like Sheffield, a legitimately great hitter and one of the most colorful characters in the history of the game. But he's lousy with steroids so he's not going to make it.

Jeff Kent -- a great hitter at a traditional defensive position (second base); has the numbers, but never seems to get the traction. A candidate for the Veterans Committee in the future.

Andruw Jones -- defensively elite center fielder who also hit more than 400 home runs, but his career fell off a cliff at the age of 30. He may make it eventually primarily for his defensive excellence, but he's a borderline case in any event.

Sammy Sosa -- over 600 homers and while he's never admitted to steroid use, everyone thinks he did. He's gotten weird post-career as well. No chance.

Andy Pettitte -- great pitcher, but a serious steroid taint. Not likely to overcome the stigma.

Bobby Abreu -- a modern-day Ken Singleton or Dusty Baker; a talented player who is seriously underrated. But no one thinks Baker or Singleton is a Hall of Famer, either.

There are three first year players who I think could stay on the ballot, although I don't see any of them making the HOF during the normal 10-year process. They are:

Mark Buehrle -- a high-quality lefty who mostly pitched for the White Sox. He's a lot like Mickey Lolich, but only old guys like me remember Lolich. 

Torii Hunter -- like all Twins fans, I love Torii Hunter. And he was a hell of a player, one of the best center fielders of his era. But he's not going to make it.

Tim Hudson -- a good righthander who won over 200 games in his career. His career numbers are quite similar to Catfish Hunter, who is in the HOF, but Hudson's taste in teammates wasn't as good. 

The rest of the 1st year players (Dan Haren, Barry Zito, Aramis Ramirez, Shane Victorino, A. J. Burnett, Nick Swisher, LaTroy Hawkins, and Michael Cuddyer) aren't going to make it. Even die-hard Twins fans would admit Hawkins and Cuddyer aren't worthy.