Can A-Rod Sneak By Cooperstown’s PED Roadblock?

The final tally of the Baseball Writers Association of America's National Baseball Hall of Fame ballot will come out next Tuesday. On that list is a 'who's who' of Major League Baseball records and accomplishments. The MVP, CY Young and other awards owned by the list of ballot members could sink a ship. However, many of the names that own much of that prestigious hardware are in danger of their time on the Hall of Fame ballot expiring with induction.

Home run king and seven time MVP, Barry Bonds and seven time CY Young award winner, Roger Clemens are the two biggest names. According to MLB.com, Bonds' and Clemens' vote totals each year have been nearly identical. Last year, Bonds garnered 61.8 percent of the votes and Clemens 61.6 percent. You need 75 percent of the total votes to be elected.

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According to the Hall of Fames' Ballot Tracker, so far this year, Bonds is tracking at 77.1 percent, and Clemens is at 75.9 percent. Now these are just the 'public' ballots. The 'private' ballots are usually the ones that nix this duo. However, this could be the year that one or both of them hang on. If they don't, their 10 year stint on the ballot will be over and they have to hope that the 'Golden Era Committee' will have mercy on them.

Now, let's get to Alex Rodriguez. According to an article by Ken Davidoff in the New York Post, A-Rod was doomed by "a non-analytical positive is a conviction with evidence not gleaned from the actual drug test." It was a series of text messages between Rodriguez and Biogenesis founder Anthony Bosch that Bosch provided and verified. A-Rod also admitted to using illegal PEDs with the Rangers from 2001 through 2003 and reportedly failed the ’03 survey test.

So, what impact are those accusations and texts messages having? Well, the lightning rod former New York Yankee has only garnered 40 percent of the 'public' vote. That is not a good sign for future consideration. The only one with a bit of a tainted past that may get in this year is former Red Sox slugger David Ortiz. Ortiz now has 83 percent of the public vote. However, past connections to PED use is sure to hurt him with the 'private' ballot makers. I still think that Ortiz gets in but Bonds, Clemens, Curt Schilling and Sammy Sosa can pretty much say goodbye to Cooperstown for now.