2026 Baseball Hall of Fame Contemporary Era Committee to vote on eight candidates on Sunday

The National Baseball Hall of Fame could welcome new members tonight, when the results of the 2026 Contemporary Era Committee vote are revealed Sunday at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Every winter, two different Baseball Hall of Fame votes take place. The one that garners the most discussion is the BBWAA component of the ballot, which is generally the one that most people think about when discussing "the Hall of Fame ballot."

The other route into the Hall of Fame is via an Era Committee, formerly the Veteran's Committee. This is how former managers, executives, pioneers, umpires, etc. can be elected, but also former players who didn't make it in via the BBWAA ballot.

Some of the recent players to make it via the Era committee are former Blue Jay Fred McGriff, Alan Trammell, Lee Smith, Dick Allen and Minnie Miñoso.

The committee vote takes place at the Winter Meetings each year and this time around it's the Contemporary Era Committee.

There are eight former players who didn't make the Hall of Fame via the BBWAA vote and get another chance here:

Former Blue Jays, Roger Clemens, Carlos Delgado, Jeff Kent, and Don Mattingly are included in the eight candidates, along with Barry Bonds, Dale Murphy, Gary Sheffield and Fernando Valenzuela.

A 16-member committee will evaluate the candidacies of eight players who spent most of their careers playing after 1980.

Like the writers' ballot, candidates need 75% of the vote to be elected.

The Hall also introduced new rules for this year's process: Anyone receiving five or fewer votes will be ineligible to be on the ballot within the Contemporary Era Committee's three-year cycle.

Additionally, if a player falls below the five-vote threshold on a ballot more than once, he'll be disqualified from future consideration.

Position: 1B
Years: 1993-2009
Teams: Blue Jays, Marlins, Mets
JAWS: 39.4 (38th at 1B)
WAR: 44.4 (40th)
Last committee appearance: N/A (first committee appearance)

Delgado often got lost in the shuffle of the homer-heavy steroid era, but he slugged his way to some otherworldly seasons as the face of some otherwise poor Blue Jays teams.

He produced a .546 slugging percentage, good for eighth all-time among hitters with at least 7,000 plate appearances and 12th since 1994.

Along with three 40-homer campaigns, Delgado drove in 100-plus runs in nine seasons, including an MLB-best 145 in 2003.

He captured the AL Hank Aaron Award in 2000, earned three Silver Sluggers, and finished as the AL MVP runner-up in 2003.

A hip injury ended his career in 2009 at age 37, leaving him 27 homers shy of 500.

Delgado deserves more credit for producing these kinds of numbers without any links to PEDs.

His one-and-done result on the BBWAA ballot in 2015 failed to reflect his impact, though that doesn't mean he should get a plaque.

Among primary first basemen, Delgado's OPS+ is just one point higher than Paul Goldschmidt and trails a slew of Hall of Famers and other standouts.

Poor defense and lackluster baserunning further weigh down his overall metrics. While it's good to see Delgado getting another chance, his odds of induction remain slim.

Position: RHP
Years: 1984-2007
Teams: Red Sox, Blue Jays, Yankees, Astros
S-JAWS: 101.6 (3rd at SP)
WAR: 139.2 (3rd)
Last committee appearance: 2023 (fewer than four votes)

Clemens stands as arguably the greatest right-handed pitcher since the Second World War and ranks among the top five or 10 to ever stand on the mound.

He's one of just four members of the 4,000-strikeout club, sitting third all-time in that category. Clemens also ranks ninth in career wins and is one of only 10 pitchers with both 300 wins and 3,000 Ks.

His accolades include a record seven Cy Young Awards - at least one with each of his four teams - as well as the 1986 AL MVP, two pitching Triple Crowns, seven ERA titles, and five seasons as the league's strikeout leader.

Clemens' connections to performance-enhancing drugs are the only reason he's not already enshrined.

The Mitchell Report implicated Clemens, claiming he began using PEDs in 1998, the season he won his fifth Cy Young.

Clemens has repeatedly denied all allegations and never failed a drug test after MLB implemented league-wide testing in 2005.

Position: 2B
Years: 1992-2008
Teams: Blue Jays, Mets, Indians, Giants, Astros, Dodgers
JAWS: 45.6 (22nd at 2B)
WAR: 55.4 (19th)
Last committee appearance: N/A (first committee appearance)

Kent instantly comes to mind when you think of slugging second basemen.

His 377 homers are by far the most ever by a primary second baseman, and his .577 slugging percentage trails only Rogers Hornsby at the position with at least 7,000 plate appearances.

Kent showed flashes of his potential during his first few years, but his breakout truly began after a 1997 trade to the Giants.

Teaming with Bonds for six seasons in San Francisco, Kent posted a .903 OPS with 175 homers, won the NL MVP in 2000, and led the Giants to a pennant in '02.

A five-time All-Star and four-time Silver Slugger, he was also a key contributor to playoff runs with Houston, Cleveland, and the Dodgers.

Kent's bat was great, but his defense, whether at second or another infield position, left much to be desired.

His minus-42 fielding runs, a stat that encompasses all eras, is among the worst ever at the keystone, and his defensive shortcomings drag down some of his metric scores.

Still, even at a position where the glove matters, Kent's unparalleled offense and lack of PED ties might help him grab votes here.

He was gaining traction when he aged off the BBWAA ballot two years ago, and he now takes that momentum to a committee known for rewarding the more traditional stat-based resumes like his.

Position: 1B
Years: 1982-1995
Teams: Yankees
JAWS: 39.1 (40th at 1B)
WAR: 42.4 (45th)
Last committee appearance: 2023 (8 of 16 votes)

We added Don Mattingly to this list because frankly he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.

Mattingly stood out as the Yankees' shining star during one of the franchise's most forgettable eras.

At his peak, few players were better. Over his first seven full seasons from 1983-89, the sweet-swinging first baseman slashed .324/.369/.522, led his league in hits twice and RBIs once, and posted three 200-hit campaigns.

He also won the 1985 AL MVP, three Silver Sluggers, and five of his nine career Gold Gloves during that stretch.

However, back injuries derailed his trajectory, limiting him to league-average play over his final six seasons before he retired early at age 34.

Mattingly later found success as a manager, winning 889 games over 12 campaigns between the Dodgers and Marlins, although the committee won't consider that in this election.

As beloved as "Donnie Baseball" may be across the sport, Mattingly's injuries ultimately doomed his Hall of Fame chances.

Even when using the more traditional stats, his hit totals are relatively low for his position, and his 127 OPS+ sits 30th among primary first basemen with at least 7,000 plate appearances - behind the likes of Keith Hernandez, John Olerud, Adrián González, and Delgado, among others.

Factoring in his managerial resume wouldn't boost his case much anyway.

Although his Dodgers teams were outstanding, the club didn't win a pennant until after he left.

Mattingly had a great career, but came up short of his first World Series title when the Blue Jays lost game 7 against the Dodgers in such heartbreaking fashion.

Following the World Series loss Mattingly announced that he would be leaving Toronto to pursue other opportunities.