Reds HOFer gives verdict on Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez's Hall of Fame worthiness

The Baseball Hall of Fame voters have been harsh towards players who allegedly used Performance Enhancing Drugs during the steroid era of the sport, stopping legends like Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez's path towards Cooperstown.

On the Mayor's Office podcast, Sean Casey and Rich Ciancimino discussed the prospects of the game's former stalwarts getting the minimum 75% votes. Their cases are unique in the sense that both were suspended by the league for usage of PEDs after the MLB had put new drug usage laws into place.

Alex Rodriguez was suspended for 211 games, later reduced to 162, in 2014 due to the Biogenesis scandal, while Ramirez was suspended in 2009 for 50 games and went to retirement two years later to avoid another suspension.

Casey compared them with Bonds, stating that not only A-Rod and Manny but even Bonds deserve a place. He supported his argument by the fact that a few players in the HOF were suspected of PED use but never got caught.

"That's where I think like Manny and A-Rod got busted a couple times after there was testing after it was Bonds. I still don't think Bonds failed a test, you know? I know he had that whole thing with, you know, I'm not saying he wasn't doing stuff, but like, dude, there was no testing at the time. I don't know, man.

"I played during that era. I've gone back and forth with this, I guess. Yeah, I feel like there's a few guys that are in that are definitely suspicious and I think they did PEDs, and if that's the case, right, then I think the best, player of all time could be in —Barry Bonds be in," Casey said. [7:00]

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Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez stuck in the HOF ballot loop

After reaching eligibility, a player has 10 years to get accepted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. If they get more than 5% of votes at a ballot, that makes them eligible for the next year. Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez have been stuck in that limbo where they have been receiving more than 5% votes but nowhere close to the 75 needed to be invited to Cooperstown.

Alex Rodriguez had his personal best of 37.1% this year, but that's just a three percent increase from his first year ballot three years back. Meanwhile, Manny Ramirez garnered just 35.3 in his ninth time of asking. He has one more year of eligibility left next year, but it is all but certain that he will fail that. They may still make it through the Eras Committee of the Hall of Fame, though.