The Rays Tank: The 2014 HOF Ballot

The 2014 Hall of Fame ballot was released yesterday, with 19 newcomers added this year, including Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Hideo Nomo, to name a few. The BBWAA breaks down the ballot here, along with how many votes the players had received in 2013.

A player must receive 427 votes in order to be elected into the Hall of Fame, and this year, at least one ballot has been sold to Deadspin (from a currently unnamed BBWAA member). The website will have its readers cast their votes, and the unnamed BBWAA member will use that ballot as their own.

John Schlegel of MLB.com explains why the former Devil Ray, Fred McGriff, should be elected to the Hall of Fame.

Other Rays Tidbits

Bill Chastain of MLB.com answers questions from fans about Tim Beckham and Hak-Ju Lee seeing playing time, whether Sam Fuld should be released, and why the Rays elected to resign Molina.

Speaking of Molina, the results of his physical are still pending which is why there hasn’t been an official announcement of his signing yet, per Marc Topkin.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Hearing <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Rays&amp;src=hash">#Rays</a> won&#39;t have results of physical and thus an announcement on Jose Molina signing until early next week.</p>&mdash; Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) <a href="https://twitter.com/TBTimes_Rays/statuses/405486411609956352">November 27, 2013</a></blockquote>

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Can you beat Wil Myers in ping-pong?

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Links

-Cobb County has approved their portion of funding for the new Braves stadium/village with a 4-1 vote.

-The Blue Jays apparently want out of Dunedin for Spring Training, so Dunedin’s mayor will begin contacting other teams to replace Toronto.

-Dave Cameron of FanGraphs discusses the price of a win this off-season, in relation to new signings.

-Also on FanGraphs, Paul Swydan investigates the timing of free agent contracts over the past couple of years.

-Nelson Cruz wants a four-year/$75 million contract.

-The Nationals like the Trop so much that they want to build a roof on their stadium now and are asking for $300 million to do so.

-Members of the New York Mets created a singing greeting card for the holidays. Love it!

Hope you all enjoy your Thanksgiving tomorrow!