The NFL announced the lineup of its officiating crew for Super Bowl LX on Tuesday.
Referee Shawn Smith will lead the crew for this game, refereeing his first Super Bowl. Smith began his career as an NFL official in 2015 as an umpire, quickly working his way up to referee by 2018.
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Rounding out the crew for this year’s big game are umpire Roy Ellison, down judge Dana McKenzie, line judge Julian Mapp, field judge Jason Ledet, side judge Eugene Hall, back judge Greg Steed, and replay official Andrew Lambert.
Ellison, Hall and Steed have officiated multiple Super Bowls in the past, while this will be McKenzie’s second. Mapp, Ledet, Lambert and the aforementioned Smith will participate in their first Super Bowl.
All four teams have won Super Bowls, and the Patriots are leading the way with six Lombardi trophies. The Broncos have three Super Bowl victories, followed by the Rams with two and the Seahawks with one.
Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler suffered a torn ACL in Monday’s 135-112 win over the Miami Heat. His season is over.
Butler’s agent, Bernie Lee, confirmed the injury Tuesday. Lee called it a “gut punch” and said Butler would “attack this challenge” hoping to come back stronger. The Warriors also confirmed the injury later Tuesday and announced that Butler would undergo surgery at a “to-be-determined date.”
The injury took place in the third quarter at the Chase Center after Butler caught a contested pass in the paint. Butler landed awkwardly on his right leg and fell to the ground after contact from Davion Mitchell drew a foul.
Butler writhed on the court and clutched his right knee after sustaining the injury. Warriors coach Steve Kerr called a timeout to check on Butler as Butler screamed in pain on the baseline.
Butler eventually left the court with the help of two teammates. He was unable to put weight on his right foot as he made his way to the tunnel.
The Warriors announced after his exit that Butler was ruled out for the game with a right knee injury. They later said Butler would undergo an MRI and didn’t reveal any information about the severity of the injury.
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“Praying for the best, as far as scans,” Warriors guard Stephen Curry said, according to ESPN’s Anthony Slater.
Overnight Tuesday, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Butler was dealing with a torn ACL.
Butler previously had two significant injuries to same knee earlier in his career: a meniscus tear in 2018 and an MCL sprain in 2024.
Big blow for Butler, Warriors
Butler, a five-time All-NBA selection, is in his second season with the Warriors following a midseason trade from the Heat in 2024-25. The Warriors acquired Butler in an effort to compete for another championship on the back end of Stephen Curry’s prime.
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Butler’s maintained his high level of play at 36 years old. In 37 games before Monday’s, Butler was averaging 20.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 51.9% from the field and 38.1% from 3. Curry, meanwhile, is averaging 27.6 points per game and leads the league for an 11th time with 4.5 made 3s per game on 38.6% shooting. He was named an All-Star starter earlier Monday.
With Butler and Curry leading the team, the Warriors now hold a 25-19 record, good for eighth place the Western Conference. Butler’s ACL tear projects to end any previous long-shot hope of Golden State competing in the West and could impact how the approach the trade market ahead of the Feb. 5 deadline.
Former Indiana quarterback Alberto Mendoza, the younger brother and backup of Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, is transferring to Georgia Tech, according to multiplereports.
Alberto entered the transfer portal following the Hoosiers’ storybook national championship run, which culminated in a 27-21 win over Miami at Hard Rock Stadium on Monday night.
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The 6-foot-2, 207-pound signal-caller has three years of eligibility remaining and will compete for a chance to fill the huge shoes left by veteran Haynes King, this season’s ACC Player of the Year.
Alberto is coming off his redshirt freshman season. While Fernando transferred to Indiana from Cal in December 2024, Alberto started his college career in Bloomington.
Fernando Mendoza (right) celebrates with his brother Alberto Mendoza (16) after Indiana defeated Miami in the national championship game at Hard Rock Stadium on January 19, 2026 in Miami Gardens, Florida.
(Alex Slitz via Getty Images)
Alberto Mendoza witnessed the Curt Cignetti turnaround from its beginning. He sat behind Kurtis Rourke and Tayven Jackson in 2024 when the Hoosiers recorded their first double-digit-win season in program history and entered the College Football Playoff as the sport’s Cinderella story.
This season, he was QB2 for an Indiana team that was gunning to win it all with his older brother under center. The younger Mendoza appeared in nine games, often coming in for mop-up duty, as the Hoosiers stacked their fair share of blowout wins.
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He posted a 75% completion rate, hitting on 18 of 24 attempts for 286 yards, 5 touchdowns and 1 interception. Mendoza also rushed for 190 yards and a score on just 13 carries. He even had a pair of totes during Indiana’s romp over Alabama in the Rose Bowl.
Mendoza was allowed to enter the portal after the national championship, as were other Indiana and Miami players. They have a Jan. 24 deadline to hit the portal now that their seasons are over.
Kasper Waarst Høgh scored a first-half brace within two minutes and Jens Hauge made it 3-0 in the 58th minute to help give the home side its first Champions League victory.
It wasn’t Manchester City’s day as four minutes after Hauge’s goal, Rodri picked up the second of two yellow cards within the span of a minute. According to Opta, the 53 seconds between yellow cards were the fewest for a sending off for an English team in the Champions League since Wayne Rooney for Manchester United in 2005 (4 seconds).
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Arsenal became the first team to secure a place in the Round of 16 with a commanding 3-1 win over Inter Milan at the San Siro. The Gunners improved to 7-0-0 and picked up their 19th goal from a corner kick this season as Gabriel Jesus netted his first Champions League goal in over two years before adding another 20 minutes later.
Elsewhere, Real Madrid put one foot into an automatic place in the Round of 16 on Tuesday with a dominant 6-1 win over Monaco.
Kylian Mbappé, playing against his old club, scored a first-half brace for his 13th goal in 15 matches against the club where he began his professional career. He is now up to 11 Champions League goals in six matches this season.
Tottenham made it two out of three Premier League sides to win on Tuesday with a 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund. Cristian Romero and Dominic Solanke scored 23 minutes apart to move Spurs into the top four.
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Luis Suárez put Sporting up on PSG in the 74th minute, but Khvicha Kvaratskhelia answered 5 minutes later. What was looking like a draw went the Portuguese side’s way when Suárez headed home a rebound for a 90th-minute winner.
Elsewhere, Copenhagen and Napoli settled for a 1-1 draw; Kairat Almaty became the first side to be eliminated after 4-1 defeat to Club Brugge; Olympiacos were 2-0 victors over Bayer Leverkusen; and Ajax got by Villarreal thanks to a Oliver Edvardsen 89th-minute winner.
Here’s how Tuesday’s Matchday 7 action played out live:
Live coverage is over49 updates
Yahoo Sports Staff
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Sporting is back on top after a goalkeeper deflection falls in front of Luis Suarez, who quickly pounces for the header into the back of the net.
Yahoo Sports Staff
Yahoo Sports Staff
Oliver Edvardsen looks to be the hero of the match with a late goal for the lead. As things stand, Villareal will be eliminated.
Yahoo Sports Staff
Viktor Gyökeres sends in a curler from distance to give the Gunners some breathing room.
Yahoo Sports Staff
Yahoo Sports Staff
Jordan Teze got one back for the visitors in the 72nd minute, but Jude Bellingham once again put Los Blancos up by 5 witha goal off a Valverde assist.
Yahoo Sports Staff
PSG quickly bounces back with a goal of their own as Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scores an absolute stunner.
Yahoo Sports Staff
The reigning champions are the ropes now after Luis Suarez opens the scoring to give the hosts a huge boost heading into the final 15 minutes of play.
The Packers have released cornerback Trevon Diggs after the former Cowboys All-Pro played in just two games for Green Bay, including a single snap in its wild-card loss to the Chicago Bears.
The Packers announced the roster move on Tuesday. Diggs had three years left on a five-year, $97 million extension to his rookie contract that he signed with the Cowboys, but he didn’t have any guaranteed money remaining.
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Diggs was due $15.5 million in salary and bonus money in 2026 had the Packers opted to keep him on his contract. The Packers also had the option of negotiating a restructured deal with Diggs. Instead, they opted to release him ahead of the offseason.
Diggs is subject to waivers, but is unlikely to be claimed in part because of his contract. Per NFL Network, he would be eligible to sign as a free agent immediately after the Super Bowl if he clears waivers.
Trevon Diggs played just one snap in Green Bay’s playoff loss to the Chicago Bears.
(Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Injuries derailed once-promising career
A second-round selection by the Cowboys in the 2020 NFL Draft, Diggs quickly emerged as one of the NFL’s premier secondary playmakers. He earned a starting job as a rookie and broke out in his second season with a league-high 11 interceptions, two of which he returned for touchdowns. Diggs earned Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro honors for his performance.
He followed that effort up with 3 interceptions, 14 passes defended and 1 fumble recovery in 2022, earning Pro Bowl honors for a second straight season. But injuries derailed his 2023 campaign and his career.
Diggs played in just two games in 2023 due to a torn ACL in his left knee that he sustained during an early-season practice. He returned to play 11 games in 2024, but saw his season cut short due to surgery on that same left knee to repair damaged cartilage.
Diggs played in eight games, including six starts, for the Cowboys in 2025. He didn’t record an interception or a pass defended. Amid his reduced performance and reported tension with head coach Brian Schottenheimer, the Cowboys released Diggs on Dec. 30.
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Tension with coaching staff contributed to Cowboys release
Diggs, a Maryland native, requested to remain in the area to spend the holiday with his family after a Cowboys road game against the Washington Commanders on Christmas. Schottenheimer denied that request, and Diggs skipped the team flight back to Dallas anyway, according to reports.
Five days later, the Cowboys released Diggs.
In an ensuing news conference, Schottenheimer confirmed reports of the flight dispute and acknowledged that it was a factor in the decision to release Diggs.
“It was one of many factors, it was not the only factor,” Schottenheimer told reporters. “I’m not the Grinch that stole Christmas. I love Christmas, I love my family. But at the end of the day, we have a protocol that we go through and the process was not followed.”
Diggs a non-factor for Packers in playoff loss to Bears
In need of cornerback help ahead of the playoffs, the Packers claimed Diggs off waivers and added him to their 53-man roster for the regular-season finale against the Minnesota Vikings. Diggs played 33 snaps against the Vikings and was again active for Green Bay’s wild-card game against the Chicago Bears.
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But Diggs was not an active part of the game plan. Despite a desperate need by the Packers to halt a rally from a 21-3 halftime deficit sparked by Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, Diggs played just one snap against Chicago. The Bears rallied for a 31-27 win.
Now Diggs is on waivers again at 27 years old and likely to hit free agency after the Super Bowl. Any team that signs him would do so with the hope that he can rekindle the form that he showed with the Cowboys before his knee injuries.
Nate Tice & Matt Harmon react to the latest NFL coaching hire news before determining what went wrong for playoff losers and what each team can do to get further next season. The duo start with their thoughts on the latest coaching hires, including the Miami Dolphins hiring Jeff Hafley, the Tennessee Titans getting Robert Saleh, the Detroit Lions hiring OC Drew Petzing and the Kansas City Chiefs hiring OC Eric Bieniemy.
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Next, Nate & Matt deep dive on the four Divisional Round losers, determining what direction each team needs to take to retool and get even closer to a Super Bowl next season. The duo cover the post-Sean McDermott Buffalo Bills and their need to nail the next coaching hire, the Chicago Bears and how they can fix their defense, the Houston Texans and next steps to fix C.J. Stroud and the San Francisco 49ers, who are entering a sketchier offseason than you may realize.
(5:00) – Titans hire Robert Saleh
(14:10) – Dolphins hire Jeff Hafley
(20:30) – Key OC hires: Petzing to Lions & Bieniemy to Chiefs
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(41:00) – Bills deep dive
(1:00:45) – Bears deep dive
(1:06:45) – Texans deep dive
(1:20:15) – 49ers deep dive
DENVER, CO – JANUARY 17: Josh Allen #17 of the Buffalo Bills reacts after a play against the Denver Broncos during the second half of an AFC Divisional Playoff game at Empower Field At Mile High on January 17, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones will join Jeff Kent in the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026.
The two outfielders were tapped for induction Tuesday through the Baseball Writers’ Association of America’s annual vote. Needing 75% support from the 425-voter electorate to reach Cooperstown, Beltrán got 84.2% and Jones got 78.4%.
Beltrán was in his fourth year on the ballot, while Jones was on his ninth, meaning he was two unsuccessful votes away from falling off the BBWAA ballot.
Both men needed a steady increase in support over the years to make it. Beltrán received 46.5% of the vote in his first year and saw double-digit increases every cycle up to now. Jones sat at only 7.3%, then 7.5% in his first two years, but he began to rise as the field thinned out.
The past couple of years featured an overwhelming favorite to get in on the first ballot, with Ichiro Suzuki (2025) and Adrian Beltré (2024), but there was no such player this year. In fact, the only first-year player who got enough votes to stay on the ballot was Cole Hamels, who landed 23.8%. Given the rises of Beltrán and Jones, that sets the Philadelphia Phillies great up for election down the line.
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Among the first-year players who failed to reach a second ballot was Ryan Braun, whose performance-enhancing drug use made him a nonstarter with voters.
Manny Ramirez, another player who was suspended for PEDs, received only 38.8% of the vote in his 10th year on the ballot. The only way the all-time postseason home run leader can reach the Hall now is via the Contemporary Era Committee, which has so far been even more hostile to steroid users than BBWAA voters.
On a related note, Alex Rodriguez’s numbers held steady with 40%, a small increase from his 37.1% last year. Barring a stunning reversal, it appears he will see the same fate as Ramirez, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.
Beltrán and Jones never faced serious PED allegations in their career, but they both had issues with their candidacy that likely came up for voters considering the Hall’s character clause.
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Beltrán was a nine-time All-Star who was excellent on both sides of the ball and had impressive postseason stats. However, he was also one of the central organizers of the 2017 Houston Astros’ cheating scheme, which helped him win the only World Series of his career. He was the only player named in the commissioner’s report on the scandal and would have likely made the Hall far earlier had he reached the ballot before those allegations came to light.
Jones is one of the best defensive center fielders in the history of baseball, with 10 Gold Gloves to his name, and he had enough power for 51 homers in 2005, but he also pleaded guilty to domestic battery charges after being accused of pulling his wife down a stairway, putting his hands around her neck and threatening to kill her.
The Hall of Fame induction ceremony is scheduled for July 26 in Cooperstown.
On sporting merit, Beltrán’s inclusion is a no-brainer. His statistical résumé is robust, inarguable. A dual-threat in his younger years, Beltrán’s power-speed combo helped him become one of just five players in MLB history with 400 home runs and 300 steals. Two of his companions in that group, Willie Mays and Andre Dawson, are Hall of Famers. The others, Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez, would be if not for their histories with steroids.
Beltrán too had a run-in with baseball’s rules, as the Puerto Rican’s central role in the 2017 Houston Astros can-banging, sign-stealing scandal long muddied the waters of his Cooperstown candidacy. When he first appeared on the ballot in 2023, Beltrán garnered 46.5% of the vote, a sign that the voting base had yet to forgive his late-career malfeasance. But unlike those tainted by performance-enhancing drugs, Beltrán was able to gradually shed the stench and ascend the mountain.
The nine-time All-Star was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the second round of the 1995 amateur draft out of Fernando Callejo High School in Puerto Rico. Originally a right-handed hitter, Beltrán learned how to hit lefty one season in the minors, a decision that changed the course of his life. He debuted with the Royals late in 1998 and impressed enough the following spring training to win the starting center-field job by Opening Day. That year, he hit .293, launched 22 homers and swiped 27 bags, earning him the American League Rookie of the Year Award.
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After an injury-marred sophomore season, Beltrán solidified himself as a young star on some very lackluster early-2000s Royals clubs. As he grew into more strength in his mid-20s, the power numbers ticked up, leading to a ninth-place MVP finish in 2003. In 2004, Beltrán nearly went 40/40, finishing two long balls short in a year that also saw him get dealt to the World Series-bound Astros. After a strong summer, Beltrán then delivered an autumn for the ages, going 20-for-46 with 8 homers and 6 steals in 12 playoff games with Houston.
He parlayed that into a seven-year, $119 million deal with the New York Mets, a franchise-record contract at the time. Beltrán’s time in Queens was uneven but undeniably productive. After a relatively lackluster first season that drew ire from Mets fans, he exploded for a career-best campaign (8.2 bWAR, 41 homers, .982 OPS) in 2006. Unfortunately, that postseason ended in woe, with Beltrán famously caught looking at the plate in the ninth inning of NLCS Game 7 against the Cardinals. That was his last postseason plate appearance as a Met.
Despite battling through injuries, Beltrán posted exactly 20 bWAR during his last five years in New York, with an adjusted OPS 34% better than league average. When he played, he almost always hit. But with his contract set to expire at the end of 2011, the Mets traded him at the deadline to San Francisco for a young pitching prospect named Zack Wheeler. Beltrán, then a 35-year-old vet, signed with the Cardinals that winter and became a key part of two consecutive St. Louis playoff teams. The ultimate goal continued to elude him, however, as the Cards lost to the Red Sox in the 2013 Fall Classic.
From there, Beltrán moved on to the Bronx, where he spent two-and-a-half solid, unremarkable seasons with the Yankees before a 2016 deadline deal sent him to the Rangers for a few months.
While voters held Carlos Beltrán’s involvement in the Astros sign-stealing scandal against him initially, enough eventually decided that his involvement did not warrant lifelong banishment from the Hall.
(Taylor Wilhelm/Yahoo Sports)
At this point, Beltrán was one of the most respected characters in the game, a beloved veteran aging gracefully toward retirement. So just before his 40th birthday, Beltrán latched on with a young, upstart Astros team looking for an experienced presence. On the field, he failed to make an impact in what turned out to be his final season, with a .666 OPS, 14 homers and -0.8 bWAR. Beyond the lines, though, Beltrán proved to be quite valuable as the club stampeded to the first title in franchise history. It seemed like a storybook ending, a well-deserved first ring.
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But a few years down the road, the truth spoiled the party.
In the fall of 2019, The Athletic published a story about how the 2017 Astros had used a video camera to steal opponents’ pitch signs in real time, relaying the information to batters via a trash can in the dugout tunnel. That bombshell and subsequent reporting framed Beltrán, who had recently been named manager of the Mets, as a ringleader of the rule-breaking operation. The Athletic reported that at one point during the season, when catcher Brian McCann approached Beltrán about calling off the scheme, Beltrán refused.
“He disregarded it and steamrolled everybody,” a member of the 2017 club told The Athletic. “Where do you go if you’re a young, impressionable player with the Astros and this guy says, ‘We’re doing this’? What do you do?”
While no players involved in the can-banging were suspended by the league, Beltrán was swiftly relieved of his duties as Mets skipper, without his having managed a game. He became persona non grata in the blink of an eye. It was a shocking turn of events, one that threatened to dampen his Hall of Fame chances.
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And while voters clearly held Beltrán’s misdeeds against him initially, enough of them eventually decided that his involvement in the 2017 scandal was not, on its own, a transgression that warranted lifelong banishment from the Hall. It’s a fascinating contrast to alleged PED users such as Bonds, Rodriguez and Roger Clemens, who have failed to make significant headway toward Cooperstown.
The difference, most likely, is that Beltrán’s sign-stealing malfeasance does not cast a pall over his on-field accomplishments. Can-banging in 2017 did not help him blast 421 career home runs between 1998 and 2016. In other words, Beltrán’s conduct was dirty, but his statistical résumé remains clean. The same cannot be said for steroid users, whose palmarès are colored by their use of the juice.
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Beltrán’s relative waltz to enshrinement might also offer a preview of how voters will treat other 2017 Astros when they join the ballot in future years. José Altuve — who was vehemently opposed to the scheme and refused to participate but has received more vitriol over the saga than any other Astro — has Cooperstown-worthy numbers. Alex Bregman, too, has a chance. George Springer, if he continues hitting like he did in 2025, has an outside shot. At this point, we can deduce that those characters likely won’t be barred inclusion based on what happened in 2017.
Whether you see Beltrán as a scapegoat or a villain depends on your point of view. He was clearly a mastermind of the sign-stealing scheme, but, like Altuve, he probably received an inordinate amount of flack. With his induction in the Hall of Fame, the stain is all but cleaned from Beltrán’s legacy. He was forced to wait longer than he otherwise would have, but in the end, voters were willing to forgive.
A group of Major League Baseball team owners are apparently so upset with the Los Angeles Dodgers that they are going to push for a salary cap in the sport in the near future.
The Dodgers signed Tucker to a four-year, $240 million deal last week. The $60 million average annual value is the second-largest in MLB history, behind only Shohei Ohtani’s 10-year, $700 million deal. But Ohtani has a massive chunk of his contract deferred, so Tucker’s deal is effectively the most expensive in MLB history.
The Dodgers, World Series champions in back-to-back seasons, are projected to have a payroll larger than $413 million in 2026. That is actually slightly down from last season, but it’s still the largest payroll in the league by far. Only three other teams — the New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies and Toronto Blue Jays — are projected to be over $300 million.
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On the other side of things, three teams — the Cleveland Guardians, Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins — are projected to have payrolls between $100 million and $120 million. Exactly half of MLB’s clubs will spend less than $200 million next season.
While it was the Dodgers and Tucker who set this group of team owners off, the Mets’ recent three-year, $126 million deal with Bo Bichette added to their frustrations. Those two teams, the Athletic reported, might be the only teams that aren’t in favor of a salary cap.
Talk of a salary cap has been going on for a while in the sport, as has finding a way to fix the payroll disparity across the board. Determining a salary floor and ceiling, according to the report, are expected to be a topic at the owners meeting next month.
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It would take at least eight owners to hold up a labor deal, but it’s likely that players would not be on board with a salary cap, as they have been willing to miss games to avoid such a system in the past.
The league’s current labor agreement will expire just before midnight on Dec. 1, 2026. There are several major issues the two sides need to work out to agree on a new collective bargaining agreement. While there is an entire season to figure that out, the salary cap issue clearly isn’t going away.
Because it was his 10th time on the ballot, Ramírez will no longer be considered on future BBWAA ballots. The only way he can make the Hall now is through its Contemporary Baseball Era committee, which next convenes in December 2028.
Ramírez was first eligible in 2017, receiving 23.8% of the vote at the time. While many players have risen from a lower number into induction, Ramírez’s numbers were stagnant, rising only to 34.3% last year. He did better this cycle but not nearly well enough.
It’s fairly obvious why that happened.
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Manny Ramírez never escaped the steroid scandal
Under normal circumstances, any player with Ramírez’s résumé would be a shoo-in for first-ballot Hall of Fame induction.
Ramírez was a 12-time All-Star, a nine-time Silver Slugger, a batting champion and a two-time World Series champion. One of those rings came with the curse-breaking 2004 Red Sox, for whom he won World Series MVP. He retired with 2,574 hits and 555 home runs. He remains the all-time leader in postseason homers. Going off the respected JAWS metric that evaluates Hall of Fame cases, he is the 10th-best left fielder of all time.
Of course, Ramírez’s case is far from ordinary. Or rather, it’s ordinary in a bad way.
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Like many of his peers at the time, Ramírez is known as a steroid user. He tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in a 2003 survey performed by MLB, the results of which were supposed to remain confidential. He was suspended 50 games in 2009 after testing positive for a fertility drug often used in steroid cycles. And in 2011, he tested positive for testosterone, receiving another suspension that pushed him into a brief retirement.
Alleged steroid use has proven to largely be a case-killer in Hall of Fame voting. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, two players with even better résumés than Ramírez, never got above 66% of the vote and are now at the mercy of the Era Committee. Mark McGwire never got above 23.6%, Sammy Sosa topped out at 18.5% in his final year of eligibility, and Rafael Palmeiro fell off the ballot in his fourth go-around. Alex Rodriguez is currently going through the same process; he reached 40% this cycle.
Pretty much the only player to be substantively tied to steroid use and make it into Cooperstown is Ramírez’s teammate David Ortiz, who was also alleged to have tested positive in that 2003 study but still made it in on his first BBWAA ballot.
Other inductees such as Ivan Rodriguez, Jeff Bagwell and Mike Piazza faced accusations in their careers but never with the proof that Ramírez faced.
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Don’t bet on Manny Ramírez making the Hall of Fame by committee
It remains possible for Ramírez to reach the Hall of Fame. But as of this moment, it’s not likely.
Simply put, the Hall of Fame clearly doesn’t want steroid users to cloud its operations as the hallowed ground of baseball. That was made fairly clear when the Hall decreased the maximum number of BBWAA ballots on which a name can appear from 15 to 10 right as Bonds and Clemens hit the scene.
The Contemporary Era Committee has so far been even less kind to the PED group than the BBWAA. Bonds and Clemens have gone through two committee votes in 2022 and 2025, and they got fewer than five out of 16 votes both times. In committee votes, you need 12 of 16 votes to receive induction.
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Because of a rule change instituted in 2025, Bonds and Clemens won’t be on a committee ballot again until 2031. After that, if they fail to crack five votes one more time, it’s the end of the line. They will not be eligible for any future ballots, barring another rule change.
The Hall of Fame isn’t used to closing doors like this, but the discourse over steroids has overshadowed the voting in Cooperstown for decades now. So instead of steroid users appearing among the candidates every three years, the Hall has made it so they are likely to come up twice once they’re passed the BBWAA voting — and then never again, barring a favorable committee.
