Here’s one man’s ballot in alphabetical order: Carlos Delgado&mdashDelgado burst onto the scene

Here’s one man’s ballot, in alphabetical order: Carlos Delgado Delgado burst onto the scene as a rookie in 1994, with a few obscenely long home runs that reached the Hard Rock Cafe at the SkyDome, but didn’t become a regular player until two years later. Toiling in obscurity for a mostly mediocre team, he was, until last year, a very consistent producer, notching ten consecutive seasons with 30 home runs and 90 RBI or more.However, he only reached “Holy crap!” status in two of those seasons, 2000 (.344/41/137 with an OPS of 1.134) and 2003 (.302/42/145 with a 1.019 OPS).This season, he became the career leader in home runs among Puerto Ricans, but he has made a single All-Star appearance (2003), and played in October for the first time in 2006. While he was a feared hitter for many years, I don’t think he stands out enough to get voted in, and may have to wait for the Veterans’ Committee to enshrine him. Jason Giambi The Giambino had an incredible five-year run from 1999-2003, during which he picked up an MVP award in 2000 and signed a monstrous free-agent contract with the Yankees, but we now know that he was juicing at the time. Given how the voters have treated the likes of Mark McGwire, I can’t see an admitted steroid user breaking in without reaching major milestones, and Giambi won’t sniff 500 home runs (he’s currently at 375, and the end of his career is visible on the horizon). He’s out. Tom Glavine Only five left-handed pitchers have won 300 games: Warren Spahn (363), Steve Carlton (329), Eddie Plank (326), Lefty Grove (300), and Glavine (305 and counting).

Glavine has relied on impeccable control rather than overpowering stuff to be this successful, and it allowed him to be one of the game’s best pitchers for Atlanta from 1991 to 2002. He won Cy Young Awards in 1991 and 1998, a World Series MVP in 1995, won 20 games five times, fields his position well, is a good hitter for a pitcher, and was one of the most respected players of his generation. He’s in on the first try. Ken Griffey Jr. Junior broke into the majors as a teenager playing with his dad, then spent the next decade as the premier center fielder in the game. He is probably the best all-around outfielder since Mantle and Mays owned New York a half-century ago. He has that beautiful uppercut swing, a cannon arm, and once upon a time could run wild on the bases as well, making him arguably the most exciting player to watch for much of the ’90s.His fielding won him ten Gold Gloves, but he somehow only won a single MVP award (1997, with a .304/56/147/1.028 line). He has eclipsed 40 home runs seven times, 50 homers twice, and perhaps most importantly in the eyes of the voters, looks much the same at 38 as he did at 24. There has been no Bonds-esque body transformation, and it appears as if he has compiled his staggering numbers (599 HR, 1,728 RBI, .923 OPS) honestly.

He’s a first-ballot lock. Trevor Hoffman Hoffman has parlayed an extraordinary secondary pitch (his change-up) into 535 career saves (and counting), and a reputation as one of the most feared relievers in baseball for well over a decade. He has been remarkably consistent, only twice posting an ERA north of 3.00 and saving 40 games nine different times. Every time the bullpen door has opened to “Hells Bells,” the other team has known that the game is over. Given the voters’ bias against relievers, he may have to wait, but he will make it in at some point, a la Goose Gossage. Randy Johnson Simply put, the Big Unit was one of the two or three most dominant pitchers in the game for fifteen or sixteen years, with countless memorable moments in between. A 6′10″ string bean who put the fear of God in lefties and righties alike, he has accumulated five Cy Young Awards (1995, 1999-2002), close to 300 wins, and with the next feeble whiff at his overpowering slider, he will move into sole possession of second place on the career strikeout list.That slider is simply the best in the game’s history, and he was able to combine it with a blazing fastball that has only slightly diminished with age. He struck out 300 batters six times, including a ridiculous 372 in 2001, won 20 games three times, and hasn’t walked 100 batters since 1992. He also shared the 2001 World Series MVP with Curt Schilling, and memorably killed a bird with a pitch.