BBWAA announces 2015 Hall of Fame class; Alan Trammell, Gary Sheffield not elected

The Baseball Writers Association of America announced the 2015 Baseball Hall of Fame voting results today, and to no one's surprise, Alan Trammell was once again shut out of the Hall. Voters elected four players -- Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Craig Biggio, and Michigan native John Smoltz -- the largest voting class of the modern era.

Trammell received 25.1 percent of votes, well short of the 75 percent required for election. Trammell received a solid bump in vote totals despite a more crowded ballot; he received just 20.7 percent of votes last year. However, this is still less than the 33.6 percent he received in 2013. Trammell has a lot of ground to make up in 2016, his final year of voting eligibility.

Despite the low vote totals, many people around baseball believe that Trammell is worthy of induction. He hit .285/.352/.415 with 185 home runs and 236 stolen bases in 20 seasons as the Tigers' shortstop, accumulating 70.4 rWAR. His numbers are on par with many shortstops who are already in the Hall of Fame -- such as Barry Larkin, who was easily inducted in 2012 -- or are considered locks to be voted in, like New York Yankees star Derek Jeter.

Sheffield received 11.7 percent of votes, which kept him above the five percent required to stay on the ballot for another year. Sheffield's total topped those of both Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, players who were more heavily indicated with PED use during the mid-1990s and early 2000s.

Sheffield played two of his 22 seasons with the Tigers. He hit .247/.354/.433 with 44 home runs and 132 RBI in 1075 plate appearances in Detroit, numbers that were well shy of his gaudy career totals. Though he played for eight different franchises in his career, Sheffield hit .292/.393/.514 with 509 home runs, 1676 RBI, and 253 stolen bases in his career. He was worth 60.2 rWAR during his career, a figure that is hurt by his poor defensive numbers.

Smoltz, a Detroit native, never appeared in the majors for the Tigers, but he was a 22nd round pick of the club in the 1985 draft. He was sent to the Atlanta Braves in the now-infamous Doyle Alexander trade in 1987, a deal that helped the Tigers storm back to win the AL East that season. Smoltz debuted the next season and spent 21 years in the majors, accumulating 213 wins, 154 saves, and 66.5 WAR in 3473 career innings. An eight-time All-Star, Smoltz won the 1996 Cy Young award and was a member of the 1995 World Series champion Braves team.

Biggio was a seven-time All-Star in his 20 MLB seasons, all spent with the Houston Astros. He hit .281/.363/.433 with 291 home runs and 414 stolen bases in his career, and is a member of the exclusive 3,000 hit club. A former teammate of Tigers manager Brad Ausmus, Biggio also won four Gold Gloves and five Silver Sluggers at second base.

Martinez enjoyed a relatively brief career peak by Hall of Fame standards, but he was one of the most dominant pitchers in MLB history during his heyday. Owner of the best single-season ERA+ of all-time in 2000, Martinez won three Cy Young awards from 1997 to 2000. He won five ERA titles from 1997 to 2003, and made eight All-Star teams in a ten year span from 1997 to 2006. For his entire career, Martinez went 219-100 with a 2.93 ERA and 2.91 FIP during the height of the steroid era, resulting in a career ERA+ of 154 with a 4.15 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Arguably the most intimidating pitcher of all-time, Johnson spent 22 seasons striking fear into the hearts of opposing batters. He won 303 games in 603 career starts and struck out 4875 batters in 4135 1/3 career innings. Johnson made 10 All-Star teams and won five Cy Young awards, including four consecutive NL Cy Youngs for the Arizona Diamondbacks from 1999 to 2002. He also led the league in strikeouts nine times, and eclipsed the 300 strikeout barrier on six separate occasions.