At least in Cooperstown ... the HoF ballot was released today and to no one's surprise, Rose was not included. This was the plan from the beginning, I believe, since Rose retains one more year of normal voting eligibility. I say normal because there's nothing really normal in this and there's nothing stopping Clark and Petrovsky from changing the rules, especially with Joe Morgan and Bud Selig on the Hall's board. Great museum, bad organization.

As for the actual candidates, I think we'll see a small class. Paul Molitor is a likely inductee, but he's not a slam dunk. Dennis Eckersley is going to be an interesting case, but I think he gets in. The weakness of the class gives Ryne Sandberg a pretty good chance and the focus on relievers should give Lee Smith a look. The rest of the class is pretty worthless, with only Joe Carter likely to recieve any serious votes (but then again, the reason I think he'll get votes didn't work for Kirk Gibson so ...). My prediction? Eck and Sandberg, with Molitor very close if not in.