Mark Buehrle among first-timers on National Baseball Hall of Fame ballot

Mark Buehrle

Will any former players get elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame this year? I'm not sure, because none of the 11 first-timers on the ballot jump off the page to me.

Of interest to White Sox fans, former Sox left-hander Mark Buehrle is among those first-timers. What case does he have? Not a great one. In fact, it would be a good accomplishment for Buehrle if he remains on the ballot for more than one year.

His longtime teammate, Paul Konerko, was eligible for the first time last year, and Konerko quickly fell off the ballot after receiving only 10 votes, or 2.5%. It wouldn't be shocking if Buehrle met a similar fate. (You have to get 5% of the vote to stay on the ballot.)

Here's the case for Buehrle: 16 seasons, 214 wins, five All-Star appearances, four Gold Gloves, one World Series ring, two no-hitters -- including one perfect game -- a career ERA of 3.81, a career ERA+ of 117, and 14 consecutive seasons of 200 or more innings pitched and 10 or more victories.

Buehrle came four outs short of making it 15 consecutive seasons of 200 or more innings and 10 or more victories. In his final season, 2015 with the Toronto Blue Jays, he went 15-8 with a 3.81 ERA -- a career average season for him -- except for the innings total of 198.2.

The era of the 200-inning starting pitcher is pretty much over, and I think Buehrle's consistency and longevity will be appreciated more as time goes along. We won't see a lot of pitchers like him in the future. However, 2005 was the only season in which he received Cy Young votes, and his lack of dominance and lack of a defined peak make it likely that he won't get Hall of Fame votes -- he's not unlike Konerko in that regard.

Here is a complete list of the 11 first-timers on the ballot this year:

• Mark Buehrle
• Tim Hudson
• Torii Hunter
• Dan Haren
• Barry Zito
• Aramis Ramirez
• Shane Victorino
• A.J. Burnett
• Nick Swisher
• LaTroy Hawkins
• Michael Cuddyer

And here are the 14 holdovers, with the percent of votes they received last year in parenthesis. One must receive 75% of the votes to earn election to the Hall:

• Curt Schilling (70%)
• Roger Clemens (61%)
• Barry Bonds (60.7%)
• Omar Vizquel (52.6%)
• Scott Rolen (35.3%)
• Billy Wagner (31.7%)
• Gary Sheffield (30.5%)
• Todd Helton (29.2%)
• Manny Ramirez (28.2%)
• Jeff Kent (27.5%)
• Andruw Jones (19.4%)
• Sammy Sosa (13.9%)
• Andy Pettitte (11.3%)
• Bobby Abreu (5.5%)

So, do we think anyone gets in this year? I'm guessing Schilling gets the nod, even though I'm not personally a fan. Clemens and Bonds still have the steroids albatross hanging around their necks. It will be interesting to see if they can inch closer to the 75% mark. Vizquel remains the best defensive shortstop I've seen, but the sabermetrics guys don't like him, and he wasn't a good hitter.

Ballots are due Dec. 31, and results will be announced Jan. 26. We shall see.