Joe Maddon and Lou Piniella are back in the Hall of Fame conversation.
The former Rays managers were named Monday to the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s Contemporary Baseball Era non-player ballot, a group of eight candidates whose main impact on the game came since 1980. A 16-member committee will vote on Dec. 6, and a candidate needs 75% of the ballots cast to get in.
The ballot also includes Brian Sabean, who played at Eckerd College and coached at the University of Tampa before becoming the Giants’ general manager during their run of three World Series titles from 2010-14. Sandy Alderson is also on the list; the longtime St. Petersburg resident built the Athletics teams that captured three American League pennants and a World Series title from 1988-90.
The other names up for consideration are Dusty Baker, Bruce Bochy, Ted Turner and Bill White.
Maddon’s case is built on a run that changed two franchises. Over 19 seasons managing the Angels, Rays and Cubs, he won 1,382 games and reached the postseason eight times.
The Hall notes that he was a three-time Manager of the Year and that he guided the Rays to their first American League pennant and first winning season in franchise history in 2008. He also led the Cubs to their first World Series title in 108 years in 2016.
Piniella’s résumé is even longer. He managed for 23 seasons with the Yankees, Reds, Mariners, Devil Rays and Cubs, piling up 1,835 wins.
His teams made seven postseason trips, and he was a three-time Manager of the Year in 1995, 2001 and 2008. The Hall also highlighted his 1990 World Series title with the Reds and the 2001 Mariners, who won an American League record 116 games.
As a player, he hit .291 over an 18-year career and won World Series rings with the 1977-78 Yankees.
Sabean’s baseball life stretched from the Yankees’ front office to the Giants’ championship machine. The Hall said he helped sign and develop many of the players who fueled New York’s four World Series titles from 1996-2000 before moving to San Francisco, where he became general manager after the 1996 season. His 18 years in that role remain the longest GM tenure in Giants history.
Alderson’s path started with the Athletics, where he became general manager at 35 and helped build the club that won three straight American League pennants and the 1989 World Series. He later worked in the Commissioner’s Office as executive vice president for baseball operations, then moved on to the Padres and Mets, both of whom reached the postseason under his watch.
Baker’s Hall case comes from a 26-season managing career with the Giants, Cubs, Reds, Nationals and Astros. He had 13 postseason appearances, 10 first-place finishes and the 2022 World Series title.
The Hall said he won Manager of the Year three times and finished as runner-up three more times, and that his teams reached the postseason in each of his final eight seasons. Before managing, he was a two-time All-Star and won a World Series with the 1981 Dodgers.
Bochy managed the Padres, Giants and Rangers for 28 seasons and won 2,252 games. His clubs reached the postseason nine times, finished first six times and won four World Series titles.
He was the 1996 National League Manager of the Year and finished in the top three in MOY voting seven times. A former big league catcher, Bochy is one of only six managers in history with at least four World Series wins.
Turner’s impact came as an owner. He bought the Braves in 1976 and put the team on WTBS, giving Atlanta a national platform that reached cable homes across the country and helped create a new model for distribution. Under his ownership, the Braves became a dynasty, winning 14 straight division titles in completed seasons from 1991-2005, an MLB record.
White served as National League president from 1989-94 after a career as a player and broadcaster. He was an eight-time All-Star and seven-time Gold Glove first baseman, and during his tenure the NL added the Marlins and Rockies while the American and National leagues were brought under one administrative umbrella. The Hall said he was named the Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award winner in 2026.
In Other News...
Taylor Walls Finally Got The Rays Recognition He Had Earned
Taylor Walls season already had the kind of defensive reputation that tends to travel well inside a clubhouse, but now it comes with hardware to match. The Rays shortstop won the American League Gold Glove at his position, giving Tampa Bay its 10th Gold Glove overall and finally turning three straight nominations into a breakthrough. It also adds another name to the organizations defensive standard, with Walls set to attend the Gold Glove banquet and join the group on the Rays Gold Glove wall.
The recognition landed before the clubs playoff run, and it clearly meant more than a line on a rsum. Walls spoke about how emotional the moment was for him, and the reaction traced back to his youth baseball memories with his father, which gave the honor a personal weight beyond the usual award-night formality. For a player whose value has long been tied to the glove, this was the kind of acknowledgment that felt overdue and deeply earned. [Read more 🡒]
Taylor Walls Finally Got The Recognition Rays Fans Wanted
Taylor Walls has been earning praise for his glove for years, and now it has turned into hardware. The Rays shortstop won the Rawlings Gold Glove Award, a fitting cap to a season in which his defense again stood out more than his bat and his value was measured in the plays he made in the field.
Walls had already built a reputation as one of the best defensive shortstops in the game, and he backed it up by leading major league shortstops in several advanced defensive metrics. For Rays fans who have watched him come close before, the recognition carries a little extra weight, even if the full significance of the award still leaves one more layer to the story. [Read more 🡒]
Rays Move On From Two World Series Veterans As New Questions Emerge
The Rays have started making their offseason decisions with an eye on 2027, and two familiar names from their recent World Series run are now headed elsewhere. Right-hander Nick Martinez, who earned an All-Star nod and played a key role in that postseason push, will not return on the mutual option the club declined, while outfielder Cedric Mullins is also out after Tampa Bay moved on from his side of the deal.
Martinez received a $4 million buyout, and Mullins got $500,000 after a 2026 season in which his bat never fully clicked even as his defense remained a plus. For a Rays club that has long balanced value, versatility and roster flexibility, the decisions raise the next round of questions about how much continuity it wants to preserve from that championship core and where the replacements will come from. [Read more 🡒]