Santo misses Hall again, Cubs to be sold before Spring Training, and the Professor retires

Ron Santo received the highest number of post-1942 votes from the Veteran's Committee, but still fell 9 votes short of the 75% needed for election. Out of the 64 votes, Santo received 39 (60.9 %), needing 48. Nine votes out of 64, or 14%, is a significant amount, and he doesn't have the ability to do anything to improve his chances of getting in. If Buck O'Neil couldn't get the sympathy vote, I'm sorry to say Ron Santo's not going to get the call in his lifetime.


The Cubs want to get the sale finalized by Spring Training, but the fact is Hendry is going to be handcuffed in free agency by not having the ability to add payroll.

The bidders are aware of the team's 2009 budget. If Hendry wants to add significant money to the payroll, he will have to make room by trading players currently on the roster.

Greg Maddux is expected to retire today, and there's no doubt he will be in the Hall. The only relevant questions are: is he a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer, and whose team will he choose to represent himself?

Personally, I don't think there's anyone pitching more deserving of the first-ballot Hall honor, especially considering the disgraceful legacy of Roger Clemens. Maddux was never the biggest or overpowered anybody, but he pitched his entire career the right way, and will leave the game with 355 wins, 3,371 K's (against only 999 walks), 4 Cy Young awards and a lifetime ERA of 3.16.

I also think that, despite the fact he started his career as a Cub (1986-1992), and returned from 2004-2006 (winning #300 and pitching his 3,000th K during that span), there's little chance he goes into Cooperstown as anything but an Atlanta Brave. Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz pitched in Atlanta together for more than a decade, and he won a World Series there. He was always a class act and a true role model, and the game will miss him.