Baltimore Orioles Legend Deemed 'Likely To Get Bounced' Off Hall of Fame Ballot

A Baltimore Orioles legend made his debut on the Hall of Fame ballot this season, but is likely to miss the threshold and not make his return next year.

Sep 15, 2023; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Former Baltimore Orioles Adam Jones throws out the first pitch after his professional baseball retirement celebration before the game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Tampa Bay Rays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. | Scott Taetsch-Imagn Images

A Baltimore Orioles franchise legend made his first appearance on the Hall of Fame ballot this year, but is not expected to be nominated and could get removed from it entirely.

If a player doesn't appear on at least five percent of ballots, they do not get put on it again next year.

Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter recently went through the 2025 ballot to find the players that he expects will meet that fate. Longtime Orioles outfielder Adam Jones was named one of the most likely players.

Jones is in his first season on the ballot, so there is no specific voting trends with him to go off of. However, when comparing his resume to the rest of the field, he does seem to fall short of the typical Hall of Famer.

The centerfielder was a first round draft pick out of high school back in the 2003 draft by the Seattle Mariners. He was a freak athlete and considered one of the best minor league players throughout his time developing. His MLB debut came with the Mariners, but it wasn't long before he was traded to Baltimore.

He was a part of a trade package that included a number of players in return for Érik Bédard. Bédard was a solid player for a couple of years in Seattle, but it is safe to say that the Orioles ran away with that trade.

Offensively, Jones had a .277/.317/.454 slash line with 282 home runs and 945 RBI with 97 stolen bases.

His best career year came in 2012, when he posted a .287/.334/.505 line with 32 home runs and 82 RBI. While it is a good season, it isn't exactly the type of peak that a Hall of Famer normally carries.

Defensively, he was an elite centerfielder. It does help his case, but maybe not enough. He had four Gold Gloves, which is still plenty impressive.

Overall, he had five All-Star nominations, four Gold Gloves and a Silver Slugger.

He finished his career with 32.6 WAR, which is rare to see a player make it with. The average is around 50 and while it isn't a minimum, it is a good measure to see how serious of a candidate someone is.

Jones will indeed likely go down in the 'Hall of Very Good,' rather than being the 17th former Baltimore player to make it in. There are only five players that played a majority of their games with the Orioles that have made it.