Other bits of intrigue ahead of Tuesday's 6 p.m. announcement: Will CC Sabathia be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and is this the year Billy Wagner gets in?

It won't be official until the voting is released, but Ichiro Suzuki is heading to the Hall of Fame. The Japanese outfielder is expected to be one of the names inducted into Cooperstown in the 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame class.

In the meantime, the Clown of the Year award goes to the writer who decided Suzuki wasn’t worthy of the Hall of Fame. My friends are all asking who could be that dumb. I think it’s more about spite than idiocy.