Looking at potential 2023 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot: Alex Rodriguez to return for second year, last chance for Jeff Kent

Sunday will mark the enshrinement of seven players, led by David Ortiz, into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Ortiz was the only player voted in by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Next year, the ballot will look significantly different, with Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling off it after their 10th and final years of eligibility in 2022.

That means there will be a group of new faces for 2023, joining holdovers who will try to ride voting momentum into Cooperstown. Scott Rolen, Todd Helton and Billy Wagner were all over 50 percent in 2022; on the other end, Torii Hunter and Mark Buehrle will both make their third appearances after barely clearing the 5 percent vote cutoff.

A player must receive 75 percent of the writers' vote to get in. Writers can select up to 10 players on their ballot.

FAGAN: Beltran headlines newcomers on 2023 ballot 

Newcomers on the ballot in 2023 will feature Carlos Beltran, John Lackey and Jered Weaver.

How will a potential 2023 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot look?

The veterans

These are players who will be appearing on their sixth (or more) ballot. Baseball Hall of Famer voters are notorious for making players sweat, so these players have made their bones. The group is headlined by Scott Rolen, who was second percentage-wise in voting in 2022. Jeff Kent is entering his final year of eligibility, and Gary Sheffield is in his penultimate year.

The returnees

Returnees aren't quite veterans, but they have spent time on the ballot. They'll be on their second, third, fourth, or fifth ballots. While Todd Helton is setting the pace for this group, Alex Rodriguez is the most notable name on the list. Though he retired with 696 home runs, this is a big year for him. It could determine if he's destined to follow in the footsteps of Bonds, Clemens and Schilling.

The newcomers

While unofficial, these are some of the top players Baseball Reference lists as potentially making the ballot next year. Carlos Beltran and Francisco Rodriguez are the most compelling names. The 2021 vote was the first since 2013 where there wasn't a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but Beltran's part in the 2017 Astros sign-stealing scandal could cause him problems. K-Rod, meanwhile, was a reliever, a position voters are historically unkind toward.

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With some big names off the ballot, it's difficult to know how next year's vote could fall. Rolen's stock has gone up every year he has been on it, while other players could pick up precious votes. Among them are Kent, Sheffield, Wagner and Ramirez, who are all controversial in their own right. But none rise quite to the level of controversy of Bonds, Clemens, Schilling or Rodriguez.