(Cooperstown) Hall of Famers Jeff Bagwell, Tom Glavine, Chipper Jones, Ted Simmons and Jim Thome are among 16 members of a committee that will evaluate eight candidates who could also reach the Hall of Fame.
That list of eight includes managers Jim Leyland, Lou Piniella, Cito Gaston and Davey Johnson.
Retired City Manager Joe Torre and former Commissioner Bud Selig, both Cooperstown elected officials, are also on the committee.
Also included are executives Sandy Alderson, Bill DeWitt, Michael Hill, Ken Kendrick, Andy MacPhail and Phyllis Merhige, as well as historians and media members Sean Forman, Jack O’Connell and Jesus Ortiz.
The group will meet on Sunday in Nashville, for the winter meetings.
Also eligible to attend the Temple are umpires Joe West and Ed Montague, former National League president Bill White and former general manager Hank Peters.
A vote of 75% or more is required for the election.
Anyone chosen will be inducted on July 21, along with players elected by the Baseball Columnists Association of America.
The BWAA will announce the results of its vote on January 23.
Jose Bautista, Adrian Beltre, Joe Mauer, Chase Utley and David Wright are among the first-time eligible players.
Leyland, 78, won 1,769 games in 22 seasons with Pittsburgh, Florida, Colorado and Detroit, leading the Marlins to the 1997 World Series title.
He was elected one of the two managers of the year in 1990, 1992 and 2006.
Piniella, 80, won 1,835 games with the Yankees, Cincinnati, Seattle, Tampa Bay and the Cubs, winning the 1990 World Series with the Reds.
His 2001 Mariners set an American record with 116 wins.
He was named one of two managers of the year in 1995, 2001 and 2008.
Piniella was the American rookie of the year in 1969.
He hit .291 in 18 years in the majors, collecting 102 home runs and 766 RBIs. He helped the Yankees win the World Series in 1977 and 1978.
Gaston, 79, earned 894 victories in 12 seasons at the helm of the Blue Jays, triumphing in the World Series in 1992 and 1993.
In 11 years in the big leagues he hit .256, hitting 91 home runs and 387 RBIs.
Johnson, 80, had 1,372 wins for the Mets, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Dodgers and Washington, leading New York to the 1986 World Series title.
He was voted manager of the year in 1997 and 2012.
As a player, he hit .261 in 13 seasons, accumulating 136 home runs and 609 RBIs in 13 seasons.
West, 70, officiated a record 5,460 games from 1976 to 2021, breaking Bill Klem’s previous mark of 5,375. West worked six fall classics.
Montague, 74, worked 4,369 games between 1974 and 2009. He umpired six times in the World Series, including four editions as crew chief.
White, 89, served as NL president from 1989 to 1994. A five-time All-Star, he hit .286 with 202 home runs and 870 RBIs from 1956 to 1969.
Peters died in 2015 at age 90. He served as Baltimore’s general manager from November 1975 to October 1987, including a World Series title in 1983.
He was the president of the Indians from 1987 to 1991.
Last year, the Hall of Fame restructured its alumni committees for the third time in 12 years. We created committees examining the contemporary era (from 1980) and the classic era of baseball (before 1980).
For the contemporary era, there is a ballot for players and another for managers, directors and referees.
Each committee meets every three years. The cycle began last December, when Fred McGriff was elected.
Managers and umpires are eligible if they have played 10 or more seasons in major league baseball and have been retired for five years, although people 65 and older are eligible six months after retirement.
Executives must have been retired for five years, but active executives age 70 or older are eligible.
