The baseball season might be over, but that means the Baseball Hall of Fame season has begun.

This morning, the Baseball Hall of Fame announced the eight-man Contemporary Ballot, featuring four managers and four executives for consideration for the Class of 2026.

Here are the candidates:

Sandy Alderson: Oakland Athletics General Manager 1983-97, MLB Executive Vice President 1998-2005, San Diego Padres CEO 2005-09 & New York Mets General Manager 2011-18 & President 2021-23.  A member of the Athletics Hall of Fame, Alderson built a team that won three straight American League Pennants (1988-89), and won it all in 1989.  He also oversaw postseason berths for San Diego and the New York Mets, including a National League pennant in 2015.

Dusty Baker: San Francisco Giants 1993-2002, Chicago Cubs 2003-06, Cincinnati Reds 2008-13, Washington Nationals 2016-17 & Houston Astros 2020-23.  A 19-year vet and two-time All-Star as a player, Baker won three Manager of the Year Awards (and was the runner-up three other times.  He guided his teams to thirteen postseasons and took the Astros to a World Series win in 2022.  Overall, he boasts a record of 2,183 and 1,862.

Bruce Bochy: San Diego Padres 1995-2006, San Francisco Giants 2007-19 & Texas Rangers 2023-25.  Bochy brings a loaded resume: over his 28 years as a manager, he won four World Series titles (2010, 2012 & 2014 with San Francisco, and 2023 with Texas), reached the postseason nine times, and won six division titles.  He also won the 1996 NL Manager of the Year Award and finished in the top three six other times.  Bochy’s overall record as a Manager is 2,252 and 2,266.

Joe Maddon: California Angels/Anaheim Angels/Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (Coach) 1994-2005, Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Rays 2006-14, Chicago Cubs 2015-19 & Los Angeles Angels 2020-22.  Maddon won a World Series as a coach with the Angels in 2002, and as a manager led his teams to eight postseasons, including the Chicago Cubs’ historic 2016 World Series win.  A three-time Manager of the Year, Maddon has an overall record of 1,382 and 1,216.

Lou Piniella: New York Yankees 1986-87 & 1988, Cincinnati Reds 1990-92, Seattle Mariners 1993-2002, Tampa Bay Devil Rays 2003-05 & Chicago Cubs 2007-10.   Piniella played 18 seasons in the Majors and enjoyed his best success as a manager with Cincinnati, which he guided to a World Series title in 1990.  A three-time Manager of the Year, Piniella also made history by leading the Mariners to a record 116-win year in 2001.  His managerial record is 1,835 wins and 1,712 losses.

Brian Sabean: New York Yankees 1985 Scout, 1986-89 Director of Scouting & 1990-92 Vice President of Player Development and Scouting, San Francisco Giants, Vice President of Scouting 1993-96, General Manager 1997-2014 & 2015-22 Executive, New York Yankees Executive Advisor to the General Manager 2023-26.  A scout who helped draft Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, and Jorge Posada to the Yankees, Sabean was an executive for 26 years with the San Francisco Giants, where his work helped them win three World Series titles.

Ted Turner: Atlanta Braves Owner 1976-2007.  Turner bought the Atlanta Braves in 1976 and put them on his WTBS Superstation, raising their profile and reshaping televised baseball.  Under his ownership, the Braves won five National League Pennants and the World Series in 1995.

Bill White: National League President 1989-94.  White was an eight-time All-Star and seven-time Gold Glove winner who later became National League President, marking the first time an African-American served in that capacity.  He received the 2026 Buck O’Neill Lifetime Achievement Award.

The results will be announced at 8 PM EST on December 3.

We here at notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the eight finalists.

Hall of Fame season continues with the Baseball Hall’s announcement of the eight names on the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee for Managers/Executives/Umpires.  The Committee will meet on December 3 at the Winter Meetings in Nashville, and the results will be shared that night at 7:30 on MLB Tonight on the MLB Network.

To enter the Hall, the candidate must receive 75 percent of the 16-person group. 

Here are the nominees:

Cito Gaston:  Gaston managed the Toronto Blue Jays for 12 seasons, and he helmed to back-to-back World Series wins in 1992 and 1993.  Making history as the first African-American Manager to win a World Series, Gaston has a career record of 894-837, and is a member of the Toronto Blue Jays Level of Excellence.

Davey Johnson:  Johnson managed 17 seasons in the Majors, with his career-highlight leading the New York Mets to a 1986 World Series Championship.  Johnson won two Manager of the Year Awards (1997 & 2012) and had a record of 1,372-1,071.

Jim Leyland:  Leyland is a three-time Manager of the Year (1990, 1992 & 2006), and led the Florida Marlins to their improbable 1997 World Series title.  With a career record of 1,769-1,728 and helmed the United States to victory in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

Ed Montague:  Montague served as an Umpire from 1974 to 2009 and was the Crew Chief in four World Series.

Hank Peters:  Peters worked 42 years as a Baseball Executive, first becoming a General Manager with the Kansas City Athletics helping them build their dynasty.  He would later serve as the GM in Baltimore, where he constructed their 1983 Championship squad.  He later rebuilt the Cleveland Indians into a power in the 90s.

Lou Piniella:  A 23-year veteran as a Manager, Piniella brought Cincinnati a World Series in 1990, and was a three-time Manager of the Year (1995, 2001 & 2008).  He had a lifetime record of 1,835-1,712.

Joe West: West umpired from 1976 to 2021, officiating a record 43 years and 5,460 Games.  He worked six World Series and ten League Championship Series.

Bill White:  White was the first African American President of a League, having served in that capacity in the NL from 1989 to 1994.

You know that we will be paying attention December 3!