NEW YORK — Chipper Jones, Jim Thome and Omar Vizquel are among 19 first-time candidates on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot for baseball’s Hall of Fame.

Also among the newcomers to the 33-man ballot announced Monday are Johan Santana, Chris Carpenter, Jamie Moyer, Andruw Jones, Carlos Lee, Kevin Millwood, Carlos Zambrano and Johnny Damon.

Trevor Hoffman, who fell five votes short last year, leads holdovers that include Vladimir Guerrero, Edgar Martinez, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Mike Mussina and Curt Schilling.

About 430 ballots are being sent to eligible voters, and a player must receive at least 75 percent for election. Ballots are due by Dec. 31; results will be announced Jan. 24. The BBWAA voted last December to have ballots of individual voters made public for the first time, but the proposal was rejected by the Hall of Fame’s board of directors.

Voters, who must have been members of the BBWAA for 10 consecutive years, are free to announce votes on their own, and about half chose to do so in recent years.

Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines and Ivan Rodriguez were elected last year, when Hoffman drew 74 percent. Guerrero had 71.7 percent, followed by Martinez (58.6), Clemens (54.1), Bonds (53.8), Mussina (51.8) and Schilling (45).

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Since a change in eligibility requirements eliminated some older voters, Clemens and Bonds received a majority of the vote for the first time last year, the fifth appearance on the ballot for each. Clemens rose from 37.5 percent in 2015 to 45.2 percent in 2016, while Bonds climbed from 36.8 percent to 44.3 percent.

Players remain on the ballot for up to 10 years, provided they receive at least 5 percent of the vote annually.

Jones, an eight-time All-Star, won the 1999 NL MVP and the 2008 NL batting title. He hit .303 with 2,726 hits and 468 home runs in 19 seasons with the Atlanta Braves.

Thome was a five-time All-Star who hit 612 home runs, eighth on the career list, over 22 seasons. Vizquel was an 11-time Gold Glove winner who set the record for most games at shortstop with 2,709 and the highest fielding percentage at the position at .985. He had 2,877 hits and 404 stolen bases over 24 seasons.

Moyer was 269-208 in 25 seasons, and in 2012 at 49 became the oldest pitcher to win a major league game.

Other holdovers include Manny Ramirez (23.8), Larry Walker (21.9), Fred McGriff (21.7), Jeff Kent (16.7), Gary Sheffield (13.3), Billy Wagner (10.2) and Sammy Sosa (8.6).

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RED SOX: Boston added three former Portland Sea Dogs pitchers to its 40-man roster – left-hander Jalen Beeks and right-handers Chandler Shepherd and Ty Buttrey.

Beeks, the organization’s minor league pitcher of the year in 2017, was 11-8 with a 3.29 ERA in 26 starts for the Sea Dogs and Triple-A Pawtucket.

Buttrey, a reliever, also pitched for both Portland and Pawtucket this past season. Shepherd made 34 appearance for Pawtucket, all but one as a reliever, but is being converted to a starter.

TRADE: Gift Ngoepe, the first African-born player to reach the major leagues, was traded from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Toronto Blue Jays for cash considerations or a player to be named later.

The 27-year-old Ngoepe, a second baseman from South Africa, hit .222 in 28 games for the Pirates in 2017 but spent the majority of the season at Triple-A Indianapolis.

Pittsburgh also added three players to the 40-man roster, including top outfield prospect Austin Meadows.


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