The 2022 National Baseball Hall of Fame ballot is out, and some are saying it's the most controversial ballot in history. A couple of former Yankees are involved in making it that way.

The first is Roger Clemens, who is in his final ballot year along with Barry Bonds, Curt Schilling and Sammy Sosa. Despite Hall of Fame-worthy numbers from each player, they haven't been able to eclipse the 75 percent or more votes that would put them in Cooperstown either due to links to performance-enhancing drugs (Clemens, Bonds and Sosa) or how they've carried themselves after retiring (Schilling).

But while that will be a big storyline this voting year, two more controversial newcomers make the cut: Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz.

On paper, Rodriguez's three MVPs and 14 All-Star bids along with 696 career homers would make him a shoe-in. But he was suspended from Aug. 8, 2013 through the end of the 2014 season -- a total 211 regular-season games plus any postseason games that year well -- after his involvement in the Biogenesis scandal that violated the league's policy against PEDs.

MLB decided to make an example of Rodriguez, with the typical suspension at the time being 50 games. He returned to the Yanks in 2015 with a vengeance, though, slashing .250./.356/.486 with 33 homers and 86 RBI over 151 games. But 2016, at age 40, would be his final season after just 65 games in New York.

Andy Pettitte, who is on the ballot, also admitted to using PEDs to return faster from an injury. He's in the fourth year of being eligible, receiving 13.7 percent of votes in 2020.

Finally, Mark Teixeira makes his Hall of Fame ballot debut this year. A three-time All-Star who belted 409 career homers over 14 seasons, Teixeira played eight years in New York and won a World Series with them in 2009. He signed a deal with the Yanks as a free agent before the start of that championship year and would finish his career as a Yankee after making himself known around the league as an Angel.

The results of this year's ballot will come on Jan. 25, 2022 with the ceremony pegged for July 24, 2022 in Cooperstown.

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