Roto Hall of Fame names 2014 inductees Roy Halladay, Todd Helton, and Mariano Rivera-Gardner, USA Today Sports

1/7/14, "Halladay, Helton, Rivera earn place in Roto Hall of Fame," Steve Gardner, USA Today Sports

"Step back for a moment from what's become an annual battle of rancor and ill will surrounding the Baseball Hall of Fame election -- and picture a shrine where only the best players of their era are celebrated for their accomplishments on the field.

There's no discussion of whether or not steroid use disqualifies a player because of the character clause.

That's because numbers are the only things that matter in this alternative reality called the Rotisserie Baseball Hall of Fame.

Ron Shandler, the founder of BaseballHQ.com, has taken on the task of looking at each player's stats objectively and measuring them against the others in their era. That's what fantasy baseball owners have been doing anyway since the game was invented in 1984. (That also serves as the starting point for this Hall of Fame.)

The standards are simple: Players must have been in the majors for at least 10 seasons. Eligibility is based on their lifetime and peak Rotisserie dollar earnings, plus the number of times they were ranked among the top 15 batters or pitchers in a season over their career.

(The complete criteria are available at Shandler's website ShandlerPark.com)

One of the great features about this Hall of Fame is that there's no need for a five-year waiting period. A player is one of the elite or he's not, so he can gain admittance the season after he retires.

As a result, the overloaded ballot that has many baseball writers struggling to whittle down to a maximum of 10 candidates isn't a problem. In fact, 20 of the 36 players who are on the BBWAA ballot are already members of the Roto Hall of Fame.

BBWAA BALLOT: How the candidates fared in Roto Hall system

On Tuesday, Shandler revealed the three new members in the Rotisserie Hall's Class of 2014:

RHP Roy Halladay
(Toronto Blue Jays for 12 seasons, Philadelphia Phillies for four seasons)
During the 10-year period of 2002 to 2011, Halladay was one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball. He finished in the top 15 of all pitchers seven times during that span and posted an ERA of 3.25 or better in eight of those years. He posted five $30-plus seasons, including four straight from 2008-2011. Only four pitchers had more $30-plus seasons: Randy Johnson (9), Roger Clemens (8), Greg Maddux (8) and Pedro Martinez (6).

1B Todd Helton
(Colorado Rockies for 17 seasons)
It can be argued that had Helton played in a stadium closer to sea level and during a non-steroid inflated era, he might have been nothing more than Mark Grace. But the Roto Hall only considers a player's actual impact on his fantasy teams, and Helton was incredibly dominant during the first half of his career. He is one of only 17 batters in the Hall with multiple $40-plus seasons.

RHP Mariano Rivera
(New York Yankees for 19 seasons)
Rivera was the best relief pitcher in the history of the game. He becomes the 10th reliever during the Rotisserie era to be inducted in the Roto Hall. Rivera earned more Rotisserie dollars in his career, averaged more per year and finished among the top 15 pitchers more often than any other relief pitcher.

The addition of Halladay, Helton and Rivera brings the total Roto Hall membership to 86 players.

ROTISSERIE HALL OF FAME: Full roster of members

Incidentally, the player with the highest career Roto value won't be inducted anytime soon by the BBWAA. But fantasy owners sure enjoyed Barry Bonds' record $729 in fantasy value over his 22 seasons."