CHICAGO -- Sammy Sosa helped captivate the nation with his prodigious and historic power displays for the Cubs. Aramis Ramirez stopped Chicago's revolving door at third base from turning for nearly a decade. 

Now, Sosa and Ramirez headline the Cubs' candidates on the 2021 Hall of Fame ballot, which was revealed on Monday. Eligible members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America will cast up to 10 votes for the next Hall of Fame class, which will be announced on Jan. 26 on MLB Network. 

• 2021 Hall of Fame coverage

Candidate: Sammy Sosa

The case for Sosa...
The numbers are there. Sosa ended his career with 609 home runs, which are the ninth most in baseball history. His 545 shots with Chicago are the most in Cubs history, and he remains the only Major League slugger to compile at least three seasons with 60 or more homers.

In 1998, Sosa famously engaged in a home run battle with Mark McGwire of the Cardinals, chasing down Roger Maris’ previous single-season record of 61. McGwire finished with 70, Sosa with 66 and the powerful pair fueled nationwide interest in the game with their power pursuits. Slammin’ Sammy walked away with the National League MVP Award that season.

From 1998-2001, all Sosa did was hit .310 with a 1.058 OPS and an average of 61 homers and 149 RBIs per season. He made seven All-Star teams, picked up six Silver Slugger Awards and established numerous single-season franchise records. Sosa’s career rate of one homer every 14.5 at-bats is the eighth-best mark in MLB history.

Sosa received MVP votes in nine consecutive years from 1995-2003, finishing as the runner-up in '01. That season topped even the ’98 campaign statistically, as Sosa posted 10.3 wins above replacement (via Baseball Reference) and hit 64 homers with 160 RBIs, 146 runs scored and a 1.174 OPS. He ended his career with 2,408 hits, 1,667 RBIs, 1,475 runs and 4,704 total bases (40th most all-time) over 18 years. 

The case against Sosa... 
There are lingering questions about how Sosa went about achieving his many home run feats during an era marred by the use of performance-enhancing drugs. The only link to Sosa came from the results of anonymous survey testing in 2003, reported by The New York Times. The validity of those tests has been questioned, but that has surely played a role in Sosa’s poor performance on the Hall of Fame ballot to date. 

Sosa received 13.9% of the vote in the 2020 Hall of Fame results -- a jump from 8.5% in ’19. That said, the slugger has hovered between 6.6% and last year’s figure for eight years, giving him two more chances and little momentum. 

It does not help Sosa’s case that his offensive statistics are not as well-rounded as other Hall of Fame sluggers. Yes, the home run totals are gaudy, but there were a heap of strikeouts to go with it. In fact, Sosa has the most whiffs (1,815) in Cubs history.

Candidate: Aramis Ramirez

The case for Ramirez...
Over 18 MLB seasons, Ramirez established himself as one of the game’s best offensive third basemen. When the Cubs acquired him in a blockbuster trade during the 2003 season, he helped shore up a position that had experienced extreme turnover for three decades.

Following Ron Santo’s run as an all-time great at the hot corner for the Cubs, the team cycled through 18 Opening Day third basemen in the 30 years before Ramirez arrived. That included six third basemen in the six years leading up to Ramirez’s eight-year run as an Opening Day starter on the Cubs’ infield.

While with the Cubs, Ramirez earned MVP votes four times, made two All-Star teams and picked up a Silver Slugger. He hit .294/.356/.531 with an .887 OPS and 126 OPS+ for the North Siders, hitting 239 of his 386 career homers for the Cubs. Ramirez racked up 495 doubles (256 with Cubs) and 2,302 hits (1,246 with the Cubs) in his time in the big leagues. 

Chicago made the postseason three times with Ramirez in the fold, and he performed well in his initial October experience in 2003. During those playoffs, he belted four homers with 10 RBIs in 12 games, including a three-homer, seven-RBI showing in the ’03 NL Championship Series with the Marlins.

The case against Ramirez... 
Ramirez was a really good player for many seasons in the Majors, but his overall numbers do not stack up as necessarily Hall of Fame-worthy. He compiled 30.9 JAWS, which puts him well below the average (55.7) for a Hall of Fame third baseman. A first-timer on the ballot, Ramirez should be considered one of the great third basemen in Cubs history, but the lack of hardware and records will make it difficult for him to reach the hallowed halls in Cooperstown, N.Y.