In this four-part series, Jonah Birenbaum of theScore's MLB staff will assess all 34 candidates on the 2015 Hall of Fame ballot, placing each player into one of four categories: Jokers, Maybes, PED pariahs, or Cooperstown Kings.

Check out the first installment of the four-part series here.

Check out the second installment of the four-part series here.

Check out the third installment of the four-part series here.

Cooperstown Kings: Regardless of how the voters treat those connected to PEDs, the 2015 Hall of Fame class will include at least a few of the names listed here

Craig Biggio

% of vote (2014): 74.8%

JAWS*: 53.4

AVG. JAWS (2B): 57.0

Despite authoring a resume that includes more than 3,000 hits over two decades in the majors, Biggio fell two votes shy of induction in 2014, his second year on the ballot. A diminutive catcher who eventually settled at second base, Biggio's skill set was decidedly comprehensive, as the six-time All-Star is one of just three players in history to record at least 3,000 hits while collecting more than 200 home runs and 400 stolen bases. Though he was merely ordinary for the final quarter of his career, Biggio was a total menace in his prime, hitting .303/.397/.473 (132 OPS+) while averaging 51 extra-base hits and 34 stolen bases per season from 1993 to 1999. Biggio, who spent his entire career in Houston, also collected 668 doubles throughout his decorated career, the fifth-most in history.

Randy Johnson

% of vote (2014): N/A

JAWS: 82.0

AVG. JAWS (SP): 61.8

Was ever there a pitcher who inspired as much fear as Johnson, the 6-foot-10 left-hander who wielded a fastball-slider combination illegal in certain states? Though he blossomed relatively late in his career - he first managed an ERA+ above 110 at the age of 29 - few have ever dominated like Johnson, whose 28.5 percent strikeout rate trumps every other starter in history (min. 1000 IP). Virtually unhittable in his prime, Johnson accrued more WAR over 22 seasons in the majors than all but four pitchers, and enjoyed more than a decade as the game's most intimidating hurler. From 1993 to 2004, Johnson authored a 2.78 ERA (166 ERA+) with a 1.08 WHIP - he averaged 11.8 strikeout per nine innings over that span, too - and at one point secured four consecutive Cy Young awards.

Edgar Martinez

% of vote (2014): 25.2%

JAWS: 56.0

AVG. JAWS (3B): 55.0

Of all the players to make a living simply by swinging the bat, none were more impressive than Martinez. A brutal hamstring injury consigned him to the designated hitter role in 1995, but Martinez thrived upon being absolved of his defensive responsibilities. In his first season as a full-time designated hitter, Martinez compiled a gaudy .356/.479/.628 line over 145 games while leading the American League in batting average, doubles, and adjusted OPS. His remarkable campaign began one of the most impressive 10-year stretches ever, as Martinez compiled a 971 .OPS (153 OPS+) from 1995 to 2004, averaging 25 home runs and 36 doubles per season - effectively cementing his status, for now, as the greatest designated hitter in history.

Pedro Martinez

% of vote (2014): N/A

JAWS: 71.1

AVG. JAWS (SP): 61.8

Reasonable people could argue that Martinez is the greatest pitcher who ever lived. His unimposing build belied a combination of craftsmanship and pure stuff that was truly legendary, as Martinez was more often than not the most talented player on the field - even in era where offense was historically inflated. Over parts of his 18 seasons in the majors, the diminutive right-hander fashioned an ungodly 67 ERA-, a metric that adjusts for both run-scoring environment and ballpark, which suggests that only one starter in history has ever proven more effective at run prevention. Armed with three plus-plus offerings, Martinez routinely overmatched his opponents, as his career 27.7 strikeout rate represents the fourth-best mark in history. At the height of his career, he was downright unhittable: from 1997 to 2003, Martinez compiled a 2.20 ERA (213 ERA+) with a 0.94 WHIP and a 5.59 strikeout-to-walk ratio, earning three Cy Young awards over that span.

Mike Mussina

% of vote (2014): 20.3%

JAWS: 63.8

AVG. JAWS (SP): 61.8

Perhaps it's a function of being consistently great and only occasionally elite that Mussina received a checkmark from just one of every five voters last year. It'd be criminal if Mussina were to be overlooked again, as the lithe right-hander accumulated more wins above replacement throughout his 18-year career than Sandy Koufax, Warren Spahn, Juan Marichal and numerous others already enshrined at Cooperstown. Only 10 pitchers notched 200 innings pitched and an ERA+ greater than 120 more times than Mussina, who reached both plateaus in nine different seasons. Mussina finished his career with a 3.58 strikeout-to-walk ratio, the 24th-best mark in the live-ball era. Only 20 pitchers recorded more quality starts than Mussina's 330.

Tim Raines

% of vote (2014): 46.1%

JAWS: 55.6

AVG. JAWS (LF): 53.3

Though Rickey Henderson is widely acknowledged as the greatest leadoff hitter in history, Raines is compelling runner-up. Known affectionately as "Rock", the speedy outfielder was unflinchingly reliable atop the Montreal Expos' lineup after taking over as their primary left fielder in 1981, compiling an impressive .302/.391/.439 line while averaging 63 stolen bases per year for an entire decade before getting traded to the Chicago White Sox prior to the 1991 season. Only eight players amassed more WAR throughout the 1980's than Raines, who remains one of just seven players in history to steal at least 500 bases while collecting more than 150 home runs.

Curt Schilling

% of vote (2014): 29.2%

JAWS: 64.5

AVG. JAWS (SP): 61.8

Schilling might've made it to Cooperstown on the merits of his regular-season accomplishments alone, but his postseason numbers all but guarantee he'll end up in the Hall of Fame. In five trips to the playoffs, Schilling authored a 2.23 ERA with a 4.80 strikeout-to-walk ratio, allowing two earned run or fewer in 16 of his 19 postseason starts. He earned World Series MVP with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001 after limiting the New York Yankees to four runs over 21 1/3 innings (1.69 ERA) in the 97th Fall Classic. If playoff samples aren't your thing, though, Schilling is also a six-time All-Star who managed a 127 ERA+ over two decades in the majors and boasts the best strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.38) among starters in the live-ball era.

John Smoltz

% of vote (2014): N/A

JAWS: 54.2

AVG. JAWS (SP): 61.8

The uniqueness of Smoltz's career doesn't make him more deserving of induction than the other pitchers on this list, but he remains a compelling candidate nonetheless. After breezing through 11 seasons as a starter, punctuated by a Cy Young award in 1996 that began a four-year span over which he fashioned a 143 ERA+, Smoltz was forced into a relief role in 2001 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. The veteran right-hander proceeded to compile 154 saves with a 2.65 ERA and a 5.45 strikeout-to-walk ratio over four seasons in the bullpen before returning to the rotation in 2005. Throughout his volatile 21-year career, Smoltz became one of just two pitchers to record both 150 wins and 150 saves and helped establish a new standard of excellence for starter-reliever hybrids.

Alan Trammell

% of vote (2014): 20.8%

JAWS: 57.5

AVG. JAWS (SS): 54.7

He doesn't inspire the saccharine appraisals reserved for Honus Wagner and Cal Ripken Jr. and Derek Jeter, but Trammell quietly compiled more WAR than all but six of the myriad of players to log at least 75 percent of their games at shortstop. Lauded for his skills on both sides of the ball, Trammell spent each of his 20 seasons in the majors with the Detroit Tigers, managing a 110 OPS+ with 185 home runs while helping his club to a World Series championship in 1984. Though his raw numbers aren't overly gaudy, Trammell still enjoyed a 10-year span where he was easily among the game's elite players, as he compiled a 123 wRC+ from 1983 to 1993 - tops for his position over that span - while averaging 13 homers and 15 stolen bases per season.

Larry Walker

% of vote (2014): 10.2%

JAWS: 58.6

AVG. JAWS (RF): 58.1

When the Montreal Expos signed Walker as an amateur free agent in 1984, they probably didn't know they had just landed the greatest Canadian position player in history. The goateed outfielder compiled a 128 OPS+ through his first six seasons in the majors before exploding, as many hitters do, upon arriving in Colorado prior to the 1995 campaign. Walker cemented his status as one of the game's elite hitters in nearly a decade with the Rockies, earning three batting titles and an MVP award while compiling a .334/.425/.618 line from 1995 to 2003. Even when adjusting for the effects of Coors Field, Walker's 147 wRC+ over that span still ranked 13th-best among qualified hitters. Walker remains one of just 21 members of the exclusive .300./400/.500 club and finished his 17-year career with 383 home runs - 118 more than the next-most prolific Canadian.