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Now let’s look ahead to next year’s elections.
The 2025 Hall of Fame election cycle will bring two powerful newcomers to the ballot, the last chance for a dominant closer, longtime superstar outfielders continuing their march toward Cooperstown and more. (Note that the Hall of Fame Ballot 2025 It’s not official yet.)
Here are seven Hall of Fame stories to watch out for on the 2025 ballot.
1) Will Ichiro be the next unanimous Hall of Famer?
Ichiro will be on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time in 2025, and the only question isn’t whether he’s a Hall of Famer… It’s not even a question of whether he’s a Hall of Famer in the first vote… It’s whether it will be next unanimous Hall of Fame.
Mariano Rivera is the only unanimous member of the Hall of Fame. But if anyone has a chance to join him, it’s Ichiro. The Mariners icon is one of the greatest pure hitters the game has ever seen: a member of the 3,000-hit club despite not reaching the MLB until age 27, a career .311 hitter and holder of the record for hits in a single MLB season.
Furthermore, Ichiro’s impact on baseball transcends his MLB career. He is beloved in the United States, but an even greater legend in Japan, where he accumulated 1,278 hits in Nippon Professional Baseball before reaching the Major Leagues, raising his career hit total to an incredible 4,367. .
2) CC can break the starting pitching drought
CC Sabathia’s arrival on the ballot in 2025 will mark the first likely Hall of Fame starting pitcher to be eligible on the BBWAA ballot in a long time — he’s the biggest starting pitcher name to enter the ballot since Roy Halladay , who won the election on the first ballot. in 2019.
The fan-favorite left-hander earned 251 wins and 3,093 strikeouts in his 19-year career with the Indians, Brewers and Yankees, winning a Cy Young Award in Cleveland and a World Series championship in New York. Sabathia’s membership in the 3,000-strikeout club and his ace status over two decades across three franchises should make him an eventual Hall of Fame pick. But can he make it to the first ballot like Halladay?
After CC comes in, we could also be looking at another starting pitching drought in Hall of Fame voting. There may not be another Hall of Fame starter until the likes of Zack Greinke, Justin Verlander and Clayton Kershaw finally retire and become eligible five years later.
3) Last chance for Wagner
Billy Wagner nearly missed the Hall election this year, receiving 73.8% of the vote and falling just five votes short of Cooperstown. Next year will be his 10th and final year of eligibility. Can he make it?
Looks like he’ll have a good chance. Wagner continues to increase his vote share each year; In just the last three election cycles, he has gone from 51% to 68.1% to 73.8%, and once a player gets to this point, he tends to get in.
With Beltré, Helton and Mauer removed from the ballot, Wagner will be one of the Big Three on the 2025 ballot, along with Ichiro and Sabathia. The dominant closer racked up 422 saves in his career, with a 2.31 ERA, 11.9 K/9 and a 33.2% strikeout rate that rank among the best marks of all time.
We’ve also seen a couple of recent successful advances to the Hall of Fame by players in their final year of eligibility: Larry Walker made it in his 10th year on the ballot in 2020, as did Edgar Martinez in 2019.
4) Beltrán seeks one more step
By the numbers alone, Carlos Beltran’s Hall of Fame case is very strong. His 70.1 career wins above replacement ranks eighth among all-time center fielders, he had 435 home runs and 312 stolen bases, and was an elite offensive and defensive center fielder.
That hasn’t materialized in the Hall of Fame election during its first two voting cycles, likely due to its link to the Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing scandal, but it’s on the right track. After receiving 46.5% of the votes in his first year in 2023, Beltrán shot up to 57.1% in 2024.
Having surpassed the 50% mark so early, and considering his huge improvement from Year 1 to Year 2, Beltran is in good position to make it to Cooperstown in the coming seasons. We’ll see if his upward trajectory continues toward that 75% threshold in 2025.
5) Does King Felix have a chance?
Félix Hernández will join the Hall of Fame ballot in 2025 along with Sabathia, but does the Mariners’ veteran ace have a chance in Cooperstown?
King Felix had an exceptional run of dominance as one of MLB’s best pitchers between 2009 and 2015, peaking with his Cy Young Award in 2010, when he won the MLB ERA crown with a 2.27 mark, striking out to 232 batters and led the American League with 249 2/3 innings pitched. He even threw a perfect game. But Hernandez’s Hall of Fame case could be a long shot.
Hernandez has something of a parallel Hall of Fame case with Johan Santana, who won two Cy Young Awards and a Triple Crown for the Twins and was the best pitcher in the world in his heyday; His heyday was simply too short. Johan dropped off the Hall of Fame ballot after his first year. King Felix has slightly better counting stats than Santana, with 2,524 career strikeouts to Santana’s 1,988, but he still may not have had the longevity to make the Hall.
6) Second base loaded with Utley, Pedroia and Kinsler
Chase Utley joined the ballot alongside Mauer as a similar type of candidate: He was also one of the best of his era at his position, with a peak career as one of baseball’s best players but limited longevity.
But the Phillies’ great second baseman didn’t receive the same love as Mauer in his first year of Hall of Fame eligibility, receiving 28.8% of the vote while Mauer was elected. Utley has a ways to go to get to Cooperstown, but it was a promising start, more promising than recent picks like Helton and Scott Rolen, so the Hall of Fame is certainly within the realm of possibility.
In 2025, Utley will also be joined on the ballot by two other great second basemen from that generation: Dustin Pedroia and Ian Kinsler. It will be interesting to see how Hall of Fame voters view that trio. All three finished with over 50 WAR in their careers: Utley led the way with 64.5 WAR, Kinsler 54.1 and Pedroia 51.9.
As for the two newcomers: Pedroia won an MVP award, a Rookie of the Year award and two World Series rings with the Red Sox in his 14 seasons in Boston, where he hit .299 for his career. Kinsler was a four-time All-Star with the Rangers and Tigers, and finished his career with 1,999 hits, 257 home runs and 243 stolen bases.
7) Can Andruw Jones make an effort in the final years of voting?
Like Beltran, Jones was an elite offensive and defensive center fielder. Many consider the 10-time Gold Glove winner to be one of, if not the best defensive center fielders of all time, and Jones also hit 434 home runs in his career.
The Braves icon is entering his eighth year of Hall of Fame eligibility in 2025, meaning he has three chances left to be inducted via the BBWAA ballot. And Jones has hope: He has finally begun to generate significant support for the Hall of Fame in recent voting cycles.
Jones received 61.6% of the vote this year, his highest percentage yet, and has come a remarkably long way from the 7.3% of the vote he received in his first year on the ballot in 2018. Maybe I’ll have one last push toward Cooperstown. in his final years on the ballot, especially if Jones can get a campaign behind him like Walker did a few years ago.