If I Had a Vote in the 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame Election

New Candidates

New to the 2025 BBWAA ballot are 14 candidates who reinforce the notion that Hall of Fame voting has returned to normal. None of them have any apparent taint of scandal or misdoing.

As noted previously, only starting pitcher CC Sabathia and right fielder Ichiro Suzuki are likely to be inducted, although neither might not be elected on this ballot despite each having reached vaunted 3000 counting-number career plateaus; for Sabathia, it's strikeouts, and for Ichiro, it's hits. None of the remaining dozen has a compelling Cooperstown case, but a few can make credible cases that can keep them on subsequent ballots.

Joining Sabathia and Suzuki as first-timers are Carlos González, Curtis Granderson, Félix Hernández, Adam Jones, Ian Kinsler, Russell Martin, Brian McCann, Dustin Pedroia, Hanley Ramirez, Fernando Rodney, Troy Tulowitzki, and Ben Zobrist.

In 2020, I posted a ballot forecast for the years 2021 to 2025, and for 2025 I evaluated Granderson, Kinsler, McCann, Sabathia, Suzuki, Tulowitzki, and Zobrist. (At that time, neither Hernández nor Pedroia had announced their retirement; otherwise, I would have included them.)



(Photo: Getty Images) Is Ian Kinsler a "one-and-doner"? Or did the excellent two-way second baseman have a career illustrious enough for the Hall of Fame?

I tagged Sabathia and Suzuki as Hall of Famers who probably wouldn't get in on their first ballot, and the rest as one-and-doners save perhaps Tulowitzki, whom I labeled a hard-luck case, and who might garner enough initial support to make it to the next ballot.

To see how the eleven position players, two starting pitchers, and one relief pitcher stack up against the competition already on previous ballots, the following tables detail Hall of Fame statistics for both these new candidates and the returning candidates.

The table below details the Hall of Fame statistics (explained in the legend beneath the table) for new and returning position players on the 2025 Hall of Fame ballot, ranked by bWAR. Position players appearing for the first time on the ballot are in bold type.

fWAR: Career Wins Above Replacement as calculated by FanGraphs.

bWAR: Career Wins Above Replacement as calculated by Baseball Reference.

oWAR: Career Wins Above Replacement, offensive value only (from Baseball Reference)

dWAR: Career Wins Above Replacement, defensive value only (from Baseball Reference)

JAWS: JAffe War Score system—an average of a player's career WAR and his seven-year WAR peak.

JAWS Rank: The player's ranking at that position by JAWS rating. (*) In this table, JAWS rank is for the player at his primary position only and is not a ranking of all position players.

Hall of Fame Monitor: An index of how likely a player is to be inducted to the Hall of Fame based on his entire playing record (offensive, defensive, awards, position played, postseason success), with an index score of 100 being a good possibility and 130 a "virtual cinch." Developed by Baseball Reference from a creation by Bill James.

Hall of Fame Standards: An index of performance standards, indexed to 50 as being the score for an average Hall of Famer. Developed by Baseball Reference from a creation by Bill James.

For the most part, value assessments by Baseball Reference and FanGraphs for position players fall within five or fewer wins above replacement except for catchers Russell Martin and Brian McCann, with both ranked within the top 15 receivers all-time by Fangraphs (Martin 11th, McCann 15th), while Baseball Reference's JAWS ranks Martin 28th and McCann 35th. (FanGraphs places a greater emphasis on peripheral statistics than does Baseball Reference, which in some instances results in wider variances between the two calculations.)

The table below details the Hall of Fame statistics for all the starting pitchers on the 2025 BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot, ranked by bWAR. Starting pitchers appearing for the first time on the ballot are in bold type.

S-JAWS: Starter JAWS. JAWS adjusted to offset WAR generated by pitchers with a significant number of appearances as a starting pitcher. (Modern pitchers tend to have an S-JAWS identical to their JAWS.)

ERA+: Earned run average league- and park-adjusted and indexed to 100, which indicates league-average.

Variance of pitchers' WAR between Baseball Reference and FanGraphs tends to be greater because Baseball Reference is rooted in runs allowed and innings pitched while FanGraphs leans on fielding-independent pitching (FIP), whose factors are the Three True Outcomes: home runs, bases on balls, and strikeouts. Thus, it's not surprising that Félix Hernández, Andy Pettitte, and CC Sabathia, all of whose career strikeout totals are north of 2400, have a higher fWAR than bWAR while Mark Buehrle, with 1870 strikeouts in 3283.1 innings pitched, takes an fWAR hit.

The table below details the Hall of Fame statistics for the relief pitchers appearing on the 2025 BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot, ranked by bWAR. Relief pitchers appearing for the first time on the ballot are in bold type.

R-JAWS: Reliever JAWS. JAWS adjusted to reflect a reliever's pitching environment. Calculated as the average of bWAR, Win Probability Added (WPA), and WPA divided by Leverage Index (LI) (WPA/LI).

With a strikeouts per nine innings pitched of 9.1 (943 strikeouts in 933.0 innings pitched), Fernando Rodney gets a WAR boost from FanGraphs as do the high-strikeout starting pitchers above, but his triple-digit rankings by either WAR method suggest that his making the ballot was a nod to his longevity rather than his effectiveness.

Outfielders

Starting with the outfielders new to the 2025 BBWAA ballot, Curtis Granderson and Adam Jones join three center fielders rolled over from the previous ballot—Carlos Beltrán, Torii Hunter, and Andruw Jones (no relation to Adam)—and while "position crowding," having a number of candidates at the same position, shouldn't be a factor in evaluating any single candidate, having Beltrán and Andruw Jones as "comps" hands the newcomers no favors.

The corner positions aren't as impacted, which likely makes evaluating left fielder Carlos Gonzales and right fielder Ichiro Suzuki less position-conscious.

Carlos Gonzalez

Considered a left fielder although he actually played 217 more games as a right fielder, Carlos Gonzalez spent the bulk of his 12-year career with the Colorado Rockies, where he made a splash in his first full season in 2010 but never matched, let alone exceeded, that performance.

Career Achievements: Three-time All-Star. Three Gold Glove Awards. Two Silver Slugger Awards. One batting title.

Career Highlights: Carlos Gonzalez's 2010 breakout season saw the Rockies' left fielder lead the National League with a .336 batting average and 197 hits, which included 34 doubles and 34 home runs, and lead the Majors with 351 total bases—no small feat considering that he was battling Albert Pujols and Joey Votto for NL Most Valuable Player honors. (Votto won; Gonzalez came in third behind Pujols.) "CarGo" also amassed a career-high 5.9 bWAR.

Gonzalez, benefiting from playing his home games at very hitter-friendly Coors Field, was a solid hitter for a seven-year stretch from 2010 to 2016, posting a .296/.353/.535/.888 slash line and a 123 OPS+, with seasonal averages of 143 hits, 28 doubles, 26 home runs, 82 runs scored, 86 RBI, 13 stolen bases, and 3.1 bWAR. But after experiencing a marked drop-off in production in 2017, he lasted just one more year in Colorado before ending his career with a handful of games for the Cleveland Indians and Chicago Cubs.

Verdict: With a career slash line of .285/.343/.500/.843, Carlos Gonzalez generated a 112 OPS+ and 24.4 bWAR, which is essentially his JAWS of 24.1 that ranks him 94th among all left fielders. CarGo might get a hometown vote or two before exiting the BBWAA ballot after his only appearance.

Curtis Granderson

Beginning his 16-year career with the Detroit Tigers in 2004, Curtis Granderson moved to New York in 2010 for significant stints with the Yankees and Mets. Despite being among career leaders in strikeouts, the center fielder led the league just once early in his career and never exceeded 200 strikeouts in a season. In fact, the "Grandy Man" was sneaky-good: He remained a center fielder for much of his career, generating 3.8 in career dWAR with 34 defensive runs saved overall as he slugged 346 doubles and 344 home runs while adding 95 triples and 153 stolen bases in 203 attempts, a power-speed combination that found him batting leadoff about half the time for his 2027 total games played.

Career Achievements: Three-time All-Star. One Silver Slugger Award. One Roberto Clemente Humanitarian Award.

Career Top 100 Leaderboards:

Offense: Strikeouts: 1916 (13th).

Defense (center field only): Fielding percentage: .993 (12th). Games: 1254 (56th). Putouts: 2989 (60th).

Career Highlights: Enjoying a banner year in 2007, Curtis Granderson posted a .302/.361/.552/.913 slash line, good for a 135 OPS+, from career highs in hits (185), doubles (38), and a Major League-leading 23 triples; moreover, by adding 23 home runs, the Detroit Tigers' center fielder became one of only six players in the exclusive "20-20-20" doubles-triples-home runs club—and by stealing 26 bases, he became only one of four players to reach that "20-20-20-20" mark. The Grandy Man's 7.6 bWAR was another career high and the first of three years with a seasonal bWAR of 5.0 or better.

With the Yankees in 2011, Granderson led the American League in runs batted in (119) and the Majors in runs scored (136); he finished fourth in AL Most Valuable Player voting and earned his only Silver Slugger Award with 41 home runs to go with 26 doubles and ten triples. He was in his decline phase when he joined the cross-town Mets in 2014, his age-33 season, although he still hit at least 24 doubles and 20 home runs a season from 2014 to 2017 before bowing out after 2019.

Verdict: Never a marquee presence, Curtis Granderson was a valuable two-way center fielder, later moving to right field, with a strong power-speed one-two punch who accumulated 47.1 bWAR over his career. His 40.9 JAWS ranks 33rd all-time, which won't get him into the Hall of Fame but it might keep him on the ballot for a few more years.

Adam Jones

Bookended by his two-year start with the Seattle Mariners beginning in 2006 and his final year as an Arizona Diamondback in 2019, Adam Jones was a durable fixture in center field for the Baltimore Orioles from 2008 to 2018, contributing both in the field and at the plate although he was never a league-leader in any significant category.

Career Achievements: Five-time All-Star. Four Gold Glove Awards. One Silver Slugger Award.

Career Top 100 Leaderboards:

Offense: Hit by pitch: 103 (96th).

Defense (center field only): Games: 1590 (28th). Putouts: 3964 (29th). Assists: 96 (49th). Errors: 56 (69th). Range factor/game: 2.55 (65th).

Career Highlights: By 2008, Adam Jones was the Orioles' starting center fielder, and for a five-year stretch from 2011 to 2015, Jones slashed .281/.318/.482/.800, generating a 116 OPS+, as he posted seasonal averages of 154 games played, 653 plate appearances, 172 hits including 31 doubles and 29 home runs, 87 runs scored, 90 runs driven in, ten stolen bases, and 4.1 bWAR. Named to five All-Star squads; he finished his 14-year MLB career with 336 doubles, 282 home runs, a .454 slugging percentage, and a 106 OPS+.

Verdict: Adam Jones is in the top ten for several Orioles records and is certain to be inducted into the storied franchise's hall of fame. However, except for a hometown vote or two, his sojourn on the BBWAA will be brief.

Ichiro Suzuki

The first Japanese superstar in American Major League Baseball, right fielder Ichiro Suzuki caused a sensation as soon as he suited up for the Seattle Mariners in 2001, joining Fred Lynn as the only player to win Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player honors in the same year. A perennial All-Star and Gold Glove Award recipient for a decade, Ichiro, who had come to the United States at age 28 after nine spectacular years in Nippon Professional Baseball, hung on for several seasons to collect 3000 hits in MLB, a goal he finally attained although he was shell of his former self after doing so.

Career Achievements: Rookie of the Year. Most Valuable Player Award. Ten-time All-Star; one-time All-Star MVP. Ten Gold Glove Awards. Three Silver Slugger Awards. Two batting titles. Single-season record for hits (262).

Career Top 100 Leaderboards:

Offense: Singles: 2514 (6th). Hits: 3089 (25th). Intentional walks: 181 (28th). At-bats: 9934 (32nd). Stolen bases: 509 (35th). Games: 2653 (38th). Outs made: 7152 (46th). Plate appearances: 10,734 (49th). Stolen base percentage: 81.31 (55th). Times on base: 3791 (70th). Caught stealing: 117 (74th). Runs created: 1501 (89th). Total bases: 3994 (90th).

Defense (right field only): Total Zone runs: 127 (6th). Fielding percentage: .992 (7th). Putouts: 4005 (8th). Games: 1970 (12th). Range factor/game: 2.08 (23rd). Assists: 100 (57th). Double plays turned: 22 (73rd).

Career Highlights: So much ink has been spilled over Ichiro Suzuki's career since Day One (I've written about his Hall of Fame chances first in 2012 and then again in 2016) that we'll skip a recap to look at the stark contrast between Peak Ichiro and Weak Ichiro, his first ten years versus his last nine years.

From 2001 to 2010, in 1588 games and 7339 plate appearances, Ichiro delivered a slash line of .331/.376/.430/.806, producing a 117 OPS+, while he averaged, per season, 224 hits, 105 runs scored, 38 stolen bases, and 5.5 bWAR. Over ten years, that amounted to 2244 hits, 1047 runs scored, and 383 stolen bases. For voters drawn to volume, Suzuki's counting numbers might seem light, and by continuing to play for nine more years, he did reach plateaus in hits (3089), runs scored (1420), and stolen bases (509). But as a career peak, Ichiro's ten-year run is a remarkable accomplishment.

How remarkable it is can be glimpsed by Suzuki's career bWAR of 60.0, with most of it, 54.8, generated during this peak. For the nine-year remainder of his career, he generated 5.2 bWAR, which was almost as much as he generated in a single average peak season.

From 2011 to 2019, in 1065 games and 3395 plate appearances, Ichiro delivered a slash line of .268/.309/.342/.652, producing an 83 OPS+. Granted, Suzuki was a part-time player during his last six seasons, collecting at least 300 plate appearances three times and at least 400 only once—but that is the point: Ichiro Suzuki was at best a replacement-level player for nearly half of his MLB career and, in all likelihood, would have been designated for assignment long before he called it quits had he not been Ichiro Suzuki.



Will Ichiro Suzuki be a first-ballot Hall of Famer? Or will Peak Ichiro be held back by Weak Ichiro, the mediocre second half of his career that contrasts with his brilliant first half?

Verdict: Ichiro Suzuki will be inducted into the Hall of Fame, although it might not be on this ballot even if he is a member of the 3000-hit club. As noted above, Peak Ichiro and Weak Ichiro offer such a stark contrast that voters might penalize him for hanging on so long after his effectiveness had eroded. Still, Ichiro's tremendous peak and its attendant bling is auspicious enough to set him to writing his induction speech. Well, sometime, anyway.

Infielders

As with the center fielders, the middle infielders new to this ballot drive up the talent compression and in turn the "position crowding." Returning second baseman Chase Utley is joined by three new second basemen: Ian Kinsler, Dustin Pedroia, and Ben Zobrist, although Zobrist's versatility may be looked at differently given that he was a "super scrub" who could fill in at several positions.

With three shortstops—Alex Rodríguez, Jimmy Rollins, and Omar Vizquel—already on the ballot, Hanley Ramirez and Troy Tulowitzki will invite comparisons to them (although Rodríguez also spent significant time at third). And with returning David Wright the only third-base candidate, the corner infield positions look sparse; in fact, this ballot marks the first time this century that there hasn't been a full-time first baseman candidate.

Ian Kinsler

Like Curtis Granderson, Ian Kinsler was sneaky-good. How sneaky-good? After the 2013 season, the Detroit Tigers traded Prince Fielder to the Texas Rangers to acquire the second baseman and even threw in $30 million in cash to cover some of the salary differential. An excellent two-way second baseman, Kinsler spent the first eight years of his 14-year career with the Rangers, playing for the 2010 and 2011 American League Pennant winners during their back-to-back World Series losses, before his move to Detroit. Late in his career, he did win a World Series ring with the 2018 Red Sox.

Career Achievements: Four-time All-Star. Two Gold Glove Awards. World Series champion (2018).

Career Top 100 Leaderboards:

Defense (second base only): Total Zone runs: 80 (8th). Double plays turned: 1291 (13th). Games: 1828 (20th). Putouts: 3397 (45th). Assists: 5219 (81st). Errors committed: 168 (90th).

Career Highlights: As a minor leaguer, Ian Kinsler won a Diamond in the Rough Award before he debuted with the Texas Rangers in 2006. By 2008, that diamond began to shine as he was named to the first of four All-Star squads by rapping out a .319/.375/.517/.892 slash line that yielded a career-high 134 OPS+ bolstered by 41 doubles and 18 home runs, while he scored 102 runs, the first of six 100-run seasons.

He joined the 30-30 club first in 2009 with 31 home runs and 31 stolen bases, and again in 2011 with 32 dingers and 30 swipes. And although his two Gold Gloves came later, Kinsler led the Major Leagues in Total Zone total fielding runs above average for second-sackers with 14 in 2009 and the American League with 12 Total Zone runs two years later.

In 2014, his first year with the Tigers, "Kins" paced the Majors in plate appearances (726) and at-bats (684) as he hit 40 doubles for the third time and established career highs in hits (188) and runs batted in (92) while making his fourth and final All-Star team. Winning his first Gold Glove in 2016, his age-34 season, Kinsler was dealt to the Red Sox in 2018 for their pennant push that resulted in Boston's fourth World Series victory of the century; in addition to the Series ring, Kinsler won his second Gold Glove. With five seasons with 5.0 bWAR or more, Ian Kinsler amassed 54.1 bWAR and 15.1 dWAR, 18th all-time among second baseman.

Verdict: Frankly, I'm more impressed with Ian Kinsler now than I had been in 2020, when I labeled him a one-and-doner. That's what sneaky-good will do for you. Kinsler's JAWS of 46.1 places him 21st all-time, just ahead of four current Hall of Fame second basemen with at least 40.0 JAWS, although with Dustin Pedroia debuting on this ballot as well, Ian Kinsler may find himself waiting to be discovered as a diamond in the rough again.

However, he does deserve that chance to be re-evaluated, and I hope at least five percent of this year's voters feel the same way too as a second look at Kinsler does reveal more about this quietly impressive second baseman.

Dustin Pedroia

Speaking of the devil, Dustin Pedroia didn't need to be uncovered in order to shine—his dazzling began once he became the American League's Rookie of the Year in 2007 and then the AL's Most Valuable player the following season. In a 14-year career all spent with the Boston Red Sox, "Laser Show" established the foundation for a Hall of Fame career right off the bat, but health woes starting in 2010 hampered him until he finally announced his retirement in 2021.

Career Achievements: Rookie of the Year. Most Valuable Player Award. Four-time All-Star. Four Gold Glove Awards. One Silver Slugger Award. Two-time World Series champion (2007, 2013).

Career Top 100 Leaderboards:

Defense (second base only): Fielding percentage: .991 (3rd). Total Zone runs: 98 (5th). Games: 1492 (41st). Double plays turned: 940 (42nd). Assists: 4004 (51st). Putouts: 2574 (92nd).

Career Highlights: Dustin Pedroia burst into prominence as Boston's regular second baseman in 2007, earning AL Rookie of the Year honors with a .317/.380/.442/.823 slash line while hitting 39 doubles, the first of eight seasons in which he hit 30 or more doubles, and helping the Red Sox to their second World Series championship since 2004; facing off against the Colorado Rockies' Jeff Francis in the first inning of Game One, Pedroia became the first rookie to lead off a World Series by hitting a home run and only the second-ever batter to do so after Don Buford.

"Petey" literally doubled down in 2008 as his slash line of .326/.376/.493/.869 yielded a 123 OPS+ while he led the AL in runs scored (118) and paced the Major Leagues with 213 hits and 54 doubles. Earning his first All-Star selection, first Gold Glove Award, and his only Silver Slugger Award in 2008, Pedroia was also named the AL's Most Valuable Player. In addition, he swiped 20 bases, the first of four years with 20 or more steals, while getting caught just once.

Leading the AL in runs scored (115) again in 2009, Dustin Pedroia seemed on course for a Hall of Fame career, but a foot injury in 2010 halved his playing time while proving a portent of his future health woes. He rebounded in 2011 with a career-high 8.0 bWAR, and in 2016 he slashed .318/.376/.449/.825 while generating a 117 OPS+ and 5.4 bWAR, but knee surgery after the 2017 season effectively ended his career.



A Rookie of the Year, then a Most Valuable Player, second baseman Dustin Pedroia burst out of the gate en route to the Hall of Fame before injuries slowed his career to a halt.

Verdict: Like countless players before (and after) him, Dustin Pedroia launched his career with a flourish until the physical toll of top-flight baseball competition felled him. And like Ian Kinsler, who is a fraction behind Pedroia when measured by JAWS (46.1 compared to Pedroia's 46.5), Petey deserves at least five percent of the vote to keep him eligible for further Hall of Fame consideration, although both are overshadowed by Chase Utley, whose JAWS rating is a full ten wins better than both. Still, Pedroia's bling—MVP, Rookie of the Year, two World Series rings (one better than Kinsler and Utley)—might give him an edge, but only if voters keep his chances alive for a few more years.

Hanley Ramirez

Much like Dustin Pedroia, Hanley Ramirez attracted attention out of the box as the 2006 Rookie of the Year shortstop for the Florida Marlins before winning a batting title and coming in second in National League Most Valuable Player voting to another otherworldly season by Albert Pujols. Again like Pedroia, Ramirez began to battle injuries as his career progressed, but unlike the Red Sox second baseman, Ramirez was strictly an offensive shortstop whose limited defensive skills soon eroded, pushing him to various other positions as his career meandered across three other teams before ending after the 2019 season.

Career Achievements: Rookie of the Year. Three-time All-Star. Two Silver Slugger Awards. One batting title.

Career Highlights: Hanley Ramirez first made his mark in 2006 in Florida, where he displayed excellent power-speed numbers in his first full season as the Marlins' shortstop, hitting 46 doubles and 17 home runs while stealing 51 bases en route to being named the National League's Rookie of the Year.

From 2006 to 2010, Ramirez hit .300 or better and generated a 136 OPS+ from a slash line of .313/.385/.521/.906 while averaging, per season, 187 hits including 40 doubles and 25 home runs, 112 runs scored, 78 runs driven in, 39 stolen bases, and an All-Star-caliber 5.2 bWAR as he indeed was named to three All-Star teams. He led the Majors in runs scored (125) in 2008 before pacing the NL with a .342 batting average the following year; Ramirez also garnered a Silver Slugger Award for each of those two seasons.

But as injuries began to plague him starting in 2010, Ramirez drifted to the Los Angeles Dodgers and then to the Boston Red Sox, who put him in left field in 2015, a position he had never played before. Compounded by the unique challenges of Fenway Park's Green Monster, the experiment was a disaster as Ramirez was rated the worst left fielder defensively while injuries also limited him to 105 games worth –0.7 in bWAR. A move to first base in 2016 found him hitting 30 home runs while knocking in a career-high 111 runs, his last gasp as he fell below average for his last three seasons before retiring.

Verdict: Never a defensive ace particularly at shortstop, Hanley Ramirez was worth –8.7 in dWAR over his career at all positions while posting –40 Total Zone total fielding runs above average and –76 defensive runs saved as a shortstop. That put the onus on his offensive capabilities, and he did collect 1834 hits including 375 doubles and 281 home runs. His 36.5 JAWS ranks 42nd all-time among shortstops, below marginal Hall of Famers Travis Jackson, Phil Rizzuto, and Rabbit Maranville, and Ramirez will likely fall significantly below the five-percent threshold necessary to stay on a second ballot.

Troy Tulowitzki

On this ballot, Troy Tulowitzki is the poster child for how injuries can sabotage a Hall of Fame career. "Tulo" was a scary-good two-way shortstop from the mold of Cal Ripken, Jr., and Alex Rodríguez, and he would have posted similar stratospheric numbers, whether clean (Ripken) or tainted (Rodríguez) and even from playing most of his 13-year career with the Colorado Rockies (albeit post-humidor to normalize the baseballs), had he been able to play at least 140 games a season more than three times.

Career Achievements: Five-time All-Star. Two Gold Glove Awards. Two Silver Slugger Awards.

Career Top 100 Leaderboards:

Defense (shortstop only): Fielding percentage: .985 (2nd). Total Zone runs: 122 (36th). Double plays turned: 871 (61st). Defensive WAR: 17.1 (83rd). Games: 1268 (95th).

Career Highlights: By 2007, Troy Tulowitzki was the Colorado Rockies' starting shortstop posting career highs in games played (155), plate appearances (682), at-bats (609), hits (177), runs scored (104), and bWAR (6.8) as the Milwaukee Brewers' Ryan Braun bested Tulowitzki by a sliver for National League Rookie of the Year recognition; Tulo also went to his only World Series in 2007 as the Rockies were swept by the Boston Red Sox.

But the rangy shortstop's battle with injuries began in 2008, initiating his up-and-down fortunes that plagued him until his retirement. In 2009, he did have career highs in home runs (32), stolen bases (20), and bases on balls (73), and the following year his slash line of .315/.381/.568/.969 produced a 138 OPS+, 32 doubles, 27 home runs, 89 runs scored, and 95 RBI in just 122 games and 529 plate appearances as he made his first All-Star squad and earned his first Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Awards.

His 2011 season marked the last time he would play at least 140 games and make at least 600 plate appearances while banging out 162 hits, including 36 doubles (a career high) and 30 home runs, scoring 81 runs, and driving in 105 more, another career high, as he repeated his All-Star, Gold Glove, and Silver Slugger honors.

However, groin surgery in 2012 ultimately saw him manage just three seasons with at least 120 games played before he retired. Playing 1268 games at shortstop, Tulo was worth 122 Total Zone total fielding runs above average, 99 defensive runs saved, and 17.1 dWAR. He led all Major League shortstops in putouts, assists and double plays turned once and in fielding percentage twice, and he paced NL shortstops in fielding percentage and double plays turned two more times each.



Like Dustin Pedroia, shortstop Troy Tulowitzki seemed destined for Cooperstown, but his only on-field handicap was trying to stay healthy enough to play.

Verdict: A no-doubt Hall of Fame shortstop on both sides of the ball when he could stay healthy, Troy Tulowitzki is one of the toughest hard-luck cases in recent years. His 42.4 JAWS ranks 28th all-time for shortstops, just south of borderline Hall of Famers Joe Tinker, Dave Bancroft, and Luis Aparicio. It's problematic to induct a player for what he might have been, but Tulo might attract the same support that David Wright, another injury-prone hard-luck case, had done last year.

Ben Zobrist

Is Ben Zobrist the face of the new Hall of Fame position player? Does he in fact have a chance to be elected to the Hall? During his 14-year career, the versatile switch-hitter played over half of his games at second base, but he also logged significant time at shortstop and at the corner outfield positions, first for Joe Maddon's Tampa Bay Rays teams and then for Maddon again in Chicago, where Zobrist was named the World Series Most Valuable Player in 2016 as the Cubs ended their century-long championship.

Whatever Zobrist's fate might be on this ballot or any subsequent ones, his inclusion as what used to be dismissed as a mere utility player suggests a fundamental change in how we assess player candidates for the Hall of Fame.

Career Achievements: Three-time All-Star. Two-time World Series champion (2015, 2016); one-time World Series Most Valuable Player (2016).

Career Top 100 Leaderboards:

Defense (total outfield only): Fielding percentage: .993 (18th).

Defense (second base only): Fielding percentage: .987 (28th).

Career Highlights: By 2008, Ben Zobrist had become a true utility player for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, playing at least four innings at every position (including designated hitter) except pitcher and catcher, before his 2009 breakout season split primarily between second base and right field. Slashing .297/.405/.543/.949 with a 149 OPS+, all career bests, "Zorilla" hit 28 doubles and a career-high 27 home runs while scoring 91 runs and knocking in 91 more runs, another career high, while his 8.6 bWAR, another career best, was tops in the American League and helped to earn him his first All-Star appearance. In addition, he walked 91 times, the first of four seasons with 90 or more bases on balls.

While Zobrist never had another single season as lofty, he did establish an impressive six-year peak in Tampa Bay between 2009 and 2014 with a slash line of .270/.364/.437/.801, resulting in a 123 OPS+ and 36.1 of his career 44.5 bWAR including an equally notable 8.6 dWAR over those six seasons, further proving his value on both sides of the ball as a reliable defender at multiple positions. In 2015, he became the Kansas City Royals' starting second baseman as they defeated the New York Mets in five games for their second World Series championship.

A year later, Zobrist arrived in Chicago to play primarily at second base, hitting 31 doubles, scoring 94 runs, and walking 96 times against only 82 strikeouts in 631 plate appearances, good for a 121 OPS+ and 3.4 bWAR, while earning his third All-Star appearance and proving integral to the Cubs' first World Series victory in 108 years—indeed, he was named the World Series' Most Valuable Player. In 2018, he hit .305, his only .300-plus season, in 520 plate appearances while adding 3.5 bWAR in value to the Cubs before retiring after the 2019 season.

Verdict: With a JAWS of 42.1, Ben Zobrist ranks 27th all-time among second basemen, just below Hall of Famers Bobby Doerr and Nellie Fox, but Zobrist is more than just a second baseman. By traditional standards, Ben Zobrist did not establish a Hall of Fame career at any one position; rather, he helped to redefine what it means to be a position player in a game that has significantly, if not radically, redefined itself since the Hall began inducting players in 1936.

Zobrist played where he was needed to help his team win games, and he played on two teams that went all the way to win a World Series, becoming the Series' MVP in one of those. In that respect, Zobrist would be a singular, if not unique, Hall of Famer, and he at least deserves to get five percent of the vote to enable his intriguing case to be evaluated further.

Catchers

Last year, Joe Mauer was elected to the Hall of Fame on his first ballot, the third of three catchers inducted into Cooperstown in the last decade, joining Mike Piazza, elected on his fourth try in 2016, and Ivan Rodríguez, a first-ballot pick in 2017, which brings the total number of receivers in the Hall to 20. Russell Martin and Brian McCann represent this crucial position this year.

Russell Martin

An excellent defensive catcher, Russell Martin also showed promising hitting skills when he came up with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2006, hitting .280 or better and posting an OPS+ of 100 or better in his first three seasons. But his bat wilted starting in 2009 although he showed a resurgence in the mid-2010s. In his 14-year career, Martin was also the backstop for the New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Toronto Blue Jays before returning to the Dodgers for his final season in 2019.

Career Achievements: Four-time All-Star. One Gold Glove Award. One Silver Slugger Award.

Career Top 100 Leaderboards:

Offense: Hit by pitch: 107 (83rd).

Defense (catcher only): Putouts: 11,612 (8th). Range factor/game: 7.95 (21st). Games: 1579 (27th). Fielding percentage: .993 (49th). Stolen bases allowed: 840 (55th). Assists: 941 (60th). Total Zone runs: 17 (84th). Defensive WAR: 16.5 (92nd).

Career Highlights: When Russell Martin became the Los Angeles Dodgers' full-time catcher in 2007, he delivered at the plate, slashing .293/.374/.469/.843, good for a 116 OPS+ and 5.6 bWAR, as he established career highs for hits (158), doubles (32), RBI (87), stolen bases (21), and total bases (253) while he made his first All-Star team and collected his only Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Awards. However, Martin's offensive production dipped steadily for the rest of his career even though he remained a solid defensive catcher.

After two seasons with the New York Yankees starting in 2011, Martin made a good impression with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2013 by posting a career-high 21 defensive runs saved and pacing the Majors both in assists by catchers with 103, and, with just two errors in 990 chances, in fielding percentage with .998—resulting in a career-high dWAR of 2.4 that contributed to his overall 4.1 bWAR, his best mark since 2008. Moreover, his offense returned the next year with a .290/.402/.430/.832 slash line that generated career highs in OPS+ (135) and bWAR (5.7).

Martin, a French-Canadian born in Toronto's East York suburb, returned to Canada in 2015 and made his third and final All-Star squad with the Blue Jays while hitting a career-high 23 home runs. But after three progressively declining years in Toronto, he played his final season in 2019 with the Dodgers before formally announcing his retirement in 2022.

Verdict: Following a modest but promising start, Russell Martin proved to be an outstanding defensive catcher, producing 16.5 in dWAR, 14th all-time after Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk, and collecting 17 Total Zone total fielding runs above average and 120 defensive runs saved. With a 33.0 JAWS that ranks him 28th all-time among catchers, Russell Martin might pick up a hometown (or home-country) vote or two, but this is the only Hall of Fame ballot he will be on.

Brian McCann

Brian McCann is the reverse image of Russell Martin, an excellent-hitting catcher whose defense could be suspect. Spending two-thirds of his 15-year career with his local team the Atlanta Braves, the Georgia-born McCann also caught for the New York Yankees and for the Houston Astros, joining them in time for their first-ever World Series championship, albeit one tainted by the sign-stealing scandal that has seemingly delayed teammate Carlos Beltrán's election to the Hall of Fame. Whether McCann, the first Astro after Beltrán to undergo scrutiny by Hall voters, will feel any opprobrium from that remains to be seen although his name has not been floated in connection to the scheme.

Career Achievements: Seven-time All-Star; one-time All-Star Most Valuable Player. One-time World Series champion (2017). Six Silver Slugger Awards.

Career Top 100 Leaderboards:

Defense (catcher only): Putouts: 12,048 (6th). Range factor/game: 7.93 (22nd). Games: 1612 (24th). Stolen bases allowed: 897 (46th). Fielding percentage: .993 (56th). Double plays turned: 84 (85th). Assists: 729 (95th).

Career Highlights: Brian McCann debuted with the Atlanta Braves in 2005 as the personal catcher for future Hall of Famer John Smoltz before becoming the Braves' full-time catcher the following season, banging out a robust .333/.388/.572/.961 slash line, which yielded a career-best 143 OPS+, as he hit 34 doubles and 24 home runs, the first of ten 20-plus home run seasons overall, while scoring 61 runs and knocking in 93 more as he made his first All-Star team and garnered his first Silver Slugger Award.

In 2008, McCann posted career-highs in bWAR (5.5), hits (153; good for a .301 batting average), doubles (42), and runs scored (68). From 2006 to 2011, McCann posted a slash line of .287/.359/.491/.850, producing a 123 OPS+, with per-season averages of 137 games played, 138 hits, 32 doubles, 22 home runs, 60 runs scored, 86 runs batted in, and 3.4 bWAR.

With the New York Yankees in 2014, McCann had career highs in home runs (26) and RBI (94; tying his 2009 total) in 2015, but having hit his decline phase, he was soon relegated to designated-hitter duties. Dealt to the Houston Astros for the 2017 season, he was the Astros' starting catcher in all seven World Series games against the Los Angeles Dodgers, scoring five runs and hitting one home run to earn his championship ring.

Verdict: Ranked 35th with 28.3 JAWS among catchers all-time, and despite the recognition for his offensive prowess, Brian McCann's oWAR of 34.2, ranked 28th all-time, is just 1.1 wins better than Russell Martin's 33.1, 30th all-time, with Martin considered primarily a defensive catcher. McCann, who had led the Majors in catcher errors twice early in his career, tightened up his defensive game to produce a career 17 defensive runs saved. Like Russell Martin, though, Brian McCann will get token nods from hometown writers on his only Hall of Fame ballot.

Starting Pitchers

Not only do starting pitchers face a tough time on the mound during their playing days, they don't seem to get much respect on the BBWAA ballot. The writers voted in a half-dozen starters between 2014 and 2019, but Curt Schilling, seemingly certain to be elected before shooting himself in the foot, failed to gain entry into the Hall while Mark Buehrle and Andy Pettitte, on this current ballot, have kept alive but little more as they pass through their ballot decline phase.

Félix Hernández and CC Sabathia, both first-time starting-pitcher candidates on this ballot, each won a Cy Young Award while neither Buehrle nor Pettitte ever did, but whether that will help their cause remains to be seen.

Félix Hernández

When Félix Hernández won the American League Cy Young Award in 2010, his win-loss record of 13–12 was just one win above .500, which signaled a sea change in evaluating a pitcher's value that devalued both games won and winning percentages in favor of advanced statistics. Hernández's Seattle Mariners had lost 101 games in 2010, which means his 13 wins represented one-fifth of the team's wins, but his Major League-leading 2.27 earned run average would have looked just as impressive even if the Mariners had been a winning ballclub.

Career Achievements: Six-time All-Star. One Cy Young Award. Two earned run average titles.

Career Top 100 Leaderboard:

Wild pitches: 156 (31st). Strikeouts: 2524 (37th). Win probability added: 25.7 (69th). Strikeouts per nine innings pitched: 8.322 (70th). Strikeouts to bases on balls: 3.135 (71st). Hits by pitch: 105 (79th). Home runs allowed: 264 (96th).

Career Highlights: Debuting with the Seattle Mariners in 2005, Félix Hernández hit his stride by 2007, launching a nine-year stretch during which "King Félix" held court as one of baseball's premier pitchers, averaging, per season, 14 wins, 9 losses, a .605 win-loss percentage, 32 games started, 221 innings pitched, 210 strikeouts, a 3.00 ERA, a 131 ERA+, a 3.15 FIP, 8.6 strikeouts per nine innings pitched, a 3.45 strikeout-to walk ratio (SO/BB), and an All-Star-caliber 5.1 bWAR.

In 2009, Hernández led the Majors in wins and win percentage (.792) with a sterling 19–5 win-loss ratio capped by his 2.49 ERA and 174 ERA+ as he made his first All-Star squad and finished second in Cy Young voting to Zack Greinke. He took that Cy Young Award the following year as he led the American League in games started (34), innings pitched (249.2), and bWAR for pitchers (7.2) while leading the Majors with a sparkling 2.27 ERA (while his 174 ERA+ was a career high) and in batters faced (1001). Although he didn't make the AL All-Star team in his Cy Young season, he did in 2011, the first of five consecutive years that found him at the Midsummer Classic.



"King Félix" Hernández's 2010 Cy Young was a crowning achievement that stressed non-traditional measurements of starting-pitcher excellence. Will that help him get into Cooperstown?


The King was in regal form in 2012, leading MLB with five shutouts while pacing the AL with a 2.84 FIP as he posted the fourth of six consecutive years with 200 or more strikeouts and seven consecutive years of ten years overall with an SO/BB of 3.00 or better; he finished his career with an SO/BB of 3.14. Crowning his regal season was his perfect-game no-hitter in Seattle against the Tampa Bay Rays, striking out 12 batters in a 1–0 game.

The King's reign continued through 2014, when he was runner-up to Corey Kluber for the AL Cy Young in close voting helped by his league-leading (and career-high) 2.14 ERA while he also paced the AL with a 0.915 WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) and 6.5 hits allowed per nine innings pitched. However, by 2015, his age-29 year, his decline began to set in before his final season in 2019.

Verdict: With a career S-JAWS (JAWS adjusted for starting pitchers) of 44.1 that ranks 97th all-time among starters, Félix Hernández must rely on his peak to convince voters that he is a Hall of Famer. That worked for Sandy Koufax, who is one tick above King Félix in S-JAWS, but it might not fly for Félix although he is sure to become a fixture on subsequent ballots as voters deliberate his Hall of Fame fate.

CC Sabathia

Coming on like an economy-sized James "Hippo" Vaughn, burly CC Sabathia piled up old-school-like counting numbers, at least compared to the current era, although the intimidating left-hander has also been compared to Andy Pettitte, who has yet to muster widespread support on the BBWAA ballot. Yet Carsten Charles Sabathia can add some bling, namely, a Cy Young Award, to go with milestones including, like Pettitte, at least 250 wins while Sabathia also reached the vaunted 3000-strikeout plateau. Pitching eight seasons of his 19-year career with the Cleveland Indians, he spent three more than that with the New York Yankees as he transitioned from being a power pitcher to a control pitcher, while in 2008 he had a brief but memorable half-season stint with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Career Achievements: Six-time All-Star. One-time World Series champion (2009). One Cy Young Award.

Career Top 100 Leaderboard:

Home runs allowed: 382 (18th). Strikeouts: 3093 (18th). Earned runs allowed: 1485 (42nd). Wins: 251 (47th). WAR for pitchers: 61.8 (55th). Innings pitched: 3577.3 (64th). Bases on balls: 1099 (77th). Hits allowed: 3404 (80th). Win probability added: 22.8 (91st).

Career Highlights: As a rookie in 2001, CC Sabathia started 33 games, the first of 12 seasons with 30 or more starts, and won 17 of 22 decisions for a .773 win-loss percentage while striking out 171 batters in 180.1 innings pitched; he may very well have been the American League's Rookie of the Year had not Ichiro Suzuki bested him. Pitching in the teeth of the steroids era, "Dub" was a workhorse who pitched 180 innings or more for the first 13 years of his career including a string of seven consecutive seasons with 200 or more innings pitched from 2007 to 2013. Honing his craft by 2006, Sabathia posted a 3.22 ERA, a 139 ERA+, and a 3.30 FIP while striking out 172 batters against just 44 bases on balls for a sparkling 3.91 SO/BB.

In 2007, Sabathia won 19 games against just seven losses in 34 starts and a Major League-leading 241.0 innings pitched while practically replicating his 2006 run-prevention numbers—3.21 ERA, 141 ERA+, and 3.14 FIP—and reaching the 200-strikeout plateau for the first of three times with 209 punch-outs while walking only 37 batters for an MLB-best 5.65 SO/BB; his sterling effort won him the AL Cy Young Award. Traded midseason the following year to the Milwaukee Brewers, he delivered another Cy Young-caliber effort, winning 11 games while losing only two in 17 starts with a remarkable 1.65 ERA, 255 ERA+, and 2.44 FIP in 130.2 innings pitched; between the Brewers and Indians he had a combined 10 complete games and five shutouts as the southpaw's tremendous effort steered the Brewers into the postseason.

In 2009, CC Sabathia joined the New York Yankees and helped them to their first World Series victory in nine years. In his first four years in the Bronx, he won 74 games, pacing the Majors in that category in 2009 and 2010, while losing just 29 games for a .718 win-loss percentage as he averaged, per season, 32 starts, 226 innings pitched, 205 strikeouts against 62 walks for a 3.34 SO/BB, a 3.22 ERA, a 135 ERA+, a 3.28 FIP, and 5.2 bWAR. From 2010 to 2012, he made the AL All-Star Team every year.



With an old-school approach to contemporary starting pitching, CC Sabathia achieved milestones that included 3000 career strikeouts. Will that nudge him into the Hall of Fame?

By 2013, though, injuries, knee surgery, and struggles with alcohol were taking their toll; before the 2019 season, he announced his retirement after the season was over. His final appearance in Game Four of the 2019 AL Championship Series against the Houston Astros, in which his pitching shoulder gave out, saw him literally throwing until he could throw no longer.

Verdict: With a career record similar to Andy Pettitte's, CC Sabathia's 50.8 JAWS rating, which ranks 55th among starting pitchers, nudges ahead of Pettitte's 47.2, ranked at 82nd, but the similarity between the two left-handers is so close that it's not hard to see Sabathia stalling on the ballot in the same way Pettitte has been doing. Differentiators such as Sabathia's Cy Young Award, his 3000-strikeout milestone, and his half-season of dominance in 2008 with the Brewers might be enough to push him across the Hall of Fame threshold, but it probably won't be on this ballot, and it may not come soon after this one, either.

Relief Pitchers

The good news is that six of the eight Hall of Fame pitchers considered relievers have been inducted since the turn of the century; even better, Billy Wagner, who fell five votes shy last year, is very likely to be voted into Cooperstown on this ballot—which is also his tenth and final opportunity.

The not-so-good news is that with the cream of the crop already in the Hall, the bar to admission has been set high, and a number of high-profile (e.g., Jonathan Papelbon) or sleeper (e.g., Joe Nathan) relief-pitcher candidates have already fallen by the wayside.

Fernando Rodney

With 327 saves, 19th all-time, Fernando Rodney occupied the closer slot with a few of the 11 teams he pitched for during his 17 Major League seasons. The right-hander who wore his cap askew and took to shooting an imaginary arrow into the air after clinching a save pitched in 951 games, all in relief and 20th all-time, as are his 590 games finished, and he capped (ahem) his career by winning a World Series with the Washington Nationals in his final year.

Career Achievements: Three-time All-Star. One World Series championship (2019).

Career Top 100 Leaderboards:

Saves: 327 (19th). Games: 951 (20th). Games finished: 590 (20th).

Career Highlights: It took Fernando Rodney a decade of toiling in the bullpen for the Detroit Tigers, then the Los Angeles Angels, before he enjoyed a brief halcyon period with the Tampa Bay Rays starting in 2012. That season, he was out of this world in 76 appearances, allowing just two of 18 inherited runners to score and allowing a mere five earned runs in 74.2 innings pitched, which included 76 strikeouts, for a miniscule 0.60 ERA—the lowest ERA ever by a qualifying relief pitcher—and a Dennis Eckersley-like 641 ERA+ as he posted a career-high 48 saves; he finished fifth in AL Cy Young voting and was named to his first All-Star team while his bWAR value of 3.7 accounts for half of his 7.4 career bWAR.

Rodney's hot streak continued into 2014 with the Seattle Mariners as he paced the AL with 64 games finished and the Majors with 48 saves, matching his career high and setting the Mariners' franchise record while striking out 76 hitters in 66.1 innings pitched; his 2.85 ERA would be his last sub-3.00 ERA. But by 2015 he was struggling again. A literal and figurative journeyman for his last four seasons, Fernando played for seven teams before making his final stop with Washington Nationals in 2019, where he won a World Series ring.

Verdict: Longevity that enabled Fernando Rodney to compile substantial career number including membership in the 300-save club is what put him on the 2025 BBWAA ballot as his 4.8 R-JAWS (JAWS adjusted for the reliever role) ranks him 326th all-time among relief pitchers. Given that he played for 11 teams, he might not even get a hometown vote.