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

My Hypothetical 2025 BBWAA Ballot

Having started this ballot assessment by noting that the "ballot logjam" of the 2010s seems largely to be over, I must now backtrack on my own hypothetical ballot since I do have more than ten of the maximum allowable votes to be cast on the actual BBWAA ballot.

Taking heed of the adage about "wasting water on a dying flower," I am abandoning my support for Manny Ramirez and Álex Rodríguez as I'm resigned to knowing that they will never muster the needed support for induction. That "water" of voting is better spent on nurturing either first-time candidates who might not get support or on returning candidates who have shown that they need support. The remainder of my vote is for candidates who could (should?) have been voted into the Hall of Fame on their first ballot, or who still can be voted in first-time.

Had I been able to, I would have also included Ian Kinsler or Dustin Pedroia, or even both, but as is the constant refrain in sports from time immemorial, they didn't make the cut. However, if either or both manage to make it to next year's ballot, there is always another chance.

My Ten Picks

My ten hypothetical votes for the 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame, in reverse order:

10. Omar Vizquel. Since I'm not voting for any PED Penitents, Vizquel is my sole protest vote. As far as we know, he did nothing wrong during his playing career except to become one of the game's greatest defensive shortstops; call it stubborn old-school thinking if you like, but I believe that should be rewarded.

9. Carlos Beltrán, If indeed his role in the Houston Astros' 2017 sign-stealing scandal is what kept him from being elected on his first try, then indeed let that punishment end this year.



How much penance must Carlos Beltrán pay for his role in the Houston Astros' 2017 sign-stealing scandal? For what it's worth, he was already a Hall of Famer before that occurred.

8. Chase Utley. Already off to a modest but encouraging start, Utley's trek to Cooperstown will take a few ballots, so let's keep the support going.

7. Andruw Jones. It's déjà vu all over again: I feel as if we've been here in the recent past, first with Scott Rolen, then with Todd Helton. Just like them, Jones's support has swelled in recent years, and his end result should be the same as theirs.

6. Félix Hernández. The King won't be voted into the Hall on first ballot, or maybe even his fifth, but that coronation is inevitable as we reassess what it means to be a standout starting pitcher in this contemporary era. Whatever that "it" is, Hernández had it in his prime.



The face of the contemporary Hall of Fame starting pitcher. What's more, Félix Hernández has the career accomplishments to make that case stick even if it's not on this ballot.

5. CC Sabathia. Yes, on first glance his record looks very similar to Andy Pettitte's, but baseball is a game of inches, and CC inches past Pettitte to not only get into the Hall, but to do so on his first ballot.

4. Ichiro Suzuki. If anything, Ichiro is a singular, if not unique, baseball talent, one who stood apart from convention as he pursued his idiosyncratic vision of how to succeed in the sport. As I noted previously, he did hang on too long and it may hurt him on this first ballot, but he is going to Cooperstown sooner rather than later, so let's just make it now.



Ichiro Suzuki got his 3000th hit with the Miami Marlins. Did hanging around until he reached that milestone hurt his Hall of Fame chances? Let's hope not.

3. Bobby Abreu. The more I look at Abreu's record, the more I puzzle over how overlooked he was both during his playing days and now that he's toiling to attract support on the ballot. He needs a serious second-half push to 75 percent—and he's worth it.



The best right fielder you've never heard of? Put Bobby Abreu into the Hall of Fame and everyone will hear how good he was.

2. Ben Zobrist. My most quixotic vote for sure, but if the portrait of a particular kind of Hall of Famer created by the approach and style of contemporary baseball needs a face, then Ben Zobrist is it. Yes, the game may evolve (devolve?) further in the future, and in fifty years we may look back and wonder how he got into the Hall, but we've been doing that all along (Tommy McCarthy, anyone?), and Zobrist is a stellar example of the "new breed of ballplayer."



The face of the modern Hall of Famer? Super-utilityman Ben Zobrist is the face of the modern position player, and he's good enough for Cooperstown wherever he played.

1. Billy Wagner. If I had only one vote to make, Billy the Kid gets it. Wagner might have tanked in the postseason, but, seriously, if you had to hand the ball to one relief pitcher in a critical high-leverage situation, he is on a very short list of candidates—and all of them are in the Hall of Fame. Where Billy Wagner belongs.



(Photo: Getty Images) Billy Wagner's game is on the line this year. One of the game's greatest relief pitchers has proved that he has the talent to belong in the Hall of Fame.