The Most Deserving On The 2025 Hall Of Fame Ballot

On January 21, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America will reveal their ballot results and any new entrees into the National Baseball Hall of Fame will be announced. To be elected, those on the ballot must receive at least 75% of the vote. On this year’s ballot, there are 28 former players.

The Ballot

Of these 28, 14 were on the ballot last year. Relief pitcher Billy Wagner (73.8%), outfielder Andruw Jones (61.6%), and outfielder Carlos Beltrán (57.1%) are the three returnees on the ballot that were the closest to being elected last season. This is Wagner’s 10th-and-final year on the ballot. He must break the 75% threshold this season to be elected, as he will no longer be on the ballot starting next season.

Other notable returnees to the ballot are Álex Rodríguez (34.8%), Manny Ramírez (32.5%), Chase Utley (28.8%), Bobby Abreu (14.8%), Francisco Rodriguez (7.8%), and David Wright (6.2%).

The full list is below which includes percentage of votes from 2024 and number of seasons on the ballot:

• Billy Wagner, (73.8%), Enters 10th-and-final year on ballot
• Andruw Jones, (61.6%), 8th year
• Carlos Beltrán, (57.1%), 3rd year
• Álex Rodríguez, (34.8%), 4th year
• Manny Ramírez, (32.5%), 9th year
• Chase Utley, (28.8%), 2nd year
• Omar Vizquel, (17.7%), 8th year
• Bobby Abreu, (14.8%), 6th year
• Jimmy Rollins, (14.8%), 4th year
• Andy Pettitte, (13.5%), 7th year
• Mark Buehrle, (8.3%), 5th year
• Francisco Rodríguez, (7.8%) 3rd year
• Torii Hunter, (7.3%),  5th year
• David Wright, (6.2%), 2nd year

To remain on the ballot next season, a player must receive at least five percent of the votes.

In addition to the above, there are 14 new individuals being added to the ballot in 2025:

• Carlos González
• Curtis Granderson
• Félix Hernández
• Adam Jones
• Ian Kinsler
• Russell Martin
• Brian McCann
• Dustin Pedroia
• Hanley Ramírez
• Fernando Rodney
• CC Sabathia
• Ichiro Suzuki
• Troy Tulowitzki
• Ben Zobrist

These new candidates can remain on the ballot for up to 10 years. They must achieve at least five percent of the vote, yearly, to remain on the ballot. If any receive at least 75%, they will be enshrined into the Hall of Fame.

Who Deserves To Be In?

When the writers who have the honor to vote do so, they are only able to vote for a maximum 10 players. They are not required to use any of their votes if they do not want to, however, they are limited to 10 votes maximum.

With that being said, who are those who are the most deserving to be in? A good starting point, before going position-by-position and taking into account other  attributes, is sorting each of the individuals by wins above replacement (WAR).

Note, the below is sorted by total bWAR.

• Álex Rodríguez, 117.6
• Carlos Beltrán, 70.1
• Manny Ramírez, 69.3
• Chase Utley, 64.5
• Andruw Jones, 62.7
• CC Sabathia, 62.3
• Bobby Abreu, 60.2
• Andy Pettitte, 60.2
• Ichiro Suzuki, 60.0
• Mark Buehrle, 59.1
• Ian Kinsler, 54.1
• Dustin Pedoria, 51.9
• Torii Hunter, 50.7
• Félix Hernández, 49.7
• David Wright, 49.2
• Jimmy Rollins, 47.6
• Curtis Granderson, 47.2
• Omar Vizquel, 45.6
• Troy Tulowitzki, 44.5
• Ben Zobrist, 44.5
• Russell Martin, 38.8
• Hanley Ramírez, 38.0
• Adam Jones, 32.6
• Brian McCann, 32.0
• Billy Wagner, 27.7
• Carlos González, 24.4
• Francisco Rodríguez, 24.2
• Fernando Rodney, 7.4

Right off the bat, one would assume the first three are worthy. However, each individual have some type of “ethical” issue voters take issue with. Rodríguez and Ramírez both performance-enhancing drug questions and Beltran was involved with the Astros sign-stealing scandal. However, based purely off on-field performance all three certainly appear worthy of the Hall of Fame.

The next chunk of 60.0-plus WAR pose a lot of interesting questions. The one with the least amount of question marks is Ichiro Suzuki. He ranks 25th all-time in hits at 3,089. This despite not coming to North America and Major League Baseball until his aged-27 season. Of the 33 players in history with last least 3,000 hits, Rafael Palmeiro, Álex Rodríguez, Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera, and Pete Rose are the only not in the Hall of Fame. Of those five, three have potential ethical issues and the other two have not yet become eligible. It is a safe bet Ichiro will be Hall of Fame bound at some point, if not this season.

Mets nemesis Chase Utley is an interesting case. His 64.5 bWAR is not far off the average bWAR of the 20 second baseman currently in the Hall of Fame (69.5). Not to mention, his seven-year peak WAR (WAR7) is comfortably above the average of those 20 second baseman Hall of Famers (49.3 versus 44.4 average). Lastly, his JAWS rating (a measurement created by Jay Jaffe to value an individual’s Hall of Fame worthiness) is right on par with the average of the second baseman who currently occupy Cooperstown (56.9 versus 57.0 average). Whether Mets fans want to hear it or not, Utley, a terrific all-around player, has a very compelling argument to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

Utley’s case, on play a lone, is a lot more compelling than that of fellow second baseman Ian Kinsler and Dustin Pedroia, though, a compelling case for each can be constructed. Both Kinsler and Pedroia have WAR, WAR7, and JAW ratings not terribly far off the average of the other second baseman in the Hall of Fame. Maybe down the road, especially Pedroia, they may be considered seriously.

Andruw Jones, who was the second-highest vote-getter on last year’s ballot, has one of the more compelling cases on the ballot. According to defensive WAR, Jones was arguably the best defensive center fielder in baseball history. To go along with that, he hit 434 home runs; the fourth-most among center fielders. His overall bWAR number is a little off the average of the 19 center fielder Hall of Famers (62.7 versus 71.5 average), however, that is largely due to a five-year stretch of really poor offensive performances to end his career. His peak years (WAR7) are above the average for Hall of Fame center fielders and his JAWS rating is not too far off either. The 10-time Gold Glove winner certainly has a great case for Cooperstown.

CC Sabathia, Bobby Abreu, and Andy Pettitte round out the reminder of the 60.0-plus bWAR group. Sabathia may have a case at some point, especially given he was a southpaw. However, as it relates to starting pitchers, his WAR, JAWS, and WAR7 are all a decent bit off the averages of the 66 Hall of Fame starters. The same goes for Pettitte whose numbers are slightly off of Sabathia’s overall. Based off his positional peers, a pretty compelling case can be made for Abreu. On offensive performances alone, the 15 right fielders ahead of Abreu in offensive WAR are all in the Hall of Fame. However, Abreu struggled so much defensively his overall WAR, JAWS, and WAR7 numbers are all a decent bit off from his positional peers’ averages.

Billy Wagner came within 1.2% of being elected in 2024. His last chance is this year and his candidacy is an interesting one. The Ferrum College alumni ranks eighth all-time in saves at 422. He also posted a sparkling 2.31 ERA, including a 1.43 mark as a 38-year-old in his final season. However, his WAR and JAWS are a decent bit off the averages and both John Franco and Francisco Rodríguez, who have more saves than Wagner overall, are not in the Hall of Fame. Joe Nathan, who has a very comparable WAR, WAR7, and JAWS profile as Wagner, was not elected to the Hall of Fame either. Though, Wagner has a much-better ERA than each and had tremendous strikeout numbers. Specially, his career ERA+ would only trail Mariano Rivera among Hall of Fame relievers.

Of the rest on the ballot, not many more staggeringly compelling cases can be made. Of course, being a former Met legend, it would be nice to see David Wright at least stay on the ballot. Being enshrined to the actual Hall of Fame is likely a long shot, as his WAR, WAR7, and JAW metrics are well off the average of the 18 third baseman Hall of Famers. Unfortunately, injuries cutting his career short ended what once seemed like a Hall-of-Fame trajectory.

My Ballot

If I was lucky enough to have a vote, for whatever it is worth, here is how my ballot would look:

• Álex Rodríguez
• Carlos Beltrán
• Manny Ramírez
• Andruw Jones
• Ichiro Suzuki
• Billy Wagner
• Chase Utley

Each of the above, based purely on on-field performances and value, deserves it based on others who were inducted from their respective positions. Billy Wagner was pretty tricky given how others who have comparable numbers were not enshrined, I ultimately chose to include him given how strong his metrics were. Utley, despite being a Met enemy, has an extremely underrated and compelling case. He would be my dark hose, if you will.

What your ballot look like?

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