The forgotten teams of 2024 Hall of Fame candidates

Some MLB legends are synonymous with certain franchises.

When you think of Babe Ruth, you naturally think of the Boston Braves. We all remember Ryne Sandberg playing shortstop for the Phillies, and Ken Griffey Jr. starring with the White Sox.

Wait a minute ...

OK, so maybe we don't have the clearest recollection of those players in those jerseys. But that was a part of each player's Hall of Fame journey. And sometimes it's fun to think of the random teams that were once home to some of Cooperstown's finest.

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With the 2024 Hall of Fame results set to be announced live on MLB Network on Jan. 23, let’s look back at some forgotten team-player pairings from some of the 26 Hall of Fame candidates on this year's ballot.

Note: Players had to make at least one Major League appearance for their “forgotten team” to be considered for this list.

Bobby Abreu, Astros
Signed by Houston as a 16-year-old in 1990, Abreu was ranked by Baseball America as a top-100 prospect in 1993, '95 and '96. He debuted in September of that latter year before logging 210 plate appearances in 1997. That season contained Abreu's top highlight as an Astro: hitting his first two homers in the same game on April 23. But he slashed just .248/.325/.362 with Houston before the club left him unprotected in the '97 expansion draft. Tampa Bay selected Abreu with the No. 6 pick and immediately packaged him to the Phillies, with whom Abreu played the bulk of his Hall of Fame-worthy career.

José Bautista, Rays
You could use a few different teams with Bautista for this list thanks to his 2004 season alone. He began this odyssey with the Orioles, who selected him in the Rule 5 Draft the previous December. After 11 at-bats in 16 games, he was placed on waivers and picked up by the Devil Rays in early June. But he wouldn't finish the month with Tampa Bay as he was waived again after playing in 12 games. The Royals purchased his contract and spent a few weeks with Bautista before dealing him to the Mets -- who turned around and traded him to the Pirates that same day.

Whew. Bautista would stick in Pittsburgh until 2008, when he was sent to the Blue Jays. Within a couple of years, the once-nomadic Bautista would settle in as baseball's premier slugger and start launching balls and bats.

Carlos Beltrán, Giants
By the middle of the 2011 season, the Mets were meandering around .500 while the Giants sat atop the NL West and had the second-best record in the National League. So, with San Francisco looking to repeat as World Series champs, Beltrán was acquired from New York in a one-for-one swap for the Giants' top pitching prospect, Zack Wheeler.

San Francisco fans surely had visions of Beltrán repeating his historic 2004 postseason performance, and he did what he could to lift his new club to October. Beltrán posted a .323/.369/.525 slash line with 20 extra-base hits in 44 games in the Bay Area. But the Giants stumbled to a 25-32 record after the trade and ended up four games out of a playoff spot. Beltrán moved on to the Cardinals as a free agent that offseason.

Mark Buehrle, Marlins
The Marlins went on a spending spree in December 2011 as they signed Buehrle, shortstop José Reyes and relief pitcher Heath Bell within a week. That trio had 10 All-Star selections between them and gave Miami the look of a serious contender in 2012. But appearances can be deceiving. The Marlins logged a 69-93 record that season and traded each of those players the following winter. Buehrle's one season in South Beach was a fairly successful one; the longtime White Sox hurler had a 3.73 ERA over 202 1/3 innings and collected his fourth Gold Glove.

Bartolo Colon, Braves
Colon suited up for 11 clubs in 21 seasons. He came into his own around the turn of the century with Cleveland and won a Cy Young Award with the Angels in 2005. Yet he is probably best remembered for his three years with the Mets from 2014-16. That is where he was an All-Star at the age of 43, earned the nickname "Big Sexy" and drilled an unforgettable home run.

Mets fans never forgot about Colon. He moved on to the Braves in 2017, and his first start with Atlanta brought him back to Citi Field. Even though he was wearing the jersey of a hated rival, Colon received multiple standing ovations from the Mets faithful. He put forth one of his best starts of the season, allowing one run over six innings. Colon had an 8.13 ERA in 13 starts with the Braves before he was released on July 4.

Adrián González, Rangers
The Marlins made González the No. 1 overall pick in the 2000 Draft, but he never played with Miami. Instead, in the wake of a wrist injury that the Marlins feared would sap González of his power, he was shipped off to the Rangers in 2003. That power didn't show up too often in his two seasons with Texas; González bopped seven homers and had a .401 slugging percentage through 59 games and 192 at-bats. Before the 2006 campaign, Texas sent him to the Padres in a six-player deal. It was in his hometown of San Diego where González really took off, clubbing 161 dingers over the next five seasons.

Matt Holliday, A's
In terms of hitter-friendly stadiums, it doesn't get much more extreme than going from Coors Field to the Oakland Coliseum. Holliday made that trek prior to the 2009 season. After five years in the Rockies' hitter's haven -- which featured three Silver Sluggers and a .318/.387/.545 slash line -- Holliday was traded in the prime of his career to the A's. His production waned on the West Coast, highlighted by a .454 slugging percentage in 93 games. But after a few months, Holliday was on the move again as the Cardinals acquired him before the Trade Deadline in '09. He hit .353 with a 1.023 OPS the rest of the way.

Andruw Jones, Rangers
What's the first image that comes to mind when you think of Jones' fantastic career? You might instantly recall him making a jaw-dropping catch while roaming center field for the Braves. Likely no one thinks of him as a first baseman for the Rangers. But he did fill that role for all of eight games in 2009. Those are the only games the 10-time Gold Glover played on the infield. Jones' lone season in the Lone Star State included a lot of time at DH, 17 homers in 82 games and zero appearances in center for the first time in his career.

Brandon Phillips, Angels
Phillips fun fact: He is MLB's all-time leader in cubic games played. That is any game in which a player's jersey number, lineup spot and defensive position match. Phillips wore No. 4, batted fourth and played second base (the "4" position in a scorecard) in 700 games. How many times did he do this with the Angels?

Well, zero. He had his No. 4 jersey and played second in each of his 24 games with the Halos in 2017, but he batted either leadoff or fifth. Still, we are all smarter for knowing this, right?

José Reyes, Rockies
In 2015, the Rockies and Blue Jays pulled off a seven-player deal that featured All-Star shortstops on each side. Reyes headed to Colorado while Troy Tulowitzki went to Canada. Injuries were a consistent storyline for Reyes by this point in his career and had affected his ability at the plate and on the basepaths. As such, he scuffled with the Rockies, recording a paltry .259/.291/.368 slash line with only eight steals in 47 games. The club released Reyes about 11 months after the trade, and he was subsequently scooped up by the Mets, the team with which Reyes became a star about a decade prior.

Francisco Rodríguez, Orioles
The man known as "K-Rod" is one of eight closers in baseball history with at least 400 saves. He racked up at least 50 saves with four of the five teams he played for across 16 seasons. The Orioles are the outlier as they got a grand total of zero saves from Rodríguez in 2013. Following a midseason trade from the Brewers, Rodríguez was slotted into a setup role in front of Baltimore's closer, Jim Johnson. His 23 games with the team featured no save opportunities and a 4.50 ERA, which was Rodríguez's worst to that point in his career. He re-signed with Milwaukee that offseason and notched 44 saves in 2014.

Jimmy Rollins, White Sox
Rollins' final season -- his only one in the American League -- got off to a pretty good start. He swatted a go-ahead home run in the ninth inning to lift the White Sox to victory over the A's in Chicago's second game of 2016. It was Rollins' sixth career go-ahead homer in the ninth inning or later. It was also his penultimate home run as a Major Leaguer. Rollins batted .221 and had a .624 OPS through 41 games with the White Sox. His final MLB appearance came on June 8. Two days later, the club called up rookie Tim Anderson to take over as its everyday shortstop, and Rollins was designated for assignment.

Billy Wagner, Red Sox
Wagner and Rodríguez share quite a few career similarities beyond their skill as fireballing relievers. Both are in the 400-save club. Both pitched for five teams over 16 seasons. Both had standout years with four of their five teams. And both had short tenures and zero saves with an AL East club. Wagner's results in Boston were more impressive than Rodríguez's in Baltimore, however. Acquired from the Mets in August 2009, the dominant left-hander turned in a 1.98 ERA over 15 games (13 2/3 innings). He struck out 22 out of the 56 batters he faced with the Red Sox.

Gary Sheffield, Mets
Sheffield is entering his 10th and final year on the Baseball Writers' Association of America Hall of Fame ballot. His voting percentage has more than quadrupled over the past four cycles, up to 55.0% last year, but that leaves him 20 percentage points shy of induction. Sheffield could become the sixth player with 500 home runs to be passed over for the Hall by the BBWAA. His milestone long ball came during his last big league season and his only year with the Mets. It was Sheffield's first of 10 homers in 2009.