14 players are on Hall of Fame Ballot for first time

14 players are on Hall of Fame Ballot for first time

November 18th, 2024

Since 2014, there have been 16 players elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in their first year on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot. You should expect that number to go up with this year’s class.

The BBWAA unveiled its 2025 Hall of Fame ballot on Monday. It features 14 players making their ballot debut, and that group is headlined by a couple of legends: pitcher CC Sabathia and outfielder Ichiro Suzuki.

Let’s use this space to appreciate all of the newcomers. Some of them are likely to go one-and-done by receiving less than 5% of the BBWAA vote, but you could make a convincing Cooperstown case for a handful of these players.

Here is a look at each first-timer on the 2025 Hall of Fame ballot, listed in descending order of career wins above replacement (WAR), per Baseball Reference.

BBWAA voters have until Dec. 31 to cast their ballots. The results will be announced on Jan. 21, 2025, on MLB Network.

(62.3 WAR)

The definition of workhorse throughout his 19-year career, Sabathia pitched at least 180 innings in each of his first 13 seasons. That includes his 2001 debut year with Cleveland, when he tossed 180 1/3 frames in his age-20 season and was the AL Rookie of the Year runner-up. The big left-hander made his first of six All-Star teams in 2003 and won the ‘07 AL Cy Young Award after going 19-7 with a 3.21 ERA over an MLB-high 241 innings. It was the only Cy Young of his career, but he finished inside the top five in voting five times.

Sabathia was traded to the Brewers in the middle of the 2008 season and put the team on his back as it made a late-season push for a postseason spot. He posted a 1.65 ERA in 17 starts with the Crew and proved his ability to step up in big games when he struck out seven batters in a complete-game victory on the season’s final day that helped Milwaukee punch its ticket to the postseason.

Sabathia was a marquee free agent following that season and ended up signing a seven-year deal with the Yankees. He was a massive reason why the Yanks reigned as World Series champs in '09; Sabathia guided New York to the title by recording a 1.98 ERA in five postseason starts.

Sabathia played 11 seasons with the Yankees. He won 134 games and pitched to a 3.81 ERA over 1,918 innings with New York. Sabathia’s last season contained a couple of landmark achievements: his 250th victory and his 3,000th strikeout. He is one of 15 pitchers in MLB history to surpass both of those marks. Randy Johnson, Steve Carlton and Sabathia are the only southpaws on that list.

(60.0 WAR)

Ichiro was a brilliant hitter in the first nine years of his pro career. But that was in Japan. Could the Majors’ first Japanese-born position player really hack it here? Those kinds of questions swirled around Ichiro ahead of his 2001 arrival. It didn’t take long for him to answer with an emphatic “yes.”

Ichiro silenced all doubters by putting forth the best rookie season in AL/NL history. He racked up a rookie-record 242 hits and batted an AL-best .350 en route to joining Fred Lynn as the only rookies to win an MVP Award. Three years later, Ichiro made MLB history again by producing 262 hits, the all-time record for knocks in a single season.

A magician with the bat, Ichiro reached the 200-hit plateau in each of his first 10 seasons. No player has more such seasons in his career. He batted .331, scored 1,047 runs and stole 383 bases during that decade-long stretch. He was also an All-Star and a Gold Glove winner every year, capable of making jaw-dropping throws from the outfield. Ichiro recorded his 3,000th big league hit in 2016 and had more than 4,000 hits when you combine his work in Nippon Professional Baseball and MLB. He logged 9,934 at-bats in the Majors -- seventh most in history -- and retired with a .311 average.

(54.1 WAR)

Kinsler possessed an uncommon blend of power and speed. He is one of 34 players who finished at least four seasons with 60 extra-base hits and 20 steals. He hit 257 home runs -- including a career-high 32 in 2011 -- across 14 seasons. His 185 homers out of the leadoff spot are the fifth most in MLB history, behind Rickey Henderson, Mookie Betts, George Springer and Alfonso Soriano.

A four-time All-Star at second base, Kinsler topped 100 runs six times and was a two-time member of the 30-30 club with the Rangers (2009 and '11). He was a catalyst for the Rangers when they won back-to-back AL pennants in 2010 and '11. The penultimate season of Kinsler’s 14-year career ended with him celebrating a World Series title with the 2018 Red Sox.

(51.9 WAR)

A 2004 second-round Draft pick by the Red Sox, Pedroia debuted with Boston in 2006 and developed into one of the most valuable and beloved players in the franchise’s storied history. Pedroia was the AL Rookie of the Year in Boston’s title-winning 2007 season. In 2008, he was feted as MVP after leading the AL with 118 runs and the Majors with 213 hits. That season also brought the first of Pedroia’s four All-Star selections and the first of his four Gold Glove Awards at second base.

Pedroia batted .299 with an .805 OPS over 14 MLB seasons. He ranks among the top 10 in Red Sox history in hits (1,805, eighth), doubles (394, sixth), runs scored (922, 10th), stolen bases (138, sixth), total bases (2,694, eighth) and WAR (10th). Eight of the nine players in front of Pedroia on that WAR list are Hall of Famers.

(49.7 WAR)

Here’s another Mariners legend making his first appearance on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot. King Félix spent his entire 15-year playing career with Seattle and is the best pitcher by WAR in franchise history. He was just 19 when the Mariners called him up in 2005. By 2006, he was the staff ace and would soon assert his dominance on the league.

Hernández registered a 2.90 ERA over 1,796 2/3 innings from 2008-15. He pitched at least 200 frames in each of those seasons and won an ERA title in 2010 and '14. Hernández finished among the top 10 in AL Cy Young voting six times. He took home the Cy Young Award in '10 after recording a 2.27 ERA over 249 2/3 innings. But his career’s crowning achievement came two years later, when he threw the 23rd perfect game in AL/NL history.

King Félix earned his sixth and final All-Star selection as a 29-year-old in 2015. He had accrued 49.9 WAR by the end of that season. That’s the seventh-most WAR by a pitcher before his age-30 season in the Expansion Era (since 1961). The six names in front of Hernández on that list? Roger Clemens, Bert Blyleven, Clayton Kershaw, Tom Seaver, Pedro Martinez and Greg Maddux.

(47.2 WAR)

Granderson slugged 344 home runs during his 16 seasons in the big leagues. He topped 40 dingers in 2011 and '12 with the Yankees and finished fourth in AL MVP voting in '11 as he also led the league with 136 runs and 119 RBIs. The left-handed slugger recorded three 20-homer, 20-steal seasons, and his 23 triples in 2007 with the Tigers were the most in a season by any player since 1949. A three-time All-Star, Granderson registered 1,800 hits, 1,217 runs scored and 937 RBIs.

Granderson also had a huge impact off the field during his career. He received the Roberto Clemente Award in 2016 and was named the Marvin Miller Man of the Year four times by the MLB Players Association.

(44.5 WAR)

When healthy, Tulowitzki was among the best all-around shortstops in MLB. The Rockies selected Tulo with the seventh overall pick in the 2005 Draft, and he went on to produce a .299/.371/.513 slash line with 188 homers across 10 seasons in Colorado. His time with the Rockies included five All-Star selections, two Silver Sluggers and two Gold Gloves. Tulowitzki finished six seasons with at least 5.0 WAR, putting him in a group with Ernie Banks, Alan Trammell, Derek Jeter, Nomar Garciaparra and Francisco Lindor. Unfortunately, Tulo was often impacted by injuries; he missed at least 30 games in 10 of his 13 seasons.

(44.5 WAR)

Zobrist was a steady producer who could play just about anywhere on the diamond; catcher is the only position he didn’t play during his 14-year career. His breakout season came with the Rays in 2009, when he hit 27 homers, stole 17 bases, had a .948 OPS and led American League position players with 8.6 WAR. From 2009-16, Zobrist produced a 123 OPS+ over more than 5,000 plate appearances. He also came up with crucial hits in the postseason for two World Series champions -- the 2015 Royals and for the Cubs in 2016, when he was named the World Series MVP.

(38.9 WAR)

Martin is the only catcher in MLB history to record double-digit homers and steals in each of his first three big league seasons. Martin’s second season, in 2007, might have been his best, as he totaled 19 home runs, 21 stolen bases and an .843 OPS for the Dodgers. He received an All-Star nod, a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger that season. Martin is one of three primary catchers with at least 100 home runs and 100 stolen bases in the Modern Era (since 1900), joining Hall of Famers Carlton Fisk and Ivan Rodriguez. Martin was a four-time All-Star and compiled a .746 OPS over 14 seasons spent with the Dodgers, Yankees, Pirates and Blue Jays.

(38.0 WAR)

Ramirez was on a Hall of Fame trajectory early in his career. Through his age-26 campaign, he already had three All-Star selections, two Silver Sluggers, an NL Rookie of the Year Award (2006), the Marlins’ first batting title (.342 in 2009) and 26.1 WAR. Ramirez’s production, however, fell off after that, and he was nagged by injuries throughout the second half of his 15-year career. He did turn back the clock one last time in 2013, when he batted .345 with a 1.040 OPS for the Dodgers. But thumb and hamstring injuries limited Ramirez to 86 games that year.

(32.6 WAR)

Jones became a star during his 11 seasons with the Orioles, racking up five All-Star appearances and 263 home runs. He recorded at least 60 extra-base hits from 2012-14 and received MVP votes following each of those seasons. He also earned a Silver Slugger in 2013 after bashing a career-high 33 homers. A four-time Gold Glover, Jones will also be long remembered for his iconic, homer-saving catch for Team USA during the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

(32.0 WAR)

McCann is one of the better offensive catchers the game has known. He drilled 282 home runs throughout his 15-year career and finished 10 seasons with at least 20 homers. Only Mike Piazza (12), Yogi Berra (11) and Johnny Bench (11) had more such seasons at catcher. A Georgia native, McCann was drafted by the Braves in 2002 and went on to post an .817 OPS over 10 seasons with Atlanta. That stretch included seven All-Star selections and five Silver Slugger Awards. McCann picked up his sixth Silver Slugger in 2015 with the Yankees and won a World Series with the 2017 Astros.

(24.4 WAR)

CarGo spent 10 of his 12 MLB seasons with the Rockies and ranks among the franchise leaders in hits (1,330, fourth), runs (769, fourth), home runs (227, tied for fifth) and total bases (2,366, fourth). A three-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove Award winner, González also won an NL batting title with a .336 average in 2010. He earned a Silver Slugger Award that year and received another following his 40-homer season in 2015.

(7.4 WAR)

Rodney saved 327 games during his 17-season career, ranking 19th all-time in the category. He punctuated most of those saves with his bow-and-arrow celebration. He recorded at least one save for nine teams, tying an MLB record. A three-time All-Star, Rodney’s best season was also one of the best from any reliever in big league history. While closing out 48 games for the Rays in 2012, Rodney posted a 0.60 ERA over 74 2/3 innings. Among pitchers with at least 50 innings, that is the second-lowest single-season ERA since earned runs became official in both leagues in 1913.