Monday, the BBWAA released their ballot for the Hall of Fame class of 2026. The results of the vote are due to be revealed on January 20th, with induction taking place July 26th. CC Sabathia, Ichiro Suzuki, and Billy Wagner were elected in last year’s voting, leaving fifteen holdovers along with another twelve newcomers.
Today, let’s take a look at the fifteen returning candidates.
Bobby Abreu
Years on ballot: 6
2025 Percentage: 19.5
A slight increase for Abreu, who has a long way to go and not a lot of time to do it.
Carlos Beltran
Years on ballot: 3
2025 Percentage: 70.3
A big bump in his third go-around for Beltran means the “punishment” for his role in the Astros cheating scandal might just be about to come to an end.
Mark Buehrle
Years on ballot: 5
2025 Percentage: 11.4
Buehrle keeps bouncing up and down but lives to fight another day in his uphill climb to make it to Cooperstown.
Felix Hernandez
Years on ballot: 1
2025 Percentage: 20.6
A decent debut for Hernandez, who dominated but didn’t put up the traditional numbers and flamed out rather young.
Torii Hunter
Years on ballot: 5
2025 Percentage: 5.1
A big decrease left Hunter barely remaining on the ballot for another year.
Andruw Jones
Years on ballot: 8
2025 Percentage: 66.2
Jones keeps trending in the right direction but only has two elections left to make up the remaining 9%.
Dustin Pedroia
Years on ballot: 1
2025 Percentage: 11.9
A nice debut for Pedroia, but he has a long way to go if he’s going to make it to Cooperstown.
Andy Pettitte
Years on ballot: 7
2025 Percentage: 27.9
A big increase last year might mean that the stain of PEDs is starting to wear off, but there’s not a lot of time left for Pettitte to capitalize.
Manny Ramirez
Years on ballot: 9
2025 Percentage: 34.3
With only on more bite at the apple, it looks like the numerous PED suspensions at the end of Ramirez’s career will keep him out of Cooperstown.
Alex Rodriguez
Years on ballot: 4
2025 Percentage: 37.1
Barring some big change in the voting bloc of the BBWAA, Rodriguez’s numerous PED suspensions will keep him out.
Francisco Rodriguez
Years on ballot: 3
2025 Percentage: 10.2
The single season saves leader, Rodriguez saw a slight increase in his third go-around, leaving him a long way to go for enshrinement.
Jimmy Rollins
Years on ballot: 4
2025 Percentage: 18.0
Rollins had a great career, but not great enough to be enshrined in Cooperstown.
Chase Utley
Years on ballot: 2
2025 Percentage: 39.8
A nice increase for Utley, building upon a strong debut from the six-time All Star.
Omar Vizquel
Years on ballot: 8
2024 Percentage: 17.8
Vizquel, who has seen allegations of abuse by an ex-wife and an autistic boy destroy any chance he may have had of making the Hall, stayed nearly even and only has two elections left.
David Wright
Years on ballot: 2
2025 Percentage: 8.1
The Mets star, who saw his career end prematurely due to injuries, saw a small increase in his second attempt.