Hall of Fame writers ballot Class of 2026

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

No slam dunks among the newcomers. Might be a good year for Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones - or none at all.

(I had to leave out two names because they would not fit in our 25-option limit. If you were planning to vote for Howie Kendrick or Gio Gonzalez, accept my apologies.)

[metirish]

I voted for Beltran Andruw Jones

[Cowtipper]

Weak ballot. First time in years I didn't have to do any strategery and could go for a straight 10. I'm a big Hall guy, but not sold yet on Buehrle, Braun, Utley or Pedroia. Edwin Encarnacion was one a dark horse guy I was watching, because he had a fair shot at 500 homers, but he collapsed and that was that.

I went with

Abreu

Beltran

Hunter

Jones

Pettitte

Ramirez

A-Rod

F-Rod

Rollins

Vizquel

[metsmarathon]

Not the strongest ballot. Really have to try hard to justify most of my votes.

Beltran, jones, Felix, utley and wright are easy peasy votes.

Pedroia and abreu also get gift nods, with an extra-gifty gift to hamels.

Pettite and arid can eat a dick. Same with Ryan Braun. Sorry manny, you were ****ing amazing but dirty. Boo.

[Edgy MD]

I went for Carlos Beltran because he is a Hall of Famer, and possibly the best post-season performer ever.

I went for Andy Pettitte and Bobby Abreu because Beltran was looking really lonely on my ballot.

[MFS62]

I went for Felix, but I wish I could get that vote back. I voted on the "King Felix" name and reputation. But when I checked, his overall numbers weren't that dominant.

Of course I voted for Beltran for the same reasons as Edgy, and Manny(my homie) and Vizquel. If Mazeroski is in the Hall for his fielding, so should Omar be. When he was playing, I developed a mathematical formula to measure a player's defensive value to a ballclub. Omar broke the meter.

Later

[Gwreck]

Of course I voted for Beltran for the same reasons as Edgy, and Manny(my homie) and Vizquel.

 

You are a “yes” on Manny Ramirez and a “no” on Alex Rodriguez? That one is odd to me - can you elaborate? Serious question.

[MFS62]

Of course I voted for Beltran for the same reasons as Edgy, and Manny(my homie) and Vizquel.

 

You are a “yes” on Manny Ramirez and a “no” on Alex Rodriguez? That one is odd to me - can you elaborate? Serious question.

You're right. I definitely should have.

That's why I like polls where we can change my vote when we realize I made an error.

Later

[Cowtipper]

Realistically, it's probably going to be Beltran this year, with a 50/50 chance for Jones.

[DocTee]

Whoever voted for Utley should have their CPF membership revoked!

[metirish]

[TWEET]

[/TWEET]

 

Rubin or DiComo I'm guessing

[Gwreck]

Rubin published his ballot: Beltran, Jones, Ramirez, A. Rodriguez, Rollins, Utley, Wright.

DiComo didn’t have a vote as of 2025. He might have one this year (I believe it’s been 10 years since BBWAA membership was opened to MLB.com writers).

[Cowtipper]

Link to the vote tracker:

https://www.bbhoftracker.com/

With 5% in, we can now begin our very preliminary vote projections. As with every year, I have to remind myself how I do it, but I piece it together eventually:

Andruw Jones: 79-80%

Carlos Beltran: 74-75%

Chase Utley: 48-49%

Felix Hernandez: 43-44%

Alex Rodriguez: 41-42%

Andy Pettitte: 37-38%

Bobby Abreu: 33-34%

Manny Ramirez: 29-30%

Dustin Pedroia: 25-26%

Mark Buehrle: 20-21%

Jimmy Rollins: 18-19%

Omar Vizquel: 17-18%

Cole Hamels: 16-18%

Francisco Rodriguez: 14-15%

Torii Hunter: 9-10%

Ryan Braun: 8-9%

David Wright: 8-9%

Edwin Encarnacion: 1-2%

Hunter Pence: 1-2%

Shin-Soo Choo: 0-1%

Gio Gonzalez: 0-1%

Alex Gordon: 0-1%

Matt Kemp: 0-1%

Howie Kendrick: 0-1%

Nick Markakis: 0-1%

Daniel Murphy: 0-1%

Rick Porcello: 0-1%

I find it hard to believe Beltran won't get elected this time around, so I think his number will rise as we get more votes in. At first I was stunned by Jones, but it actually tracks with how borderline guys have done in their waning years ever since they switched to the 10-year format. I can't imagine Braun will stay as high as he is, but he might actually break 5% after all. In this brave new world with modern pitchers, it will be very difficult to tell how guys like Hamels will do, but if Hernandez performed as well as he did last year, I think Hamels will do just about as well.

[ashie62]

Andruw Jones

I need to get over the Beltran cheating thing, but I'm not there yet

I forced myself not to vote for David

[Cowtipper]

With more than 10% reported now, we begin to get a clearer picture of where things might end up:

Carlos Beltran: 76-77%

Andruw Jones: 75-76%

Chase Utley: 50-51%

Felix Hernandez: 45-46%

Alex Rodriguez: 41-42%

Andy Pettitte: 39-40%

Manny Ramirez: 34-35%

Bobby Abreu: 30-31%

Cole Hamels: 22-23%

Jimmy Rollins: 22-23%

Dustin Pedroia: 20-21%

Omar Vizquel: 20-21%

Mark Buehrle: 18-19%

Francisco Rodriguez: 14-15%

David Wright: 10-11%

Ryan Braun: 7-8%

Torii Hunter: 5-6%

Edwin Encarnacion: 1-2%

Hunter Pence: 1-2%

Shin-Soo Choo: 0-1%

Gio Gonzalez: 0-1%

Alex Gordon: 0-1%

Matt Kemp: 0-1%

Howie Kendrick: 0-1%

Nick Markakis: 0-1%

Daniel Murphy: 0-1%

Rick Porcello: 0-1%

I'm still pretty confident Beltran is going to make it and I'll still say Jones is 50/50. I could see Beltran potentially pulling a Billy Wagner and getting within 5-6 votes, but not earning election. Not only is the crop of newcomers weak, but the crop of holdovers is weak, too. None of the current ones will make a push for election next year, but Utley could theoretically be elected the year after that. Pettitte will likely start seeing pretty massive gains as he is on year 8, but the 'roids and his status as a less-illustrious potential Hall of Famer really hinder his chances for eventual election.

[Edgy MD]

Latter-day rules are designed to more aggressively purge players from the ballot, so holdovers don't really get the second and third and looks they used to. So a weak crop of newcomers does not as often lead to a holdover candidacy or two getting a new boost.

[Cowtipper]

Carlos Beltran: 75-76%

Andruw Jones: 73-74%

Chase Utley: 51-52%

Alex Rodriguez: 42-43%

Felix Hernandez: 41-42%

Andy Pettitte: 39-40%

Manny Ramirez: 37-38%

Bobby Abreu: 29-30%

Cole Hamels: 25-26%

Dustin Pedroia: 21-22%

Jimmy Rollins: 20-21%

Omar Vizquel: 19-20%

Mark Buehrle: 15-16%

Francisco Rodriguez: 14-15%

David Wright: 13-14%

Ryan Braun: 4-5%

Torii Hunter: 3-4%

Edwin Encarnacion: 1-2%

Hunter Pence: 1-2%

Shin-Soo Choo: 0-1%

Gio Gonzalez: 0-1%

Alex Gordon: 0-1%

Matt Kemp: 0-1%

Howie Kendrick: 0-1%

Nick Markakis: 0-1%

Daniel Murphy: 0-1%

Rick Porcello: 0-1%

Same thing as before, I still think Beltran is a lock and Jones is 50/50. It's becoming more and more plausible that this is the end of the line for Torii Hunter, who barely held on with 5.1% of the vote last time and peaked at 9.5%. My initial prediction for Braun seems to be falling into place; I don't think he'll get 5% of the vote. I've been ticking up the total for Hamels throughout this and he might actually stay at ~30%; I'd like to think the HOF/writers aren't THAT desperate to get pitchers from this era in, yet. Ramirez looks like he'll gain a little, but I don't see him getting to 40%.

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

I don't think anyone's getting in. The percentages tend to lag behind what ballot tracker says due to the guys who don't share their ballots publicly. So if the tracker says someone has 77 percent, they tend to be at least five percent lower and will fall short.

Beltran and Jones are both up to 81.9 percent, so I'm keeping fingers crossed.

Here's what I don't understand. Two writers told the tracker they submitted blank ballots. I don't get that. If you don't want to vote for anyone, then don't vote. Toss your ballot in the trash. Whatever. But turning in a blank ballot just makes it harder percentagewise for the players.

[Edgy MD]

I assume that is what they want.

[Benjamin Grimm]

If they feel nobody is worthy, then a blank ballot is a legitimate choice.

[Frayed Knot]

If you don't want to vote for anyone, then don't vote. Toss your ballot in the trash. Whatever. But turning in a blank ballot just makes it harder percentagewise for the players.

 

I disagree too.

Voting for no one, if that's what represents your convictions, IS a vote.

[Gwreck]

This is a year in which I think a blank ballot is a defensible choice. I don’t think it’s the correct choice, but it’s defensible.

Now, the guy who voted for no one other than Rollins and Utley (yes, he ignored the most-deserving Phillie — Abreu)? That guy I would take the vote away from.

[Edgy MD]

Post-season dirty-play aside, I'd probably take Utley's career over Abreu's.

I'd probably take it over Andruw Jones', also.

[Cowtipper]

The rough estimate that guys finish ~5% less than the 'reported' totals is a little off. It is really, really player dependent. My proprietary and one-of-a-kind projection method is usually pretty close, usually falling within a couple/a handful of percentage points of the real number. It seems the old-timey traditional guys publicly report theirs less, so guys like Vizquel, Torii Hunter and Francisco Rodriguez (aka those whose cases rely on more than WAR and sabermetrics) usually do better than reported totals, while guys who are allegedly tainted in some way (Beltran) and those whose cases are largely sabermetric dependent (Utley) do much worse than reported totals.

There is also a great financial incentive for the Hall to 'encourage' bigger ballots and getting people in, because if no one is voted in, the big money summer festivities won't get as many visitors and dollars. Which is why, for example, I think the VC has been more liberal in electing folks in recent years.

The success of Hamels and Hernandez should really benefit Jon Lester next year, who I actually DO think should be in the Hall, in large part due to his postseason success. It's still a weak ballot next year, as Buster Posey is the only really convincing name, and I don't think it's a guarantee he'll get in first ballot, though with Mauer getting in first ballot, the precedent has been set for Posey.

[Edgy MD]

My experience suggests old-timey/traditional guys publish theirs plenty, if not more often than most latter-day writers. It's a good way to fill a column out in the middle of winter with little baseball action to otherwise write about.

More than one column, if you are clever enough.

It's older-timey/retired/moved-on-to-a-totally-different beat guys who report less.

[Cowtipper]

Well, we're up to 20% in now, so we can do another update.

Carlos Beltran: 77-78%

Andruw Jones: 71-72%

Chase Utley: 51-52%

Felix Hernandez: 43-44%

Alex Rodriguez: 42-43%

Andy Pettitte: 39-40%

Manny Ramirez: 37-38%

Bobby Abreu: 28-29%

Cole Hamels: 26-27%

Jimmy Rollins: 22-23%

Dustin Pedroia: 21-22%

Omar Vizquel: 18-19%

Mark Buehrle: 17-18%

Francisco Rodriguez: 14-15%

David Wright: 12-13%

Torii Hunter: 5-6%

Ryan Braun: 4-5%

Edwin Encarnacion: 1-2%

Hunter Pence: 1-2%

Shin-Soo Choo: 0-1%

Gio Gonzalez: 0-1%

Alex Gordon: 0-1%

Matt Kemp: 0-1%

Howie Kendrick: 0-1%

Nick Markakis: 0-1%

Daniel Murphy: 0-1%

Rick Porcello: 0-1%

My optimism is slipping for Jones. I'm now 47/53 yes/no for him now. Everything else holds.

[Frayed Knot]

A quick side turn here as the talk about Andruw Jones got me thinking about his son, Andruw Nicholas Jones (goes by Druw) who was the #2 overall draft pick (out of a GA HS) by Arizona in 2022. That high draft status got him onto some top-100 Prospects lists in the pre-'23 and '24 season rankings. But he was not on any of those lists prior to this past year and, given as how he back-slid a bit in his 2025 season, he's unlikely to make a reappearance this winter either.

Not that he's a lost cause or anything quite yet. I mean, yeah, he's yet to get out of A-ball, but he'll still just be 22 for the entirety of the '26 season which gives him some time.

On the other hand, one of the reasons his papa, Andruw Rudolph Jones, is up for HoF consideration is that by the time he was at the age his son is now [22 y/1 m] he was already two months into his 4th ML season (one partial + two full preceding it), had appeared in nearly 400 ML games (plus 31 more post-season contests), racked up over 1,300 PAs, 60-some HRs, and was the owner of the first of his eventual ten Gold Gloves. Kind of puts into perspective how precociously young he was -- ML debut at 19y/114d -- and how little ramp-up time he required before hitting the ML grounds running after notching just 188 career AA ABs and a ridiculous 82 in AAA (and a handful of those were from late career rehab time).

btw, not that he was anywhere near the type of player Pete Alonso is, but, like Alonso, the Braves unsentimentally let Jones walk after his age 30 season. In the 12 seasons he spent in Atlanta Jones played in 150+ games every year except for 1996 when he was a 19 y/o August call-up. In the five seasons (with four different clubs) after he left ATL he topped out at 107 games played and averaged fewer than 90/per before calling it quits following his .197 hitting swan song in the Bronx at age 35 [2012]

Jus' sayin'

[Edgy MD]

Just one reason he fails to secure the all-important Edgyvote, the lack of which has undercut so many other celebrated candidacies.

[Frayed Knot]

That was always my knock on his candidacy as well, that he petered out so soon.

OTOH, the fact that he was an everyday regular -- and a good one: a combined 114 OPS+ and two Gold Gloves -- during his first four full ML seasons at ages (20 thru 23) before many players even played a single game has gotta count for something. iow, is an eleven year prime that runs from one's age 20 to 30 seasons less than that of one that runs from, say, ages 24 to 34 simply because it's less common? Yeah, he petered out young, but he also petered in young too.

[Edgy MD]

So much petering.

I tend to think that, like many who preceded him, his Gold Glove era should not have lasted as long as it did, and he earned several such awards based on reputation, rather than performance.

I think his increasing power performance through his young prime was largely offset by his less impressive on-base numbers.

I think he gained a belly full of weight suspiciously early in his career, and while that (along with his dramatic power surge) isn't much to go on to throw steroid shade at the guy, it definitely contributed in my view to the (going back to the earlier point) declining defensive performance I saw in his late twenties. (Mets fans were blessed and cursed in seeing a lot of Braves games.)

A still-young man can maintain a lot of his innate speed while carrying extra weight, but his maneuverability declines, and Jones' certainly did in my eyes. I imagine the more sophisticated defensive metrics might have well agreed, but I don't know how sophisticated even they were from 2002-2007.