Ranking Every Player on the 2024 MLB Hall of Fame Ballot
The 2024 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot was officially released by the Baseball Writers' Association of America on Monday morning, with 12 newcomers joining the 14 holdovers from last year's ballot who received the 5 percent support necessary for another year of consideration and have not yet exhausted their 10 years on the ballot.
Among the holdovers, Todd Helton (72.2 percent), Billy Wagner (68.1 percent) and Andruw Jones (58.1 percent) came the closest to receiving the 75 percent of votes necessary for induction. Meanwhile, Gary Sheffield (55.0 percent) will be one to watch in his 10th and final year of eligibility.
Among this year's crop of newcomers, Adrián Beltré has a chance to be a first-ballot selection, while Joe Mauer and Chase Utley should also receive solid support with a chance to climb toward the 75 percent threshold in the coming years.
José Bautista, Bartolo Colon, Matt Holliday, Adrián González, Victor Martinez, Brandon Phillips, José Reyes, James Shields and David Wright are the other first timers up for discussion.
Voting results for the 2024 Hall of Fame class will be revealed on Jan. 23, but for now, here is a ranking of all 26 players on this year's ballot based on their career stats, accolades, reputation and likelihood of being enshrined.
Nos. 26-21
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26. SP James Shields (30.7 WAR)
Shields was a workhorse staff ace for the Tampa Bay Rays and Kansas City Royals during a stretch of nine straight seasons where he tallied at least 200 innings. He finished third in Cy Young voting in 2011 when he finished 16-12 with a 2.82 ERA and 225 strikeouts in 249.1 innings while leading the AL with 11 complete games and four shutouts. He finished his 13-year career with 145 wins and a 4.01 ERA with 2,234 strikeouts in 2,616 innings.
25. C/DH Victor Martinez (32.0 WAR)
A five-time All-Star who hit .295/.360/.455 for a 118 OPS+ in 8,166 plate appearances, Martinez began his career as a catcher before serving primarily as a designated hitter for the Detroit Tigers during the second half of his 16-year stint in the big leagues. He tallied 2,153 hits, 423 doubles, 246 home runs and 1,178 RBI while receiving MVP votes six different times.
24. 2B Brandon Phillips (28.4 WAR)
Phillips provided a rare mix of power, speed and defense during his peak with the Cincinnati Reds, posting a 30/30 season in 2007 and finishing his 17-year career with 211 home runs and 209 stolen bases. He was a three-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glove winner and one of the best all-around second basemen of his era.
23. SS José Reyes (37.4 WAR)
Reyes had three straight 60-steal seasons early in his career with the New York Mets, and he won the NL batting title in 2011 when he hit .337 during his final year with the team before departing in free agency. He is one of only eight players in MLB history with 2,000 hits, 300 doubles, 100 triples, 100 home runs and 500 steals, and with the exception of Kenny Lofton, everyone else on that list is in the Hall of Fame.
22. SS Omar Vizquel (45.6 WAR)
Widely regarded as one of the best defensive shortstops in baseball history, Vizquel won 11 Gold Glove Awards over 24 seasons. A middling career 82 OPS+ and allegations of sexual harassment by a former bat boy during his time as a coach in the Chicago White Sox minor league system will likely keep him out of Cooperstown, and he had a fringe case at best anyway.
21. OF José Bautista (36.7 WAR)
A late-bloomer who did not break out until his age-29 season with the Toronto Blue Jays, Bautista was one of the most dynamic players in the sport during his six-year peak. Starting with a 54-homer, 124-RBI season in 2010, he made six straight All-Star appearances while posting a 156 OPS+ and averaging 44 home runs and 114 RBI per 162 games. His bat flip in Game 5 of the 2015 ALDS is one of the most iconic postseason moments of the last 25 years.
Nos. 20-16
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20. 1B Adrián González (43.5 WAR)
A productive middle-of-the-order run producer who ultimately lived up to being the No. 1 overall pick in the 2000 draft, González hit .287/.358/.485 for a 129 OPS+ with 437 doubles, 317 home runs and 1,202 RBI over 15 seasons. He was a five-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glove winner and two-time Silver Slugger winner at first base.
19. SS Jimmy Rollins (47.6 WAR)
Rollins falls in the same "Hall of Very Good" range as guys like Bert Campaneris (53.1 WAR), Jim Fregosi (48.7 WAR), Miguel Tejada (47.1 WAR), Tony Fernandez (45.3 WAR) and Troy Tulowitzki (44.5 WAR) in terms of career WAR among shortstops. His 2007 NL MVP award does raise his profile a bit higher, and he was a three-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner as one of the top-tier shortstops of his era.
18. SP Bartolo Colon (46.2 WAR)
"Big Sexy" pitched until he was 45 years old, tallying 247 career wins with a 4.12 ERA and 2,535 strikeouts in 3,461.2 innings. He won AL Cy Young honors with the Los Angeles Angels in 2005 when he finished 21-8 with a 3.48 ERA and 157 strikeouts in 222.2 innings, and his longevity while pitching for 11 different teams over 21 seasons could be enough to keep him on the ballot for multiple years.
17. RP Francisco Rodríguez (24.2 WAR)
K-Rod burst onto the scene during the 2002 postseason, posting a 1.93 ERA with 28 strikeouts in 18.2 innings while tallying five wins and three holds as a 20-year-old rookie for the eventual World Series champion Angels. He quickly developed into one of the league's best closers in the years that followed, setting the single-season record with 62 saves in 2008 and racking up 437 career saves in 16 seasons to rank fourth on the all-time list.
16. 3B David Wright (49.2 WAR)
Over his first six full seasons in the majors before injuries derailed his career, Wright hit .306/.387/.515 for a 137 OPS+ while averaging 42 doubles, 27 home runs, 108 RBI, 103 runs scored, 23 steals and 4.8 WAR per 162 games. He ended up playing only 77 games after his age-31 season before spinal stenosis eventually ended his career or he might have been a no-doubt Hall of Famer.
Nos. 15-11
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15. OF Matt Holliday (44.5 WAR)
Holliday hit 30 home runs in a season only twice in his 15-year career, but he still racked up 316 home runs and 1,220 RBI as one of the most consistent middle-of-the-order producers of the late 2000s and early 2010s. His seven-year, $120 million contract with the St. Louis Cardinals stands as one of the most successful nine-figure deals in MLB history, and he finished his career as a .299/.379/.510 hitter with 2,096 hits and a 132 OPS+ in 1,903 games.
14. OF Torii Hunter (50.7 WAR)
With 2,452 hits, 353 home runs, 1,391 RBI and nine Gold Glove Awards, Hunter is one of the best two-way outfielders in the last 50 years. He was arguably the best defensive player in baseball at his peak with the Minnesota Twins, and he continued to produce well into his late 30s. He has yet to break 10 percent voting support in three years on the ballot, and his peak actually came in his first year of eligibility with 9.5 percent.
13. SP Mark Buehrle (59.1 WAR)
Buehrle rattled off 14 straight seasons of at least 200 innings pitched, and while he was never overpowering, he was the definition of a crafty left-hander who made the most of his stuff to win 214 games with a 3.81 ERA in 3,283.1 innings. He threw a no-hitter and a perfect game, and he won a World Series ring in 2005. He received 10.8 percent of the vote last year in his third year of eligibility.
12. SP Andy Pettitte (60.2 WAR)
It would be interesting to see what type of support Pettitte would receive from voters if not for a positive PED test and admission of use in an effort to return faster from an injury. With 256 wins and a 3.85 ERA over 3,316 innings, he does not have a slam-dunk case from a regular-season standpoint, but his 3.81 ERA over 276.2 innings in the playoffs and five World Series rings might have been enough to push him over the top.
11. OF Bobby Abreu (60.2 WAR)
One of the most underrated players in MLB history, Abreu was an on-base machine throughout his career and a perennial 20/20 player during his prime with the Philadelphia Phillies. The two-time All-Star hit .291/.395/.475 for a 128 OPS+ in 18 seasons, tallying 2,470 hits, 574 doubles, 288 home runs, 1,363 RBI and 400 steals along the way. He was a 5-WAR player seven different times.
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10. RP Billy Wagner
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Stats: 853 G, 422 SV, 2.31 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 300 BB, 1,196 K, 903.0 IP, 27.8 WAR
Accolades: 7x All-Star
Among relief pitchers who debuted after 1990, when the bullpen started to more closely resemble how relievers are used today, Billy Wagner trails only Mariano Rivera (56.3 WAR) and Trevor Hoffman (28.1 WAR) with his 27.8 WAR.
With all due respect to John Franco, Randy Myers, Dave Righetti and others, Wagner has a strong case to be called the best left-handed reliever in MLB history. His support has grown from 10.5 percent in his first year on the ballot in 2016 to 68.1 percent last year, so he's trending toward induction.
9. 2B Chase Utley
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Stats: 1,937 G, 117 OPS+, 1,885 H, 259 HR, 1,025 RBI, 1,103 R, 154 SB, 64.5 WAR
Accolades: 6x All-Star, 4x Silver Slugger
During his first five seasons as an everyday player, Chase Utley hit .301/.388/.535 for a 135 OPS+ while averaging 39 doubles, 29 home runs, 101 RBI, 111 runs scored and 7.9 WAR. A few more seasons of that peak performance would have given him a more compelling body of work, but he was already 26 years old when he finally earned an everyday role.
Still, his 64.5 WAR ranks 15th all-time among second basemen, slotted right in between Hall of Famers Craig Biggio (65.4) and Jackie Robinson (63.8). For comparison's sake, Biggio received 68.2 percent of the vote in his first year on the ballot and took three years to get over the hump.
8. OF Gary Sheffield
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Stats: 2,576 G, 140 OPS+, 2,689 H, 509 HR, 1,676 RBI, 1,636 R, 253 SB, 60.5 WAR
Accolades: 9x All-Star, 5x Silver Slugger
With 509 home runs and 1,676 RBI, there is little question that Gary Sheffield has the career numbers to be worthy of a place in Cooperstown. However, his involvement in the BALCO scandal and admitted steroid use has thus far kept him on the outside looking in.
He has made some progress in voting support after failing to crack 20 percent in each of his first five years on the ballot, and his 55 percent of the vote last year was a sizable spike from 40.6 percent the previous year. Is there another 20 percent out there for him in his final year of eligibility?
7. 1B Todd Helton
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Stats: 2,247 G, 133 OPS+, 2,519 H, 369 HR, 1,406 RBI, 1,401 R, 37 SB, 61.8 WAR
Accolades: 5x All-Star, 3x Gold Glove, 4x Silver Slugger
Todd Helton spent his entire 17-year career with the Colorado Rockies, which has likely been to his detriment in the eyes of voters who take Coors Field numbers with a grain of salt. It's no coincidence that it also took Larry Walker the full 10 years to earn enshrinement, though it looks like Helton is poised to get over the hump a bit faster.
With a .287/.386/.469 career line on the road in his career, Helton was far from simply a product of his environment, and he did a nice job reinventing himself as a line-drive hitter after his power diminished. He was 11 votes shy of reaching the 75 percent threshold last year in his fifth year of eligibility after starting out with only 16.5 percent support in 2019.
6. C/1B Joe Mauer
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Stats: 1,858 G, 124 OPS+, 2,123 H, 143 HR, 923 RBI, 33% CS, 55.2 WAR
Accolades: 6x All-Star, 3x Gold Glove, 5x Silver Slugger, 2009 AL MVP
Concussions forced Joe Mauer to move from catcher to third base for the final five seasons of his career and may have cost him some overall production, but he still finished his career as a .306/.388/.439 hitter.
One of the faces of the sport at his peak and arguably the best contact hitter ever at the catcher position, he won three batting titles in a span of four years, including 2009 when he hit .365/.444/.587 with 28 home runs, 96 RBI and 7.8 WAR. His 55.2 WAR ranks 10th all-time among catchers, behind eight Hall of Famers and Joe Torre.
5. OF Carlos Beltrán
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Stats: 2,586 G, 119 OPS+, 2,725 H, 435 HR, 1,587 RBI, 312 SB, 70.1 WAR
Accolades: 9x All-Star, 3x Gold Glove, 2x Silver Slugger
Carlos Beltrán is one of only five players in MLB history with 400 home runs and 300 steals, joining Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Willie Mays and Andre Dawson.
He won AL Rookie of the Year in 1999 with the Kansas City Royals, had a 38-homer, 42-steal contract year in 2004, and made good on a seven-year, $119 million deal with the New York Mets. One of the best switch-hitters of his era, he was also a .307/.412/.609 hitter with 16 home runs in 65 career postseason games.
Beltrán received 46.5 percent of the vote in his first year of eligibility in 2023. It will be interesting to see how voters reconcile his role in the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal.
4. OF Manny Ramirez
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Stats: 2,302 G, 154 OPS+, 2,574 H, 555 HR, 1,831 RBI, 38 SB, 69.3 WAR
Accolades: 12x All-Star, 9x Silver Slugger
A pair of performance-enhancing-drug-related suspensions at the end of his career have thus far kept Manny Ramirez out of the Hall of Fame, but his 33.2 percent support last year was a peak in his seven years of eligibility.
He finished in the top 10 in AL MVP voting eight years in a row in his prime, posting a 163 OPS+ while averaging 35 doubles, 41 home runs and 130 RBI during that span. He ranks in the top 20 all-time in home runs (555, 15th) and RBI (1,831, 20th).
On top of his impressive regular-season numbers, Ramirez also logged a .937 OPS with 29 home runs and 78 RBI in 111 career postseason games, winning rings with the Boston Red Sox in 2004 and 2007.
3. SS/3B Alex Rodriguez
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Stats: 2,784 G, 140 OPS+, 3,115 H, 696 HR, 2,086 RBI, 2,021 R, 329 SB, 117.5 WAR
Accolades: 14x All-Star, 2x Gold Glove, 10x Silver Slugger, 3x AL MVP
Everyone ranked below Alex Rodriguez on this list is either also a PED user, a fringe Hall of Fame candidate or a "Hall of Very Good" player. Everyone ranked ahead of him should be considered a no-doubt Hall of Famer.
A-Rod is being used at the dividing line because in terms of statistical production, he is one of the greatest players ever to step onto a baseball field. He successfully lived up to the immense hype that surrounded him when he was chosen No. 1 overall in the 1993 draft and then made his MLB debut a year later at the age of 18.
Rodriguez admitted to using PEDs during his time with the Texas Rangers, and after watching Barry Bonds fall off the ballot without getting to 75 percent, it's likely he will suffer a similar fate. So far, he has received 34.3 and 35.7 percent of the vote in his two years of eligibility.
2. OF Andruw Jones
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Stats: 2,196 G, 111 OPS+, 1,933 H, 434 HR, 1,289 RBI, 152 SB, 62.7 WAR
Accolades: 5x All-Star, 10x Gold Glove, 1x Silver Slugger
Here's a list of every player who won 10 Gold Glove Awards and hit 400 home runs in their careers:
- Ken Griffey Jr.
- Andruw Jones
- Willie Mays
- Mike Schmidt
Jones hit 368 home runs and tallied 61.0 WAR in 12 seasons with the Atlanta Braves through his age-30 season. That essentially became his career body of work when injuries limited him to 435 games and 1.7 WAR for the remainder of his career after he left Atlanta.
His six years on the ballot have gone 7.3 percent, 7.5 percent, 19.4 percent, 33.9 percent, 41.4 percent and 58.1 percent, so he is trending in the right direction with four more chances to earn his place among baseball's immortals.
1. 3B Adrián Beltré
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Stats: 2,933 G, 116 OPS+, 3,166 H, 477 HR, 1,707 RBI, 1,524 R, 121 SB, 93.5 WAR
Accolades: 4x All-Star, 5x Gold Glove, 4x Silver Slugger
Only 58 players in MLB history have been first-ballot Hall of Famers. Adrián Beltré has the resume to join that exclusive list.
He debuted shortly after his 19th birthday as a highly touted prospect with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He hit .334/.388/.629 with 48 home runs, 121 RBI and 9.6 WAR in a contract year in 2004, earning a five-year, $64 million deal from the Seattle Mariners. However, inconsistency during that contract left him to settle for a one-year deal from the Boston Red Sox on the other end.
From that lone season in Boston in 2010 through the end of his career in 2018, he hit .307/.358/.514 for a 130 OPS+ with 1,466 hits, 227 home runs, 801 RBI and 48.9 WAR to go from solid player to all-time great.
His 3,166 hits are the most ever by a third baseman, and he was also the first Dominican-born player to reach the 3,000-hit mark.
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