Two players who matched records for winning both Rookie of the Year and MVP Awards, two former Cy Young winners and two former batting champions are among a group of 14 new candidates appearing on the 2025 National Baseball Hall of Fame ballot.
Ichiro Suzuk, Carlos González, Dustin Pedroia, Hanley Ramírez, Félix Hernández and CC Sabathia join 14 holdovers from the 2024 balloting in which Adrian Beltré, Joe Mauer and Todd Helton were elected to the Hall of Fame.
Also new to the Hall of Fame ballot are Fernando Rodney, Ian Kinsler, Ben Zobrist, Troy Tulowitzki, Russell Martin and Brian McCann, Curtis Granderson and Adam Jones.
Suzuki burst on the major League scene in 2001 with the Seattle Mariners as the first position player from Japan and went on to win both the American League MVP and Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Awards in the same season, a feat accomplished by only one other player, Fred Lynn of the Boston Red Sox in 1975.
Over a 19-season career that included time with the New York Yankees and Miami Marlins, Suzuki totaled 3,089 hits in becoming the first player with 10 consecutive seasons of 200-plus hits, including a record 262 in 2004, a year in which he won his second batting title at .372.
Suzuki’s first batting title first came in his rookie year when he hit .350 with 242 hits and 56 of his career 509 stolen bases.
Among other hardware Suzuki collected were 10 straight Gold Glove Awards, three Silver Slugger Awards and 10 All-Star Game selections, including nine starts. He was MLB All-Star Game MVP in 2007 at San Francisco. Ichiro led the AL in games played in four separate seasons, at-bats eight times, hits seven times, singles 10 times and intentional walks three times.
Defensively, Suzuki led AL right fielders in putouts seven times, fielding percentage four times (once as a center fielder) and assists twice as a right fielder. Including his totals with the Orix Blue Wave in Japan’s Pacific League, Ichiro amassed 4,367 career hits over 28 seasons.
Pedroia also was a Rookie of the Year and MVP winner, but they came in back-to-back seasons. The former second baseman took rookie honors in 2007 on the Red Sox’s championship squad and added the MVP trophy in 2008 when he hit .326 with league-leading totals in runs (118), hits (213) and doubles (54).
The only others to be named Rookie of the Year and MVP in successive seasons were Cal Ripken Jr. with the Baltimore Orioles in 1982-1983, Ryan Howard with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2005-2006 and Kris Bryant with the Chicago Cubs in 2015-2016.
In a career shortened to 14 seasons due to a severe knee injury, Pedroia was a four-time All-Star who won four Gold Glove Awards and one Silver Slugger. He batted over .300 five times, scored 100 or more runs four times and won a second World Series with the Red Sox in 2013.
Hernández spent his entire 15-season career with the Mariners. He won the AL Cy Young Award in 2010, the year after he finished second in the voting to Zack Greinke, and was the runner-up in Cy Young balloting again in 2014 to Corey Kluber. Hernández was a six-time All-Star who started the 2014 game at Minneapolis.
The right-hander led the AL in fewest hits per nine innings pitched three times, earned run average twice, shutouts twice, starts twice and once each in victories, winning percentage, WHIP and innings pitched. Hernández pitched the 23rd perfect game in AL/NL history Aug. 15, 2012, a 1-0 victory over Tampa Bay with 12 strikeouts.
Sabathia began his 19-season career in Cleveland as the runner-up to Suzuki for the AL Rookie of the Year Award in 2001 and went on to post a 251-161 record with a 3.74 ERA and 3,093 strikeouts – 18th all-time and third among left-handers behind Randy Johnson and Steve Carlton.
Sabathia won the AL Cy Young Award in 2007. A year later, a mid-season trade to Milwaukee resulted in his finishing sixth in NL MVP voting after going 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA and seven complete games in 17 starts for the Brewers.
The next year, Sabathia anchored the Yankees’ staff en route to a World Series title and was the 2009 AL Championship Series MVP (2-0, 1.13 ERA). Sabathia is one of only six pitchers in history with at least 250 victories, .600 winning percentage and 3,000 strikeouts.
Joining Suzuki as batting champions on the ballot are González and Ramírez. González batted .336 to win the NL crown in 2010 with a league-high 197 hits for the Colorado Rockies and was third in the MVP race. A three-time All-Star in his 12 seasons, González won three Gold Glove Awards for his outfield play and two Silver Slugger Awards. He batted .412 in nine postseason games.
Ramírez, a .289 hitter over 15 seasons with 271 home runs and 281 stolen bases, was the NL Rookie of the Year in 2006 with the Marlins and led the league in batting three years later with a .342 average, one of five seasons in which he hit over .300. He reached the 100-run plateau four times, including a majors-best 125 in 2008.
Ramírez was the first player in MLB history with a season (2007) that included 20 home runs, 50 stolen bases and at least 50% of games played at shortstop. He hit .380 with one home run and 14 RBI in 20 postseason games.
Rodney totaled 327 saves over 17 seasons with 11 clubs and led the AL with 48 in 2014 for the Mariners. Kinsler was a four-time All-Star, a two-time Gold Glove Award winner and won a World Series with the Red Sox in 2018.
Zobrist led AL outfielders in fielding percentage one year and second basemen in another. He was the 2016 World Series MVP for the Cubs, a year after he also won a World Series with the Kansas City Royals. Tulowitzki was runner-up for NL Rookie of the Year to Ryan Braun in 2007 as part of the Rockies’ only pennant winner and batted .290 over 13 seasons.
Among those with at least 50% of their games as a catcher, Martin is one of only three players in history with at least 150 home runs and 100 stolen bases. McCann’s 282 home runs are the eighth most among those who played at least half their games as a catcher. He was the All-Star Game MVP in 2010 at Anaheim and won a World Series with the Houston Astros in 2017.
Granderson placed a career-best fourth in AL MVP voting in 2011 after leading the league in runs (136) and runs batted in (119). In 2007, he became the sixth player in history with at least 20 doubles, 20 triples and 20 home runs in the same season. Jones was a five-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner who led AL center fielders in putouts and assists three times each and double plays twice.
2024 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot holdovers
Other holdovers from last year’s ballot are Mark Buehrle, Andy Pettitte, Francisco Rodríguez and Billy Wagner, David Wright, Jimmy Rollins, Álex Rodríguez, Chase Utley, Omar Vizquel, Bobby Abreu, Torii Hunter and Manny Ramírez.
Wagner seems to be a lock for election after falling just five votes short of election with 284 votes (73.8) last year and is now in his 10th-and-final year of consideration by the BBWAA.
The only other players to gain mention on more than half the ballots in 2024 were outfielders Gary Sheffield with 246 (63.9), Andruw Jones with 237 (61.6) and Carlos Beltrán with 220 (57.1). It was the last season on the BBWAA ballot for Sheffield, whose case moves to the BBWAA’s Historical Overview Committee, which will craft the ballots for consideration by the Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee for the Class of 2026.
Baseball Hall of Fame voting process
Candidates must be named on 75% of ballots cast by selected Baseball Writers’ Association of America members with 10 or more consecutive years of MLB coverage to gain election and be part of Induction Weekend July 25-28, 2025, in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Players may remain on the ballot for up to 10 years provided they receive at least five percent of the vote.
Voters must return ballots by a Dec. 31 postmark. Votes are counted jointly by BBWAA secretary-treasurer Jack O’Connell and Ernst & Young partner Mark Moran.
Results will be announced by Hall of Fame president Josh Rawitch at 3 p.m. PT Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, live on MLB Network.
Complete 2025 Major League Baseball Hall of Fame ballot
Bobby Abreu
Carlos Beltrán
Mark Buehrle
Carlos González
Curtis Granderson
Félix Hernández
Torii Hunter
Adam Jones
Andruw Jones
Ian Kinsler
Russell Martin
Brian McCann
Dustin Pedroia
Andy Pettitte
Hanley Ramírez
Manny Ramírez
Fernando Rodney
Álex Rodríguez
Francisco Rodríguez
Jimmy Rollins
CC Sabathia
Ichiro Suzuki
Troy Tulowitzki
Chase Utley
Omar Vizquel
Billy Wagner
David Wright
Ben Zobrist
Note: Players in first year on ballot
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