Hall of Fame Out of Reach For Former Rays Stars Ben Zobrist, Fernando Rodney in 2025

Neither Ben Zobrist nor Fernando Rodney have appeared on a single publicly available ballot submitted for the Baseball Hall of Fame class of 2025 so far, preventing the former Tampa Bay Rays standouts from reaching the 75% required to get inducted.

Aug 14, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; Tampa Bay Rays right fielder Ben Zobrist (18) celebrates a victory with manager Joe Maddon (70) against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington. / Matthew Emmons-Imagn Images

Only one Hall of Famer has ever donned a Tampa Bay Rays uniform – Wade Boggs, who spent just two seasons in St. Petersburg after 11 in Boston and five in the Bronx.

A pair of critical figures from the club's emergence in the 2000s had a chance to join Boggs in Cooperstown this year, but they have already fallen short.

There have been 98 ballots made public by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America thus far – plus another six anonymous ones – out of the estimated final total of 388. Baseball Hall of Fame Vote Tracker has all the data, giving an updated look at every players' standing.

Not one of those 104 ballots has featured either Ben Zobrist or Fernando Rodney.

Even if they earn votes from all 284 writers who have yet to submit their ballots, they would max out at 73.2%. As a result, Zobrist and Rodney have effectively been mathematically eliminated from Hall of Fame contention this year, since they need to reach 75.0% to get inducted.

Zobrist and Rodney are far from the biggest names on the ballot this cycle, with Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia both expected to make it in on their first tries. Andruw Jones, Billy Wagner and Carlos Beltran are among the returnees who have the best shots, while Andy Pettitte and Chase Utley are hanging around as well.

While he made his MLB debut when the Rays were still the Devil Rays, Zobrist didn't truly break out until the team rebranded in 2008. He helped Tampa Bay reach the World Series that season, then became an All-Star and led the American League in WAR in 2009.

The utility man played nine seasons in Tampa Bay, before moving on to win World Series rings with the Kansas City Royals and Chicago Cubs. Zobrist finished his career batting .266 with 1,566 hits, 167 home runs, 768 RBI, 116 stolen bases, a .783 OPS, a 44.5 WAR, making three All-Star appearances along the way.

Rodney was much more of a journeyman than Zobrist – pitching for 11 teams over his 17-year career – and he was already 35 by the time in arrived in Tampa Bay in 2012. Still, his first of three All-Star selections came with the Rays, and the closer finished fifth in AL Cy Young voting in his debut campaign with the club.

Before heading off to play ball in Mexico, Rodney finished his MLB career with a 3.80 ERA, 1.373 WHIP and 7.4 WAR. His 327 saves rank No. 19 in league history.

With a 2025 induction no longer in the picture, Zobrist and Rodney can now shift their focus to just hanging around on the ballot another year. They need to appear on 5.0% of all ballots in order to clear that bar, which would mean getting 20 votes from the 284 remaining writers – or 7.0%.

If they fail to hit that threshold, Zobrist and Rodney will no longer be eligible to get voted in by the BBWAA and would have to wait around for an era committee to decide their fate again sometime in the future.

The final, official results of this year's Hall of Fame voting will be revealed on Jan. 21.

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