Taking a Quick Look Ahead to the Potential 2024 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot
With Scott Rolen and Fred McGriff officially getting inducted the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday, it's time to take a look ahead at who could be next.
The players up for the 2024 class essentially begin their campaigns now, although voting will not go final until January. From recent near misses like Todd Helton and Billy Wagner to steroid era sluggers Alex Rodriguez and Gary Sheffield – as well as fresh faces Adrian Beltre, Joe Mauer and Chase Utley – voting could go in any number of directions.
Beltre is a virtual shoo-in, having 3,166 hits, 477 home runs and a 93.5 WAR to his name. Mauer and Utley each made six All-Star Games, with the former winning an MVP and the latter winning a World Series.
Players such as Adrian Gonzalez, Jose Reyes, Bartolo Colon and Jose Bautista could be fighting to stay on the ballot in just their first year, although each were bona fide superstars at one point or another.
Sheffield is entering his final year on the ballot regardless of the end result, while Billy Wagner, Manny Ramirez, Andruw Jones and Omar Vizquel are all fast approaching that point as well.
Per usual, the steroid conversation will be prominent when voting opens up, with Rodriguez and Ramirez taking on the mantle from Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire for the most notable targets of that discussion.
Here are the 14 returning members from last year's ballot, plus nearly two dozen potential new additions who could be options for the Baseball Writers Association of America voters:
Holdovers
1B Todd Helton – 6th Year on Ballot – 72.2% in 2023
CL Billy Wagner – 9th Year on Ballot – 68.1% in 2023
OF Andruw Jones – 7th Year on Ballot – 58.1% in 2023
OF Gary Sheffield – 10th Year on Ballot – 55.0% in 2023
OF Carlos Beltran – 2nd Year on Ballot – 46.5% in 2023
SS/3B Alex Rodriguez – 3rd Year on Ballot – 35.7% in 2023
OF Manny Ramirez – 8th Year on Ballot – 33.2% in 2023
SS Omar Vizquel – 7th Year on Ballot – 19.5% in 2023
SP Andy Pettitte – 6th Year on Ballot – 17.0% in 2023
OF Bobby Abreu – 5th Year on Ballot – 15.4% in 2023
SS Jimmy Rollins – 3rd Year on Ballot – 12.9% in 2023
SP Mark Buehrle – 4th Year on Ballot – 10.8% in 2023
CL Francisco Rodriguez – 2nd Year on Ballot – 10.8% in 2023
OF Torii Hunter – 4th Year on Ballot – 6.9% in 2023
New Additions
3B Adrian Beltre – 93.5 career WAR
2B Chase Utley – 64.5 career WAR
C Joe Mauer – 55.2 career WAR
3B David Wright – 49.2 career WAR
SP Bartolo Colon – 46.2 career WAR
OF Matt Holliday – 44.5 career WAR
1B Adrian Gonzalez – 43.5 career WAR
SS Jose Reyes – 37.5 career WAR
OF Jose Bautista – 36.7 career WAR
C/1B Victor Martinez – 32.0 career WAR
SP James Shields – 30.7 career WAR
2B Brandon Phillips – 28.4 career WAR
OF Denard Span – 27.9 career WAR
3B Chase Headley – 25.9 career WAR
SP Yovani Gallardo – 22.3 career WAR
SP Doug Fister – 19.6 career WAR
CL Ryan Madson – 13.5 career WAR
RP Brad Ziegler – 13.3 career WAR
SP Brandon Morrow – 11.1 career WAR
SP Phil Hughes – 11.0 career WAR
RP Santiago Castilla – 9.2 career WAR
SP Chris Tillman – 8.7 career WAR
CL Jim Johnson – 8.3 career WAR
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