Cardlines Guide To The New Candidates On The 2025 Baseball Hall Of Fame Ballot

The 2024 baseball season is now in the books, and the hot stove offseason is underway.

Along with the free agent signings, trades, and other off-season happenings is one of our favorite off-season events. That would be Hall of Fame season, one of our favorite times of the year here at Cardlines.

It’s time for the Cardlines Guide to the New Candidates on the 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot.

Who are the new players on the ballot? Who will be elected to the Hall of Fame in 2025, or beyond? And what are the rookie cards of these players?

A quick refresher on the Hall of Fame election process

The National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY has been showcasing the very best in the history of baseball since the inaugural class was elected in 1936. The annual Hall of Fame election is voted upon by tenured members of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA).

Voters typically have the month of December to vote, with ballots needing to be returned by December 31^st. The Hall of Fame voting results will be announced on January 21, 2025. The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held on July 27, 2025 in Cooperstown, NY.

A player becomes eligible for the ballot after they have been retired for 5 years. Players need to have appeared in at least 10 MLB seasons and be nominated by the Hall of Fame to appear on the ballot.

75% of the vote is required for election. Players who appear on less than 5% of the vote drop off the ballot. A player with between 5% and 75% of the vote can stay on the ballot for up to 10 years.

The new candidates on the 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot

There are 14 new candidates on the Hall of Fame ballot. Which ones will make the Hall of Fame in 2025? Who will eventually be enshrined?

Who had a great career but falls short of the lofty Hall of Fame standard? And who’s likely to be “one and done” on the ballot? We present to you the 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame first-time candidates.

We’ll look at these players in several different categories, from the sure thing to the likely Hall of Famer, from the interesting candidates to the “not long enough track record,” a big theme with these new candidates.

The sure thing

From the moment he came over from Japan and took the US majors by storm, Ichiro Suzuki was a sensation. Despite not debuting in the US until his age 27 season, Ichiro finished his career with over 3,000 career hits, over 500 stolen bases, and 60 career WAR.

He was a 10-time All-Star, 10-time Silver Slugger winner, and had 10 straight 200+ hit seasons. He also won 2 batting titles, and both a Rookie of the Year and MVP award in his debut season.

The only real question with Ichiro’s Hall of Fame candidacy is whether he’ll become the first position player to be a unanimous selection. The odds are against that, because, well, voters are weird.

But it is likely that Ichiro’s vote total ends up in the high 90s, well beyond the 75% threshold for election.

Ichiro has plenty of great rookie cards to chase, with one for just about any budget. One of the best is the 2001 Topps Chrome Traded & Rookies Ichiro Suzuki #T266.

Despite being the rookie card of a great player, it has been traded just 1,825 times with 352 PSA 10’s. In that grade, expect to pay $1,100-1,200. In a PSA 9, of which there are 1,082 copies, the price drops to $175-250.

Are Ichiro cards a good investment? Since Ichiro’s greatness has been well-known for about 25 years now, it’s not exactly a secret he’ll make the Hall of Fame.

If you can grab a card before the announcement, you may see a bit of a temporary bump around the announcement and induction, and then steady increases in the future as Ichiro joins the “blue chip” club of Hall of Famers.

The Ultimate Guide to Ichiro Suzuki Rookie Cards – Worth Chasing?

Likely Hall of Famer (but maybe not on the first ballot)

C.C. Sabathia hits the ballot for the first time this year, and may be the pitcher to break the 6-year run with no starting pitchers elected to the Hall of Fame (Mike Mussina, 2019).

C.C. Sabathia finished his career with a record of 251-161 with a 3.74 ERA (116 ERA+), with six All Star selection and a Cy Young award. He was also worth 62.3 WAR in his career.

That suggests a Hall of Famer. Does it scream “sure thing first ballot”? Not really, but perhaps the lack of Hall of Fame starting pitchers will lead to Sabathia getting in year one.

Regardless of when he does get in it’s likely to surprise a few people or catch them off-guard, providing a potential opportunity to sell them the Sabathia cards you’ve been stockpiling in expectation of this day.

Sabathia’s rookie cards appear in 1999 products, and include 1999 Topps Chrome Traded and Rookies C.C. Sabathia #T33. The card has been graded less than 1,000 times by PSA, with under 125 PSA 10’s. The last sale in a PSA 10 was for $250. In a PSA 9, these sell for between $30 and $50.

The Top 9 CC Sabathia Rookie Cards

Interesting candidates

There is one new candidate that might fall into the next category, “not long enough track record”. But when I squint, I see perhaps a slightly better case than others in that grouping.

That candidate is former Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia. Pedroia was well on his way to building a no-doubt Hall of Fame career when an injury effectively ended his career (he played only 9 games after the injury, over two years).

Generously listed at 5’9”, Pedroia brought great defense, strong base running, and surprising pop to go along with potent bat-to-ball and on-base skills.

Despite the short career, there’s a lot to like with the Hall of Fame case for Dustin Pedroia. He won a Rookie of the Year award, an MVP award, and was a big part of two Red Sox World Championship teams (and technically a member of a 3^rd). He added four All Star appearances, four Gold Glove awards, and a Silver Slugger award.

For his career, Pedroia hit .299/.365/.439, good for an OPS of .805 and 113 OPS+. He hit 140 home runs, stole 138 bases, and collected 1,805 career hits. For his career, he was worth 51.9 WAR over his career.

On the surface, Pedroia probably didn’t do enough, thanks to the injury, to make the Hall of Fame. I can squint, though, and see a resemblance to other short-career Hall of Fame second baseman like Bobby Doerr.

Ian Kinsler, another second baseman making his HOF ballot debut this year, actually has a higher career WAR (54.1) than Pedroia, with more career hits, as well. He doesn’t possess as much hardware as Pedroia.

However, he matched his four All-Star appearances, won a Gold Glove award, and was a member of the World Championship 2018 Boston Red Sox, acquired when it became clear that Pedroia wouldn’t be able to contribute much to that team.

It will be interesting to see how voters respond to these two-second basemen, a year after Chase Utley debuted with a solid 28.8% of the vote.

Pedroia’s rookie cards appear in 2006 products, in particular, the 2006 Topps ’52 Dustin Pedroia #40 and 2006 Upper Deck Dustin Pedroia #1027. Both are low pop and are strong sellers in the $100 to $200 range.

Kinsler’s rookie cards appear in 2005, and have much lower graded populations than Pedroia’s, likely suggesting the collecting market doesn’t like his Hall of Fame chances.

Very good, but long enough track record?

The next group of players were very, very good. Just to appear on the Hall of Fame ballot is a testament to a 10+ year career as a top performer. But career length likely is working against them and their Hall of Fame prospects.

Felix Hernandez went 169-134 with a 3.42 ERA (117 ERA+) for some bad Mariners teams. He struck out over 2,500 batters, won a Cy Young award, two ERA titles, and was an All Star six times.

His career WAR was 49.7, and he was done after his age 33 season after 3 down years. For a while he was one of the best pitchers in the league, but poor teams and a lack of longevity will make for an uphill battle for “King Felix”.

Troy Tulowitzki was a star shortstop in his prime. He was a Gold Glove winner twice and added two Silver Slugger awards to go with five All-Star appearances. But he managed to play in only parts of 13 seasons, and his 44.5 career WAR isn’t likely to get the attention of many voters. The fact that his WAR7 is 40.2 tells the story of a great peak, but not much else.

Likely one and done

Players who don’t get 5% of the vote in their first year on the Hall of Fame ballot fall off the ballot and won’t get a chance to be considered for the Hall of Fame until they become eligible for and get nominated by the veterans committee.

Most new candidates each year fall into this category, and his year is no exception. This is not meant as a slight of these players, and their appearance on the ballot gives us another chance to appreciate their careers.

Ben Zobrist didn’t make his big league debut until he was 25. He was also a utility player for most of his career. Neither of those things stopped him from being a fan favorite, a three-time All-Star, and a two-time World Champion who put up 44.5 WAR in his career.

Curtis Granderson was probably better than you remember. He hit 344 career home runs, stole over 150 bases, and was a three-time All-Star. His 47.2 career WAR makes him somewhat similar to Torii Hunter, who’s stuck around the ballot for four years.

Hanley Ramirez was a Rookie of the Year, won a batting title, and was a three-time All-Star who hit 271 home runs and stole 281 bases while hitting .289/.360/.486 (124 OPS+) and was worth 38 WAR for his career.

Russell Martin was a backstop who was an All-Star four times, won a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger, and was worth 38.9 WAR during his 14-year career.

Brian McCann is another catcher making his ballot debut. He was a 7-time All-Star, 6-time Silver Slugger winner, and 282 home runs in his career. He was worth 32.0 WAR in his career.

Adam Jones ALSO hit 282 home runs in his career, and was a 5-time All Star and Gold Glove winner in center field 4 times. He was worth 32.6 WAR during his career.

Carlos Gonzalez only appeared in parts of 12 seasons but put up a solid .285/.343/.500 line while being an All-Star three times, a Gold Glove winner three times, and a batting title winner. He racked up 24.4 WAR in his career.

Fernando Rodney saved 327 games in his career and wore his baseball cap tilted to the left side of his head in honor of his father. His 3.80 career ERA and losing career record suggest he’s unlikely to gain traction on the ballot.

Which of these candidates get elected?

Whoever gets elected to the Hall of Fame in the BBWAA election will join the two players selected by the Classic Baseball Committee, Dave Parker and Dick Allen.

Ichiro Suzuki is about as sure of a sure thing to get elected as you’ll come across. Expect him to get over 95% of the vote, with a chance to be unanimous.

CC Sabathia has a good chance of being elected in year one, although it may take him a year or two. If he gets elected, I’d expect a vote total in the 75-80% range. If he’s not elected, I still expect a vote total above 50%, setting him up well for future elections.

It will be interesting to see what voters think of Pedroia and Kinsler. They won’t get close to election in year one, but should stay on the ballot. So should Felix Hernandez. The others are likely “one and done”.

I also suspect one returning candidate to be inducted this year, but that’s a story for another day.

Final thoughts on The New Candidates On The 2025 Baseball Hall Of Fame Ballot

Induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame is the ultimate achievement and puts a bookend on a player’s career. Every year, a new crop of players comes eligible, giving us another opportunity to appreciate their career.

And talking about who and should get elected helps us to pass those cold, dark, baseball-free months.

What’s your take on the new candidates for the Baseball Hall of Fame? Who do you think gets elected? And whose rookie cards do you own? Which ones are you looking to acquire? Tell us all about it at card_lines on X (Twitter).

More Cardlines Hall of Fame Coverage

• Dick Allen Elected To The Baseball Hall Of Fame
• The Dave Parker Rookie Card: The 1974 Topps Card Of Baseball’s Latest Hall Of Famer
• The Ultimate Guide to Ichiro Suzuki Rookie Cards – Worth Chasing?
• The Top 9 CC Sabathia Rookie Cards
• Baseball Hall of Fame Announces 2024 Hall of Fame Voting Results