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BBWAA unveils the 2025 Hall of Fame ballot
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Photo credit: © Gregory Fisher - USA Today
Ryley Delaney
Nov 18, 2024, 17:30 ESTUpdated: Nov 18, 2024, 18:02 EST
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It’s that time of year when the Hall of Fame ballot is announced.
On Monday afternoon, Major League Baseball announced 28 players on the Hall of Fame ballot, including four former Blue Jays: Mark Buehrle, Russell Martin, Troy Tulowitzki, and Curtis Granderson.
Buehrle is the only returning former Blue Jay, as this is his fifth year of candidacy. The right-handed pitcher’s final season was in 2015, with career highlights being a World Series win in 2005 with the Red Sox, a perfect game in 2009, and pitching 14 consecutive seasons with 200 innings pitched.
Also part of the 2015 Blue Jays were Russell Martin and Troy Tulowitzki, both players were notable acquisitions to help propel the Jays to the American League Championship Series in 2015. As for Granderson, he only spent half a season with the Jays in 2018 in the twilight of his career.
At the 2024 trade deadline, the Blue Jays acquired Will Wagner and a couple of other prospects for Yusei Kikuchi. Well, Wagner’s father, Billy, is a returnee on the Hall of Fame ballot. Other returnees are Bobby Abreu, Carlos Beltrán, Torii Hunter, Andruw Jones, Andy Pettitte, Manny Ramírez, Francisco Rodríguez, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Omar Vizquel, David Wright, and Álex Rodríguez.
The latter’s stats are worthy of being in the Hall of Fame. Rodríguez slashed .295/.380/.550 with 696 home runs in 12,207 plate appearances in 22 seasons with the New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, and Texas Rangers. However, he was suspended for PED usage in 2013 dating back to his tenure with the Rangers.
Aside from Granderson, Martin, and Tulowitzki, there are 11 other newcomers to the ballot. Most notable is Irchiro Suzuki, who should be a first-ballot Hall of Famer without question. Joining the Seattle Mariners as a 27-year-old in 2001, the Japanese outfielder went on to slash .311/.355/.402 with 117 home runs in 10,734 career plate appearances for a 104 wRC+. His playing days lasted until his mid-40s, but his first 10 seasons in the big leagues were fantastic.
Carlos González, Félix Hernández, Adam Jones, Ian Kinsler, Brian McCann, Dustin Pedroia, Hanley Ramírez, Fernando Rodney, CC Sabathia, and Ben Zobrist are also newcomers to the Hall of Fame ballot.
As always, you can follow me on Bluesky @ryleydelaney.bsky.social.

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