The case for 5 leading 2026 Hall of Fame candidates

The Baseball Writers' Association of America on Tuesday will unveil the results of its 2026 Baseball Hall of Fame election, officially filling out a class that currently boasts just one member -- Jeff Kent, selected in December by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee.

Ahead of the announcement, here's a look at the case for each candidate polling at greater than 50% on Ryan Thibodaux's Baseball Hall of Fame ballot tracker.

Carlos Beltrán

Only five players in AL/NL history have achieved 500 doubles, 400 homers and 300 steals in their careers. Here's the list in full: Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Andre Dawson, Willie Mays ... and Beltrán, who has 565 two-baggers, 435 dingers and 312 swipes. That is a collection of the most dynamic power-speed threats baseball has ever seen.

What's wild is that even if you remove the qualifier for 500 doubles, the list remains unchanged: It's the same five players -- and only them. If you want to boil down Beltrán's case to a single stat, this is as persuasive as any. More >

Andruw Jones

Jones is one of four outfielders to win exactly 10 Gold Gloves, with Ken Griffey Jr., Al Kaline and Ichiro Suzuki. That’s three first-ballot Hall of Famers. Sure, a handful of trophies alone do not book a ticket to Cooperstown, but accumulating more of them than all but a select group of outfielders provides evidence as to how dominant Jones’ defense was.

Let’s go a step further. Overall, there have been 15 non-pitchers to win at least 10 Gold Gloves. Only four of them also hit at least 400 home runs: Mays, Griffey, Mike Schmidt and Jones. That’s right, another list comprised entirely of first-ballot Hall of Famers, plus Jones. More >

Chase Utley

From 2005-10, Utley earned five All-Star selections and hit .298 with 162 homers, 216 doubles, 572 RBIs, 90 steals, a .911 OPS and a 133 OPS+ over 869 games.

In that span, Utley produced a 45.5 bWAR, second only to Albert Pujols (52.1) among MLB position players. He was more than 7 WAR ahead of A-Rod, who placed third with 38.3 WAR, and more than 21 WAR better than the next-best second baseman, Brian Roberts (24.2).

With Utley playing a pivotal role, the Phillies went from a perennial also-ran to a National League powerhouse, winning five NL East titles, two NL pennants and a World Series championship from 2007-11. Prior to that stretch, the Phils made the postseason only once (in 1993) from 1984-2006. More >

Andy Pettitte

Among all of the pitchers to debut since 1990, Pettitte is one of just 10 to surpass 3,000 career innings pitched (3,316), one of four to win at least 250 games (256) and ranks ninth overall with a career 60.7 bWAR. His career 3.85 ERA doesn't sparkle, but looking specifically at the fraternity of Hall of Fame southpaws -- of whom there are 17 who threw at least 2,000 innings in their careers -- his 117 ERA+ would rank 12th, slotting in comfortably between first-ballot honorees Tom Glavine and CC Sabathia. The period of time over which Pettitte was a reliable contributor is also something of a novelty; his three All-Star selections covered three decades (1996, 2001 and 2010).

All that said, the postseason resume is what really carries this case. Pettitte's five World Series championships (1996, 1998-2000, 2009) aren't individual achievements, but to this day, no one has put in more work in those most critical moments; through the end of the 2025 season, he maintains the all-time record for postseason starts (44) and innings pitched (276 2/3). More >

Félix Hernández

For a time, a Félix start was an event unto itself, and rightly so -- he surpassed 200 innings pitched in eight consecutive seasons from 2008-15, during which time he, unsurprisingly, led all of baseball in innings (1,796 2/3 IP), ranked second overall in both strikeouts (1,724) and combined bWAR (41.9) and posted a combined 2.90 ERA -- the third lowest among pitchers with at least 1,000 innings. Over those eight seasons, he also made six All-Star teams, finished in the top five in AL Cy Young Award voting four times (including his win in 2010) and, in what genuinely constitutes a footnote for him, threw a perfect game.

As something of a bonus, although Hernández would later sign with the Braves in 2020 and the Orioles in '21, he never made an appearance within either organization, preserving his status as a career Mariner. More >