The Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot for the 2026 Hall of Fame election was released on Monday, with 12 new names joining a group of 15 holdovers from the 2025 voting cycle.
In both of the past two years, the BBWAA has elected three players, two of whom were in their first year on the ballot. In 2024, first-timers Adrian Beltré and Joe Mauer made the cut, joining Todd Helton (sixth year). Last year, it was first-timers Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia sailing into Cooperstown alongside Billy Wagner (10th and final year). But it could be an uphill climb to continue that trend in 2026.
While left-hander Cole Hamels leads this class of newcomers, it’s returning outfielders Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones who enter this cycle with the best chance of giving an induction speech come July. Beltrán in particular could be on the cusp. During the 2025 voting cycle, he jumped from 57.1% support to 70.3% in his third time on the ballot. Players need to reach 75% of the vote to be elected, and they have 10 years of eligibility, remaining on the ballot as long as they receive at least 5% of the vote.
That threshold once was a threat to Jones, who received only about 7% of the vote in both of his first two times on the ballot, in 2018-19. The longtime Braves center fielder has since surged, and during the 2025 cycle, he ticked up from 61.6% to 66.2%, putting himself about 9 percentage points from election, with two years of eligibility remaining.
No other returning player reached 40% of the vote last time around, although a few generated some positive momentum. Second baseman Chase Utley leapt from 28.8% to 39.8% in his second year, and right-hander Félix Hernández debuted on the ballot at 20.6%. Left-hander Andy Pettitte also more than doubled his vote percentage (13.5% to 27.9%), although he is rapidly running out of time as he now enters his eighth year on the ballot.
These are the other returning players on the ballot, listed in order of their 2025 vote percentage, along with their 2026 eligibility: shortstop Alex Rodriguez (37.1%, fifth year), outfielder Manny Ramirez (34.3%, 10th), outfielder Bobby Abreu (19.5%, seventh), shortstop Jimmy Rollins (18.0%, fifth), shortstop Omar Vizquel (17.8%, ninth), second baseman Dustin Pedroia (11.9%, second), left-hander Mark Buehrle (11.4%, sixth), right-hander Francisco Rodriguez (10.2%, fourth), third baseman David Wright (8.1%, third) and outfielder Torii Hunter (5.1%, sixth). Ramirez is the only one of those who is in his last year of eligibility.
After Beltré, Mauer, Sabathia and Suzuki all joined the first-ballot selection club over the past two years, this ballot lacks the sort of slam-dunk candidate who is likely to make that kind of immediate splash.
Hamels figures to have the best shot among the first-timers to stick on the ballot and begin a climb toward 75%, especially if voters’ attitudes about what constitutes a modern Hall of Fame starting pitcher continue to shift. Some of the lefty’s career numbers (163 wins, 3.43 ERA, 2,560 K’s) are a near-match for Hernández’s, and both have the benefit of being closely identified with a particular franchise -- in Hamels’ case, the Phillies.
On the other hand, Hamels didn’t quite reach the same heights that Hernández did at his peak, including winning a Cy Young Award. (Hamels’ best finish was fifth in 2011). With that said, Hamels did win a World Series ring, along with NLCS and World Series MVP Awards from that 2008 campaign.
The other headliners among first-year candidates -- these are players who last appeared in the Majors in 2020 -- include outfielders Ryan Braun, Shin-Soo Choo, Alex Gordon, Matt Kemp, Nick Markakis and Hunter Pence, as well as designated hitter Edwin Encarnación. Rounding out the ballot are second basemen Howie Kendrick and Daniel Murphy, left-hander Gio Gonzalez and right-hander Rick Porcello.
The BBWAA’s voting results will be announced at 6 p.m. ET on Jan. 20, live on MLB Network. Any players who are selected will make up the Hall’s Class of 2026, along with any who are picked from the Contemporary Baseball Era ballot, whose own results are set to be announced on MLB Network on Dec. 7. The Class of 2026 will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., on July 26.