About 3 1/2 hours by car from New York City, the National Baseball Hall of Fame has always felt like familiar ground for Yankees fans. A stroll through the plaque gallery easily conjures images of towering homers, iconic October moments and dynasties.
That connection is again front and center, with multiple candidates on the 2026 Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot having played with the franchise. Some stayed for years, others briefly, but each heard their share of cheers in the Bronx.
Here is a closer look at those players and their respective Yankees tenures:
Bobby Abreu
Nicknamed “El Come Dulce,” Abreu was known for his blend of power, patience and speed throughout an 18-year Major League career included three productive seasons with the Yankees from 2006-08. This is Abreu’s seventh year on the Hall ballot, and he garnered 19.5 percent of the vote in 2025.
Acquired in a six-player trade ahead of the 2006 Trade Deadline, Abreu lent his discipline to an already potent Yankees lineup while taking over in right field. In 372 games for New York, Abreu batted .295 (420-for-1,423) with 95 doubles, 43 home runs and 243 RBIs.
He also holds a piece of trivia history, recording the final stolen base at the original Yankee Stadium on Sept. 21, 2008.
Carlos Beltrán
Now in his fourth year on the BBWAA ballot, Beltrán is on stand-by for a Hall call after garnering 70.3 percent of the vote last winter. A polished switch-hitting center fielder for much of his 20-year career with seven franchises, Beltrán spent most of his Yankees tenure from 2014–16 as a designated hitter.
The partnership nearly came a decade earlier. Beltrán was believed to favor the Yankees as a free agent following the 2004 season and even met with George M. Steinbrenner in Tampa, Fla., but the club ultimately prioritized acquiring left-hander Randy Johnson instead.
A nine-time All-Star and postseason force elsewhere, Beltrán is one of eight players with 300 home runs and 300 stolen bases. He generated 2.8 fWAR during his time with the Yanks, batting .270 (335-for-1,240) with 78 doubles, 56 homers and 180 RBIs in 341 games.
His Hall candidacy has been complicated by his role in the Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing scandal, which directly affected the Yankees in that year’s postseason. However, any hard feelings with the organization seem to have eased, as Beltran spent a season as an analyst with the YES Network.
Andruw Jones
Best remembered as an all-time great defensive center fielder during a remarkable run with the Braves from 1996–2006, Jones is now in his ninth year on the ballot and continues to gain traction, climbing to 66.2 percent in the most recent vote.
Known for patience and power at the plate, Jones was a five-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove Award winner. His production declined late in his career, and Jones’ final two Major League seasons came with the Yankees in 2011-12, when he was primarily a platoon bat against left-handed pitching.
A rookie sensation who homered twice at Yankee Stadium as a visitor during the 1996 World Series, Jones belted 27 of his 434 career home runs in pinstripes. In 171 games with New York, he batted .220 (93-for-423) with 67 RBIs, a modest final chapter to an otherwise elite career.
Andy Pettitte
Were it not for Andy Pettitte’s influence, CC Sabathia believes he might never have reached Cooperstown. Sabathia has said plainly that his longtime teammate belongs there as well.
Now in his eighth year on the ballot, Pettitte remains a long shot despite a modest uptick to 27.9 percent of the vote in 2025. His admission of Human Growth Hormone use following his inclusion in the 2007 Mitchell Report has given voters pause.
Sabathia’s comparable résumé, however, may prompt some to reexamine Pettitte’s case. Pettitte went 256–153 with a 3.85 ERA and a 117 ERA+ across 531 games (521 starts) with the Yankees and Astros.
A durable left-hander during an era of inflated offense, Pettitte saved his best work for October. He went 19–11 with a 3.81 ERA in 44 postseason starts, all but four with the Yankees. Those 19 wins remain a Major League record.
Five came in the World Series, including pivotal performances in Game 5 of the 1996 Series in Atlanta, the Game 4 clincher at San Diego in 1998, the decisive Game 5 against the Mets in 2000, Game 2 versus the Marlins in 2003 and two victories against the Phillies in 2009.
Alex Rodriguez
It is Rodriguez’s fifth turn on the ballot, and his Yankees legacy remains inseparable from one unforgettable image: perched atop a counter deep inside Yankee Stadium as the final seconds of Nov. 4, 2009, ticked away, cigar in hand, champagne nearby, finally a World Series champion.
That night represented the apex of a career defined by overwhelming production. Rodriguez blasted 696 home runs, fourth all-time behind Barry Bonds, Henry Aaron and Babe Ruth, and finished with 3,115 hits.
Like Bonds, A-Rod’s raw statistics alone would have ensured instant enshrinement. Instead, his Hall case has stalled -- evidenced by a 37.1 percent vote share in 2025, amid backlash from his admitted use of performance-enhancing drugs.
A three-time MVP, 14-time All-Star, 10-time Silver Slugger and two-time Gold Glove winner, Rodriguez acknowledged using PEDs with the Rangers from 2001–03 and later served what was then MLB’s longest drug-related suspension, missing the entire 2014 season.
He played 12 of his 22 seasons with the Yankees from 2004–16, batting .283 with 351 home runs and 1,096 RBIs in 1,509 games.