Hall of Fame 2026: Who's In, Who's Out, and What's the Deal?

The Baseball Hall of Fame is about to reveal its 2026 class, and it's not looking too strong. Last year, the ballot was already considered weak, but this year's lineup is even less impressive. The top candidates are Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones, both center fielders. The ballot has 27 players with a combined 1, 282 WAR, but only 11 of them have more than 50 career WAR. That's not great compared to the 2013 ballot, which had 37 candidates with a combined 1, 672 WAR and 16 players over 50 WAR. Even then, no one made it that year. But don't worry, 10 players from that ballot eventually got in. Beltran and Jones have a shot this year. Beltran is polling at 89. 2% on public ballots, and Jones is at 83. 5%. But don't get too excited—last year, Beltran dropped 10 points from his public polling to 70. 3%, and Jones lost about six points to 66. 2%. Still, it's looking good for them. If they get in, it would be a big deal for center fielders, who are underrepresented in the Hall. There are only four center fielders in the Hall since 1960, which is fewer than any other position except designated hitters. Chase Utley is another player to watch. He's polling at 67. 9% on public ballots, up from 39. 8% last year. Utley's case is interesting because he had a very high peak value, similar to Todd Helton, who got in last year. The Hall of Fame voters usually favor players with long careers over those with high peaks, but Utley could change that trend.Cole Hamels is on the ballot for the first time this year. He has 57. 9 career WAR, which is close to CC Sabathia's 61. 8 WAR when he got in last year. But Sabathia had 251 wins, while Hamels has 163. The Hall might need to adjust its standards for pitchers from the past 20 years, or else a whole generation of starters will be left out. Andy Pettitte and Mark Buehrle are also on the ballot. They have similar stats to Sabathia, but they didn't get as much attention. Pettitte got 27. 9% of the vote last year, and Buehrle got 11. 4%. They might not make it this time, but they could gain momentum in the future. Dustin Pedroia and David Wright were on their way to the Hall before injuries cut their careers short. They still have a chance, especially if the Hall starts valuing peak performance more. If Jones and Utley get in, it could open the door for players with fewer than 2, 000 hits. Finally, there's Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez. Rodriguez is on the ballot for the fifth time, and Ramirez is in his final year. Rodriguez recently said he's given up on making it, and it's looking that way. He only got 37% of the vote last year, and even Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, who are more controversial, didn't get in on their final ballots.