About the Off-Season: Who’s Next for the Hall?

About the Off-Season: Who’s Next? 

By Tim Kabel

January 23, 2025

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Well, CC Sabathia, Ichiro Suzuki and Billy Wagner were voted into the Hall of Fame this week. Ichiro played for 2 1/2 seasons with the Yankees but played the bulk of his American career in Seattle. CC Sabathia is best known as a Yankee and will be wearing a Yankees’ cap on his plaque in the Hall of Fame. When we think of Yankees who are in the Hall of Fame, we tend to focus on those who played the entirety of their careers or the most significant portions of them with the Yankees. Therefore, Ichiro is most properly considered a Hall of Famer who played for the Yankees as opposed to a Yankees’ Hall of Famer. It is an important distinction.

So, Sabathia is the latest Yankee to be a Hall of Famer. Who will be next?

Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones were not elected to the Hall of Fame but came fairly close. Carlos Beltran earned 70.3% of the votes and Jones garnered 66.2%. Jones has two years of eligibility left and Beltran has seven. It looks as if they will get in at some point. However, although they played for the Yankees, they are not career Yankees and they did not have their greatest moments as Yankees.

Alex Rodriguez was in his fourth year of eligibility and received 37.1% of the vote. Andy Pettitte was in his seventh year and appeared on 27.9% of the ballots. Neither of them is very close and may have to wait to be elected by the Era Committees if they get in at all. Alex Rodriguez was suspended for the entire 2014 season for the use of performance enhancing drugs. It is quite possible that he will never get into the Hall of Fame. I do not wish to turn this into a debate on whether Rodriguez belongs in the Hall of Fame but, his history with steroids is extensive and extremely complicated. It was more than simply using them. It was also the lengths to which he went to cover up his use. I have never been a big fan of his dating to the trade that brought him to the Yankees in the first place. I always liked Alfonso Soriano and was sorry to see him go. To me, Rodriguez was extremely high maintenance on every possible level and was almost more trouble than he was worth.

It is somehow gratifying to me that while Alex Rodriguez is not in the Hall of Fame and possibly never will be, Bob Uecker is. Make no mistake, the late, great Uecker is not in the Hall of Fame because of his playing career but for his broadcasting and for simply being “Mr. Baseball.” 

While I am ambivalent about the issue of whether Alex Rodriguez ultimately gets into the Hall of Fame, I am not similarly disposed toward Andy Pettitte. Again, I don't wish to turn this into a debate about PED's but, I feel that Andy Pettitte does belong in the Hall of Fame and should go in at some point. His numbers are quite similar to those of CC Sabathia who went in on his first try. Pettitte’s vote total did improve this year but, he still has a long way to go.

Besides Pettitte and Rodriguez, there are really no former Yankees on the horizon for induction into the Hall of Fame. I am referring to players who are in their initial phase of eligibility for election into the Hall of Fame and not those who will be considered by the Era Committees which weigh the inclusion of players who did not make it during their ten years of eligibility. It is possible that Roger Clemens may get in at some point. Thurman Munson may eventually make it. but if we are looking at players who have recently retired and are in their original period of eligibility, there will not be any Yankees going into the Hall of Fame anytime soon.

It is quite possible that the next Yankee to go into the Hall of Fame may be Aaron Judge. That will be quite a while from now. Gerrit Cole is another possibility. Giancarlo Stanton, if he remains healthy, may hit enough home runs, particularly in the postseason, to be elected. However, none of those players is even close to retiring at this point. They would then have to wait five years before being eligible. So, it could be at least 10 years before we are likely to see another Yankee get into the Hall of Fame through the BBWAA vote.

The dearth of Yankees’ Hall of Famers that we are about to experience simply underscores how difficult it is to maintain the consistency, excellence, and longevity required to make the Hall of Fame. At the height of their careers, we all thought that Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, and Don Mattingly would make the Hall of Fame. None of them did for various reasons. It is possible that Aaron Judge could suddenly tail off in his production and become Josh Donaldson. I don't think that's likely. The point is that there are no givens when it comes to the Hall of Fame. 

In addition, because it requires an election, anything can happen. Catfish Hunter and Luis Tiant had very similar careers. Catfish Hunter went into the Hall of Fame very easily. Luis Tiant died without making it. Perhaps he will someday, but we don't know. CC Sabathia was elected in his first year of eligibility. Andy Pettitte, whose career is quite similar and who has more postseason victories and World Series rings than Sabathia, is still on the outside, looking in after seven years on the ballot.

Let's celebrate CC Sabathia for making the Hall of Fame as well as Ichiro, who did play for the Yankees, and realize that it will be a long time before we get another Yankee inducted into the Hall of Fame.