Hamels, Braun, and Kemp: New MLB Hall of Fame Candidates

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – The Baseball Hall of Fame ballot has been revealed, presenting a mix of new faces and veterans seeking a place in sports history. Among the 12 new candidates are prominent names like Cole Hamels, Ryan Braun, and Matt Kemp. Meanwhile, Carlos Beltrán leads the list of 15 returning players, seeking to obtain the necessary votes after falling just 19 votes short in the 2025 voting. In the list of new eligibles are also Howie Kendrick, Daniel Murphy and Rick Porcello, along with Shin-Soo Choo, Edwin Encarnación, Gio González, Alex Gordon, Nick Markakis and Hunter Pence.

Carlos Beltrán, who received 70.3% of the votes (277 of 394) in the 2025 voting, where Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia, and Billy Wagner were elected, is looking for a new opportunity. Throughout his 20 seasons in baseball, Beltrán, a nine-time All-Star, proved his worth with a batting average of .279, 435 home runs, and 1,587 RBIs, playing for the Kansas City Royals (1999-2004), the Houston Astros (2004, 2017), the New York Mets (2005-11), the San Francisco Giants (2011), the St. Louis Cardinals (2012-13), the New York Yankees (2014-16), and the Texas Rangers (2016). In his first appearance on the ballot in 2023, Beltrán obtained 46.5% support, a figure that rose to 57.1% in his second opportunity. Beltrán was the only player mentioned by name in the 2020 report by baseball commissioner Rob Manfred, which concluded that the Astros used electronic devices to steal signs during the team’s run to the 2017 World Series title and again in the 2018 season. Three days after the report’s publication, the Mets announced Beltrán’s departure as their manager, just 2 and a half months after his hiring. Other returning players on the ballot include steroid-linked stars Alex Rodríguez (146 votes, 37.1%) and Manny Ramírez (135, 34.3%), along with Andruw Jones (261, 66.2%), Chase Utley (157, 39.8%), Andy Pettitte (110, 27.9%), Félix Hernández (81, 20.6%), Bobby Abreu (77, 19.5%), Jimmy Rollins (71, 18%), Omar Vizquel (70, 17.8%), Dustin Pedroia (47, 11.9%), Mark Buehrle (45, 11.4%), Francisco Rodríguez (40, 10.2%), David Wright (32, 8.1%) and Torii Hunter (20, 5.1%). Pettitte appears on the ballot for the eighth time after doubling his support from 13.5% in 2024. Players can appear on the ballot up to 10 times. BBWAA members with 10 or more consecutive years of membership are eligible to vote. Ballots must be postmarked by December 31, and the results will be announced on January 20. Those elected will be inducted on July 26 along with anyone elected on December 7 by the Hall’s contemporary baseball era committee ballot, which considers eight players whose greatest contributions to the sport were from 1980 onwards. Cole Hamels, a four-time All-Star, had a 163-122 record with a 3.43 ERA for the Phillies (2006-15), the Texas Rangers (2015-18), the Chicago Cubs (2018-19), and the Atlanta Braves (2020), throwing a no-hitter for the Phillies against the Cubs on July 25, 2015. He was the Most Valuable Player of the National League Championship Series and the 2008 World Series when Philadelphia won its second title, the first since 1980. Ryan Braun, the 2011 Most Valuable Player and six-time All-Star, batted .296 with 352 home runs and 1,154 RBIs for Milwaukee from 2007 to 2020. He was suspended for the final 65 games of the 2013 season for violations of the drug program and baseball’s labor contract. A 50-game suspension for an alleged positive test in 2011 was overturned after Braun challenged the chain of custody of the urine sample. Kemp, a three-time All-Star, hit .284 with 287 home runs and 1,031 RBIs for the Los Angeles Dodgers (2006-14, 2018), San Diego (2015-16), Atlanta (2016-17), Cincinnati (2019), and Colorado (2020). Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Don Mattingly, and Dale Murphy are being considered by the contemporary era committee, along with Carlos Delgado, Jeff Kent, Gary Sheffield, and Fernando Valenzuela.