The National Baseball Hall of Fame announced Monday the list of players who will be eligible to be elected by baseball writers in 2024.
The 26-man ballot of players that the Baseball Writers’ Association of America will choose from features 12 newcomers and 14 returnees. Those who are on the ballot for the first time are José Bautista, Adrián Beltré, Bartolo Colon, Adrián González, Matt Holliday, Victor Martinez, Joe Mauer, Brandon Phillips, José Reyes, James Shields, Chase Utley and David Wright.
Of the newcomers, Beltré, who hit 477 home runs in his career and won five Gold Gloves, is the most likely to be elected on the first ballot.
Todd Helton, Billy Wagner, Andruw Jones, Gary Sheffield, Carlos Beltrán, Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramírez highlight the list of players returning to the ballot.
Players must be retired for five years before they are eligible for election to the Hall of Fame, and a player must appear on 75% of BBWAA ballots to be inducted. Last year, Helton (72.2%) and Wagner (68.1%) fell just shy, as Scott Rolen (76.3%) was the only player elected by the writers. Players also need to receive at least 5% of the vote to be included on the following year’s ballot.
Omar Vizquel, Andy Pettitte, Bobby Abreu, Jimmy Rollins, Mark Buehrle, Francisco Rodríguez and Torii Hunter are also returning to the ballot this year, though none of them received more than 20% of the vote last year.
