2025 MLB Hall of Fame Class Review

For most baseball fans, the Hall of Fame announcement is a bright spot in what can feel like a very slow and boring offseason. On Tuesday night, the 2025 class was announced, including two first-ballot Hall of Famers, a legend making it in his final year on the ballot and two intriguing snubs.

Ichiro Suzuki, OF, Mariners (99.7%)

The moment the ballot was announced for 2025, there was one consensus Hall of Famer who (should’ve) left no room for debate: Ichiro Suzuki. He played 19 years in MLB, spending 14 years with the Mariners, three with the Marlins and three with the Yankees.

Suzuki made his Mariners debut in 2001 at the age of 27 after spending time in Japan beforehand. He instantly became an impact player, setting the rookie record for hits with 242 (which still stands today), leading the league in batting average and stolen bases while also being one of the few players to win AL Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player in the same season.

Over the rest of his career, Ichiro would amass 3089 hits, 362 doubles and 509 stolen bases while acquiring 10 Gold Gloves matching his number of All-Star appearances, three Silver Slugger awards and two batting titles.

Suzuki made speed, a great glove and crazy contact skills fun during his time in the league and is beloved by almost every baseball fan, except for one writer who left Ichiro off their ballot. This means Ichiro will join Derek Jeter as the only two players to be one vote shy of unanimously being voted in.

CC Sabathia, SP, Yankees (86.8%)

Like Suzuki, Sabathia made his debut in 2001 with the Guardians. Despite his 4.39 ERA, he went 17-5 with 171 strikeouts, good enough for second in AL Rookie of the Year voting. Sabathia would only snag two All-Star appearances over the next five seasons.

He is most known for his stretch from 2007 to 2009. In 2007, he would win his first and only Cy Young award of his career. Sabathia tossed a league-leading 241 innings to the tune of a 3.21 ERA and 209 strikeouts.

In 2008, Sabathia wasn’t an All-Star, but he finished fifth in Cy Young voting and sixth in Most Valuable Player voting. These finishes were due to his half-season spent in Milwaukee after being dealt from Cleveland at the trade deadline, going 11-2 over 17 starts with an insane 1.65 ERA that took the Brewers to the playoffs thanks to him.

Then in 2009, Sabathia signed where he now calls home in New York with the Yankees, winning a World Series in his first year there. After that, he would finish his career after 10 more years in the Bronx. Overall, Sabathia finished with 251 career wins and 3,093 strikeouts placing him in elite company as one of only three left-handed pitchers to achieve these marks, cementing his spot in the Hall of Fame.

Billy Wagner, CP, Astros, Mets, Phillies, Red Sox, Braves (82.5%)

For Wagner, the road to the Hall of Fame wasn’t as easy as that of Sabathia and Suzuki. In just his second year on the ballot, Wagner only received 10.2% of the vote, just 5% less and he would’ve fallen off the ballot. Over the years he gathered more and more traction until this year when he finally received enough votes on his 10th and final run on the ballot.

Wagner debuted on the Houston Astros in 1995, but only made one singular appearance. Two years later, he became Houston’s closer, putting up 23 saves with a 2.58 ERA. He would spend nine years total with Houston, then going to the Mets for four, the Phillies for two and the Braves and Red Sox for just a year a piece before retiring after the 2010 season.

Overall, Wagner was nothing but consistent as a closer throughout his career, posting a 2.31 ERA and 422 saves with 1,196 strikeouts. That save total puts him at eighth all time and his seven All-Star appearances all together create the resume of a Hall of Famer, even though it was an uphill climb for him.

Just missed: Carlos Beltran, Andruw Jones

Both Beltran and Jones just missed the Hall of Fame this year, with Beltran receiving 70.3% percent of the votes and Jones receiving 66.2%.

Beltran played 20 years in the league posting 70.1 wins above replacement with 435 home runs and 312 stolen bases. He spent seven years with both the Mets and Royals, whom he made his debut with in 1998. Beltran also spent time with the Yankees, Giants, Cardinals, Rangers and Astros before retiring in 2017 as a three time Gold Glove, two time Silver Slugger and nine time All-Star.

Jones played 17 years, 12 of which were with the Braves, the rest spent with the Yankees, White Sox, Rangers and Dodgers, retiring after 2012. Over that time, he hit 434 home runs while winning 10 Gold Glove awards and appearing in five All-Star games.

For both of these players, their case for the Hall of Fame is murky. While both played during the Steroid Era, neither were rumored to be on performance enhancing drugs, something that normally rules players out of the running immediately.

The argument for Beltran not making the Hall is his connections to the Astros’ cheating scandal in 2017. When it comes to Jones’ Hall of Fame resume, all of his career productivity came before his age 30 season, posting a 1.7 total WAR over the last five seasons of his career. Jones also has only two years left on the ballot.

The good news for both players is that next year’s ballot is weaker, with only one or two other players having a Hall of Fame case, so both will have their resumes re-examined next year.

Dylan Sechrist is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email dks5749@psu.edu.