Ichiro among 14 newcomers on baseball Hall of Fame ballot; Wagner tops holdovers, including Utley and Rollins

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Outfielder Ichiro Suzuki and pitcher CC Sabathia are among 14 new candidates on the Hall of Fame ballot released Monday, joining 14 holdovers led by former Phillies reliever Billy Wagner.

Pitcher Félix Hernández, outfielder Carlos González and infielders Dustin Pedroia and Hanley Ramírez also are among the newcomers joined by reliever Fernando Rodney, second baseman Ian Kinsler, second baseman/outfielder Ben Zobrist, shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, catchers Russell Martin and Brian McCann, and outfielders Curtis Granderson and Adam Jones.

Wagner received 284 votes and 73.8% in the 2024 balloting, five votes shy of the 75% needed when third baseman Adrian Beltré, catcher/first baseman Joe Mauer and first baseman Todd Helton were elected. Wagner will be on the ballot for the 10th and final time. He had a 1.86 ERA and 59 saves over two seasons with the Phillies (2004-05). He had 422 saves, good for sixth all-time, in a 16-year career with five teams.

Former Phillies stars Chase Utley (111 votes in 2024, 28.8%), Jimmy Rollins (57, 14.8%), and Bobby Abreu (57, 14.8%) are also back on the ballot. Utley made his debut in 2024 while Rollins is on his fourth year and Abreu his sixth.

Utley was a six-time All-Star second baseman and had three top-10 MVP finishes. But he finished with 1,885 hits and no player in the expansion era (since 1960) with less than 2,000 hits has been elected to the Hall of Fame by the writers.

Rollins is the Phillies’ all-time hits leader, and the only shortstop ever with at least 200 homers and 400 steals. He was the National League MVP in 2007 and won a World Series with Utley in 2008.

Abreu spent nine of his 18 seasons with the Phillies, amassing an .870 career OPS with 288 home runs.

Other holdovers include steroids-tainted stars Alex Rodriguez (134 votes, 34.8%) and Manny Ramirez (125, 32.5%) along with Andruw Jones (237, 61.6%), Carlos Beltran (220, 57.1%), Omar Vizquel (68, 17.7%), Andy Pettitte (52, 13.5%), Mark Buehrle (32, 8.3%), Francisco Rodríguez (30, 7.8%), Torii Hunter (28, 7.3%) and David Wright (24, 6.2%).

Gary Sheffield was dropped after receiving 246 votes and 63.9% in his 10th and final year on the ballot. He will be eligible for consideration when the ballot is selected for the committee that considered contemporary era players in December 2025.

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BBWAA members with 10 or more consecutive years of membership are eligible to vote. Ballots must be postmarked by Dec. 31 and results will be announced Jan. 23. Anyone elected will be inducted on July 27 along with anyone chosen Dec. 8 by the hall’s classic baseball committee considering eight players and managers whose greatest contributions to the sport were before 1980.

Former Phillie Dick Allen, Dave Parker and Luis Tiant are being considered by the classic era committee along with Tommy John, Steve Garvey, Ken Boyer and former Negro Leaguers John Donaldson and Vic Harris.

Suzuki in 2001 joined Fred Lynn in 1975 as the only players to win AL Rookie of the Year and AL MVP in the same season. Suzuki was a two-time AL batting champion and 10-time Gold Glove winner, hitting .311 with 117 homers, 780 RBIs and 509 stolen bases with Seattle (2001-12, 2018-19), the New York Yankees (2012-14) and Miami (2015-17). He had a record 262 hits in 2004.

Sabathia was a six-time All-Star, won the 2007 AL Cy Young Award and a World Series title in 2009. He was 251-161 with a 3.74 ERA and 3,093 strikeouts, third among left-handers behind Randy Johnson and Steve Carlton, during 19 seasons with Cleveland (2001-08), Milwaukee (2008) and the New York Yankees (2009-19).

Hernández, the 2010 AL Cy Young winner and a six-time All-Star, won the 2010 and 2014 AL ERA titles. He was 169-136 with a 3.42 ERA and 2,524 strikeouts for Seattle from 2005-19. Hernández pitched the 23rd perfect game in major league history against Tampa Bay on Aug. 15, 2012.

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González was a three-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner and the 2010 NL batting champion. He hit .285 with 234 homers, 785 RBIs and 122 stolen bases for Oakland (2008), Colorado (2009-18), Cleveland (2019) and the Chicago Cubs (2019).

Pedroia was a four-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner, helping Boston to World Series titles in 2007 and 2013. He batted .299 with 140 homers, 725 and 138 steals for the Red Sox from 2006-19, winning the 2007 AL Rookie of the Year and 2008 AL MVP.

Ramírez was voted the 2006 NL Rookie of the Year and won the 2009 NL batting title, becoming a three-time All-Star. He hit .289 with 271 homers, 917 RBIs and 281 stolen bases for Boston (2005, 2015-18), the Florida and Miami Marlins (2006-12), Los Angeles Dodgers (2012-14) and Cleveland (2019).