Yankees on the 2025 BBWAA Hall of Fame Ballot - Outfield Gold
In our first look at former Yankees on the 2025 BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot, we focused on players who don't really stand a chance at election. Here we'll dig into a batch of players whose chances are much better. In fact, at least one of these players is virtually guaranteed to be heading to Cooperstown this summer. The common thread for this group is that they're all outfielders who earned Gold Gloves at some point in their career. Between the four of them, they account for 24 of the awards given to the best fielders at each position for a given season. But these guys didn't just flash the leather. Each of them could impress spectators in various ways and all are worthy of consideration for baseball's highest honor.
For each player, their JAWS (Jaffe Average WAR Score, developed by Jay Jaffe) value is given along with the average Hall of Famer's JAWS at the player's position. JAWS is a Hall of Fame rating system based on WAR that incorporates both career and peak value. If you're interested in learning more about this, click here.
Ichiro Suzuki - Right Fielder, JAWS: 51.9, HoF JAWS: 56.1
There really has never been a baseball player quite like Ichiro Suzuki since he took Major League Baseball by storm at the turn of the century. Sure, you could recognize bits and pieces of other all-time greats in aspects of Ichiro's game. He was an agitator on the base paths like Ty Cobb. He had Pete Rose's ability to make contact and find his way to first base by any means necessary. His range and grace in the outfield reminded people of Joe DiMaggio, but then he would sling the ball back to the infield with the ferocity of Roberto Clemente. In a larger sense, while he may not have had quite the impact of Jackie Robinson, he still convinced the world that an everyday player of Asian decent could thrive in the big leagues. Of course, putting all of these parts of past legends into a single package made Ichiro a legend as well.
Ichiro made his way to the United States as a 27-year old who already had nine years of professional baseball experience in Japan. In the hearts and minds of Japanese baseball fans, he was already a legend as a seven-time All-Star and three-time MVP of Nippon Professional Baseball. Because of that, there was a lot of hype around his arrival in America, but just as many questions. No everyday baseball player had ever successfully made the jump from Japan to Major League Baseball, so there was healthy skepticism about his potential. The man himself shared no such reservations.
Playing for a Seattle Mariners team that was still stinging from the loss of superstars Ken Griffey, Jr. and Alex Rodriguez, Ichiro would keep the team relevant and then some in 2001. His unorthodox style of coiling like a snake at the plate, his cool demeanor, his unique mix of talents, and especially the results on the field all won over the Seattle faithful and served as a shock to the MLB system. This scrawny Japanese kid was voted to the All-Star Game, won the batting title, earned a Gold Glove, and was named Rookie of the Year AND league MVP - only the second person to pull off that feat after Fred Lynn in 1975. To top it off, he led the Seattle Mariners to a record 116 victories during the regular season. Could a Japanese position player hold his own in America? Without saying a word, Ichiro emphatically stated "Yes!"
While the Mariners would flounder in the 2001 ALCS against the Yankees and never return to the playoffs during Ichiro's career in Seattle, he went on to prove that his otherworldly debut was no fluke. In the nine seasons from 2002 to 2010, he was an All-Star nine times, won nine Gold Gloves, and collected over 200 hits every year - including a major league record 262 hits in 2004. He earned MVP votes in all but one of those seasons and added another batting title during that especially magical 2004 campaign. He did all this while hitting less than ten home runs most years. Considering that this was right on the heels of the height of the steroid era, Ichiro was a breath of fresh air as a superstar that fans loved despite the conspicuous lack of home runs. The ever unorthodox Ichiro put it best himself: "Chicks who dig home runs aren't the ones who appeal to me. I think there's sexiness in infield hits because they require technique. I'd rather impress the chicks with my technique than with my brute strength."
In 2011 Ichiro turned 37 years old and we essentially done as a star player. His drive to compete and love for baseball kept him going, though. In 2012 he was traded to the Yankees where his enthusiasm for the game was still on full display. From 2015 to 2017 he played for a bunch of awful Marlins teams because he just wanted to keep playing. After wrapping up his career back in Seattle, he finally retired at age 45 with 3,089 career major league hits.
Like the late, great Rickey Henderson, Ichiro is actually two Hall of Famers in one if you consider his career in Japan. He was larger than life on each side of the baseball world even if you would barely recognize him walking down the street. There will never be another player that's great at baseball the way that Ichiro was, and his status as a pioneer will make him an icon forever. Thankfully, the baseball writers recognize this. He could very well be the second unanimous Hall of Famer after Mariano Rivera, and that's pretty cool.
Carlos Beltran - Center Fielder, JAWS: 57.2, HoF JAWS: 58.1
Over the course of 20 years, Carlos Beltran put up some seriously impressive numbers. He scored over 1,500 runs and drove in another 1,500 with his more than 2,700 career hits. He drew over 1,000 walks, stroked over 550 doubles and went yard more than 400 times. If all that wasn't impressive enough, he also stole more than 300 bases. He's the only player in baseball history to surpass each of those thresholds and not be named Barry Bonds. Yet even with steering clear of any steroid whispers, Beltran was never really considered a slam dunk Hall of Fame candidate during his playing days.
Is it because Beltran doesn't hold up according to advanced metrics? Couldn't be. Those indicate that he was as complete a player as there's ever been in baseball. For his career he compiled 262 batting runs above average, 55 baserunning runs above average, and 39 fielding runs above average (for more detail on how those things are calculated, see my WAR primer). Only two players in major league history put up higher totals than Beltran in all three categories: Willie Mays and Rickey Henderson, two inner-circle Hall of Famers. So what was it about Beltran that made his obvious greatness not so obvious to those covering baseball when he played?
I'll start by mentioning Darrell Evans. What the hell does a third baseman from the 70's and 80's have to do with Carlos Beltran? I'm glad you asked. In his Historical Baseball Abstract - essential reading for any baseball fan - Bill James used Evans as a prime example of the ten things that make a baseball player underrated.
James goes into a fair amount of detail, but to summarize, those ten things are: 1) Specialists are overrated, players who do several things well are underrated; 2) Batting average is overrated, extra bases and walks are underrated; 3) Runs batted in are overrated, runs scored are underrated; 4) Players on championship teams get overrated, players on bad teams are underrated; 5) Players in New York/LA can be overrated, players in smaller cities can be underrated; 6) Talkative players tend to be overrated, quiet players tend to be underrated; 7) A player's home field can determine whether they're underrated or overrated; 8) The era in which a player played can determine whether they're underrated or overrated; 9) Undocumented skills (leadership, defense, heads-up play) tend to be forgotten over time; 10) A player who has a good career with one team will be thought of more highly than a player who does the same things, but with many teams.
By my count, eight of these points apply to Carlos Beltran: 1) He had no weaknesses in his game, but also no overwhelming strength; 2) His career batting average of .279 is pretty good, but not earth-shattering, he made up for that in many ways; 4) He didn't win a World Series until his final season in 2017 when he was 40, more on that season in a bit; 6) Media members never went to Beltran for a juicy quote; 7) His prime was spent mostly in Shea Stadium and Citi Field, both pitcher-friendly parks; 8) The steroid era was ending and offense in general was gradually declining as he was becoming a star player; 9) He was a well-respected and smart player who was pegged to be a manager right after his playing career...until bad things happened; 10) He played for seven different teams, and played well at every stop.
Add it all up, and Beltran might be one of the most underrated players in baseball history.
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All under-ration aside, the real story for Beltran when it comes to the Hall of Fame is the Astros' sign-stealing scheme that he played a key role in during the 2017 season. It was reported in 2019 that during that championship season for the Astros, they had designed and successfully implemented a system using on-field cameras to steal catchers' signs and communicate them to the hitter via banging trash cans, or maybe even electronically in some cases. An official investigation was launched by MLB as a result of the report.
In January 2020, MLB announced its findings. Alex Cora, who was the bench coach of the Astros in 2017, was identified as having developed the scheme with a group of players early on in the season. However, only one player was identified by name and it was Carlos Beltran. As a 20-year veteran at that point, he was likely the most reliable player on the team when it came to recognizing a catchers' signs.
The punishment handed down by MLB was severe. A $5 million fine for the Astros, and they also lost the rights to their first and second round picks in the 2020 and 2021 drafts. Manager A.J. Hinch and GM Jeff Luhnow were suspended for the entire 2020 season, only to be fired hours later by Astros owner Jim Crane. Cora, who was managing the Red Sox by this time, would eventually serve a year-long suspension as well as part of another investigation that involved sign-stealing and his 2018 World Series champion Red Sox team.
Beltran received no explicit punishment for his role in the scheme. However, after being hired to be the new Mets manager in November 2019, he and the Mets announced just days after MLB's findings were published that they mutually agreed to part ways. He then made a public apology and expressed deep regret for his role in the scheme.
So what should we make of this unfortunate situation that has come to define Beltran in recent years? Let's start with the fact that in 2020 it was reported that the wheels were in motion for the Astros' scheme in 2016, a year before Beltran re-joined the team for his final season. Initially it seemed that he had co-masterminded it with Cora, but this confirms that he was merely a participant, if that matters to you.
Let's also consider sign-stealing and its role in baseball. Much like chewing tobacco, brushback pitches, and bench-clearing brawls, stealing signs has been an unsavory, but accepted part of baseball since the game was conceived. This article gives a nice rundown of sign-stealing history in the game. Stealing signs has even likely played a key role in some of the most memorable moments in baseball history, including The Shot Heard 'Round the World.
Does that mean that stealing signs is OK and we should just ignore it? Of course not. When a team makes it as obvious as the Astros did, punishments should be doled out to those involved, and then we can all move on with our baseball lives. In losing his managerial job before it started, I'd say Beltran served his punishment. Now we should move on and put him in the museum that celebrates baseball's greatest players, because he was certainly one of them when he played.
The BBWAA made it clear initially that they weren't quite ready for Beltran as a Hall of Famer. In his debut on the ballot in 2023, he garnered 46.5% of the vote. That's better than the Bonds/Clemens/A-Rod contingent fared in their first years on the ballot. Last year, his share of the vote improved by more than 10%, up to 57.1%, proving that his fate would not mirror those of the steroid crew. On public ballots thus far (about 40% of ballots are known), Beltran is nearing an 80% share of the vote, which would be good enough for election. Before long, Beltran will have a plaque in Cooperstown, and rightfully so.
Andruw Jones - Center Fielder, JAWS: 54.6, HoF JAWS: 58.1
The Hall of Fame case for Andruw Jones may have been doomed before it even started. As a young player he often drew comparisons to fellow center fielder Willie Mays, which ensured that no matter what he did he would fall short of expectations. What he did though, was pretty damn impressive.
Any conversation about Jones should always start with his supreme fielding ability. At 6-foot-1 and 225 pounds he had astonishing range for a big man with an arm that could gun down runners from anywhere in the outfield. Per Baseball Reference's Runs from Fielding metric, he is by far the greatest player to patrol the outfield in baseball history, and fifth all-time at any position. This would appear to be no fluke as he earned 10 straight Gold Gloves from 1998 through 2007 in support of some all-time great pitching staffs for the Atlanta Braves.
Jones still had his detractors. Some felt he played a lazy center field and could actually have been better. After all, he was not an effective fielder after age 30 and was banished strictly to corner outfield spots for the last four years of his career. However, it wasn't his fault that he made it look easy, and as a bigger than average center fielder who started his career at just 19 years old, his body simply broke down in his 30's. Jones was truly one of the great ones in his day.
When it came to hitting, Jones was no slouch. With power uncharacteristic of a center fielder, he maintained a very productive bat for an extended period. From age 21 through 29 his average season included a .270/.347/.513 slash line, a 118 OPS+, 35 home runs, 104 RBI's, and 99 runs scored. This included a major league-leading 51 home runs in 2005. For his career he hit over 400 home runs and both scored and drove in over 1,200 runs. That puts him in rare company among center fielders all-time.
For the last five years of his career, Jones was nothing more than a power bat off the bench. This included a successful season as a reserve for the Yankees in 2011 where he put up an OPS+ of 126. Still, it was a far cry from the player he had been, and five years is a long time for writers to see a once great player deteriorate into a lesser one. After a dismal 2012 season with the Yankees he would never play in the major leagues again.
Thanks to the perceived laziness and long, slow, painful decline to end his career - a 2012 domestic violence incident couldn't have helped things either - Jones got very little support in his first two years on the Hall of Fame ballot. Yet since then a less crowded ballot seems to have significantly helped him in the polls. He secured nearly 20% of the vote in 2019 after a previous high of 7.5% and improved to over 40% in 2022. In 2023 he made a quantum leap to 58.1% of the vote and incrementally improved to 61.6% last year. On public ballots this year, Jones is hovering around the 75% mark. While it won't happen in 2025, with two more years of eligibility left, he will likely be enshrined by the BBWAA.
Bobby Abreu - Right Fielder, JAWS: 50.9, HoF JAWS: 56.1
For about a decade, Bobby Abreu was a metronome of baseball excellence. Every year he would hit .300 with 20 or 30 home runs, steal 20 or 30 bases, smack 40 doubles, score 100 runs, drive in 100 runs, and walk 100 times. Early in his career he was also a terrific fielder. Under normal circumstances this would make for a compelling Hall of Fame case.
However, Abreu was and still is rarely recognized as the great player he was during his career. This is almost solely attributable to his reserved nature that kept his demeanor low key no matter the situation on the baseball diamond. Fans and media members mistook his stoicism as a lack of passion or enthusiasm for baseball.
Truth is, nobody could be that productive for that long as a major leaguer while lacking passion for the game. From day one, Abreu took a sober, patient approach to hitting that made him an on-base machine but lacked the aggression that many around baseball crave. Productive as he was, he couldn't win over fans, especially in a city with a rabid fanbase like Philadelphia where he spent most of his career. This despite his heavy involvement in the local community, as evidenced by his Roberto Clemente Award in 2004.
It didn't help that the Phillies were a middling team that never made the playoffs during Abreu's tenure there. A 2006 trade to the Yankees meant that he would get to play meaningful October baseball. Although the Yankees lost the two playoff series that Abreu appeared in for New York, he hit well in both of them with an even .300 batting average. Despite his reputation, he could perform in high pressure situations.
As a member of the Yankees Abreu's home run and walk totals dipped a bit even as a lefty in Yankee Stadium, but he still remained a quality bat in the middle of the lineup. After signing as a free agent with the Angels in 2009, his production steadily tapered off until he retired at 40 years old.
Based on merit alone, Abreu's career achievements should warrant serious consideration for Cooperstown. Unsurprisingly, the BBWAA voters have disagreed as he garnered less than 10% of the vote in each of his first three years on the ballot. His situation improved a bit in the 2023 vote where he was chosen by a little over 15% of voters but his share of the vote remained the same last year. Based on known ballots thus far, his situation won't improve much in 2025. It's seeming likely that he'll never get serious consideration from the Baseball Hall of Fame electorate. And that's a shame.
All numbers used in this article were obtained from Baseball Reference.
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