Former Blue Jays icon headlines 2026 Hall of Fame Class
With the 2025 Hall of Fame class being announced on Tuesday, many are already looking ahead to the 2026 Ballot.
While it is not considered a strong group of first-timers, there are a few notables, including a legendary former Blue Jay.
2016 Wild Card Series hero Edwin Encarnacion will make his debut of the BBWAA ballot in 2026. Other headliners include Brewers great Ryan Braun, Royals legend Alex Gordon, and Phillies ace Cole Hamels. While none of the quartet stands a shot at being elected, these four could all conceivably get over the 5% threshold necessary to remain on the ballot.
Braun was on Hall of Fame track for a part of his career, but a PED suspension probably put a kibosh on any realistic chance.
Hamels will be an interesting case. While he doesn't have the accolades like some others do, he has a career WAR of 59.0, which puts him 0.1 below Mark Buehrle and 1.2 points below Andy Pettitte. The latter has seen his HOF case rise in recent years.
While Edwin does have 424 home runs, his career 35.4 WAR and less than 2000 hits will nip and Hall of Fame discussion in the bud. His peak was simply too short.
Same goes for Alex Gordon. The Royals legend is revered in Kansas City but simply doesn't have the numbers to be enshrined with baseball's greatest players.
What this does mean is fans could see Carlos Beltran get elected along with Andruw Jones finally getting over the hump. Many other players who are in the high teens to high thirties could also see bumps in support. The full slate of candidates will be released in December.
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