The Baseball Hall of Fame 2025 class has been announced, with three players garnering enough votes to be enshrined in Cooperstown: Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia, and Billy Wagner. To be elected to the Hall of Fame, players must be named on at least 75% of the ballots cast by voting members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones fell short of the threshold along with many others. Let's take a closer look at the three players who got in the Hall this year and at those who will have to wait to get their shot at being enshrined in baseball history.
CC Sabathia, Ichiro Suzuki and Billy Wagner earn baseball immortality and join Dick Allen and Dave Parker in the Class of 2025.
— National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum ⚾ (@baseballhall) January 21, 2025
Full vote totals: https://t.co/6XLelqdrht pic.twitter.com/8iTPTjD70A
1. Ichiro Suzuki: OF - Mariners, Yankees, Marlins
Ichiro Suzuki is hands down one of the greatest to ever play the game of baseball. He debuted in Japan at the age of 18 for Orix Blue Wave in the NPB and played there until he was 26 years old. In his time in Japan, he recorded 1278 hits, 118 home runs, 199 stolen bases, and a .943 OPS. He signed with the Seattle Mariners prior to the 2001 season and instantly made a mark in MLB, winning AL Rookie of the Year and AL MVP in his first season state-side. In total, Ichiro played 19 seasons in MLB, was a 10-time all-star, won 10 Gold Gloves, 3 Silver Sluggers, recorded more than 3000 hits (all starting at age 27), and became one of the most beloved players in the league. In total, Ichiro recorded 4367 hits, 235 home runs, 708 stolen bases, and a .847 OPS across his 28 seasons playing professional baseball. Ichiro was on the ballot for the first time and got 393 votes... of 394. One person saw Ichiro's amazing resume - 3089 hits, .311 career batting average, single-season hits leader (and this isn't counting his time in the NPB in Japan) - and thought "Nah, this guy doesn't deserve to be in the Hall of Fame." The person who did not vote for Ichiro should come out and own up to it, as well as lose his voting privileges, but that almost certainly won't happen. Either way, congratulations to Ichiro Suzuki, the first Japanese-born player in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
2. CC Sabathia: SP - Indians, Brewers, Yankees
CC Sabathia debuted in 2001 for the Cleveland Indians and instantly made a mark, finishing runner-up to Ichiro Suzuki in the AL Rookie of the Year race. Sabathia pitched for 7.5 seasons in Cleveland, where he was a 3-time all-star and won the AL Cy Young award in 2007. He was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers at the trade deadline in 2008 and proceeded to have one of the most dominant stretches by a pitcher in MLB history. In 17 starts with the Brewers in 2008, he went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA and threw 7 complete games, including 3 shutouts, helping the team clinch a Wild Card spot in the playoffs. Sabathia signed with the Yankees prior to the 2009 season, where he would lead them to a World Series, winning 2009 ALCS MVP along the way. For his career, Sabathia went 251-161 with a 3.74 ERA and 3093 strikeouts - 18th all-time and 3rd most among left-handed pitchers. 2025 was Sabathia's first year on the ballot, where he received 342 votes (86.8%), more than enough to get him in to Cooperstown. Congratulations to CC Sabathia on his amazing career and his enshrinement in the Hall of Fame.
3. Billy Wagner: CP - Astros, Phillies, Mets, Red Sox, Braves
Billy Wagner is the final member of the 2025 Hall of Fame class, receiving 325 votes (82.5%) and it's about time he got in. One of the most dominant closers of his era, Wagner pitched 16 seasons in MLB and recorded 422 saves, 8th-most in history and 2nd-most by a left-handed pitcher behind John Franco. His career ERA of 2.31 is the lowest among left-handed pitchers with at least 500 innings pitched since 1920 and his career WHIP of 0.988 is the lowest among relievers with min. 700 innings pitched. The only blemish on Wagner's career is his postseason numbers where he recorded a 10.03 ERA in 14 appearances across his career. Those numbers are terrible, but it was also a very small sample size since many of the teams he was on were not good enough to make the playoffs. This was Wagner's final year on the ballot, so thankfully the voters finally made the right decision to put him in the Hall of Fame. Congratulations to Billy Wagner on a dominant career and on earning his place in Cooperstown.
4. Just Missed: Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones
The other two players who got anywhere close to getting in were OFs Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones. Beltran would have been in on his first year on the ballot, but his involvement in the Astros cheating scandal in 2017 has caused some voters to keep him off their ballots. Andruw Jones had an incredible peak from the late 1990s to the mid 2000s, but his extreme falloff has left some voters wondering if he is truly deserving of being in the Hall of Fame. Beltran will almost certainly make it before his 10 years are up since he got 70.3% in his third year on the ballot. Whether or not Jones makes it is very much up in the air as he is already in his 8th year on the ballot while still being nearly 10% short of the 75% threshold needed to get in.
In all, this is a very good Hall of Fame class. One of the best hitters in the history of the game in Ichiro Suzuki, a steady force in starting rotations for nearly 20 years in CC Sabathia, and arguably the most dominant left-handed closer in all of baseball in Billy Wagner. It's great for the game that these three are being enshrined in the most sacred place in baseball and that they will all get the respect they deserve. Also, to the one person who didn't vote for Ichiro - you suck and you should not be allowed to have a vote anymore.