Hall of Fame voting winners and losers: Three stars are headed to Cooperstown — who else got good (or bad) news?
The 2024 Baseball Writers’ Association of America vote is in — and Adrian Beltre, Joe Mauer and Todd Helton are the newest members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Billy Wagner fell just five votes short of the 75% threshold for enshrinement. The three new Hall of Famers will join Jim Leyland, who was elected in December by the contemporary baseball era committee, in Cooperstown in July.
ESPN MLB experts Buster Olney, Bradford Doolittle, Alden Gonzalez and Jesse Rogers break down what the 2024 vote means, and look ahead to what the future holds for this year’s candidates — and those joining the ballot in 2025.
Let’s get into it.
Besides the three elected, who is the biggest winner on this year’s ballot?
Olney: In Andruw Jones’ first year on the ballot, he polled at 7.3%, barely qualifying for a second try — and in Year 2, he scored 7.5%. But in recent years, he has gained momentum and now seems on the cusp of election, with his voting percentage soaring to 61.6% in his seventh year of eligibility. He seems to be benefitting from next-level analytics, with voters finally crediting him for his game-changing defense. That shift could make it inevitable he’ll make a speech in Cooperstown.
Rogers: Just a year ago, Carlos Beltran looked to be somewhat of a question mark — now, after receiving 57.1% of votes this year, he seems a near lock, considering he has eight more chances to be enshrined. His poor showing last year could have been voters doling out a minor punishment for his role in the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal — but in the end, he’ll be a Hall of Famer. It just might take a few more tries.
Doolittle: Tough to pick one between Beltran and Jones, so I’ll cop out and call it a stalemate. Both picked up enough support that given their trajectories and the years they have left on the ballot, they seem close to lock status. The uncertainty around Beltran has cleared up after just two cycles on the ballot, which for me is a bit of a surprise. I thought he’d be cast into limbo land for longer than this, but now I’d be surprised if he doesn’t get in next year.
Gonzalez: This probably won’t make him feel any better, but I look at Wagner falling just five votes shy of induction as a win for him. He’s got one year left of eligibility on the BBWAA ballot, and one would think he’ll be able to make up that gap given how voters tend to rally around players who are close to falling off. Wagner has gained an average of 40 votes over the past six years. It would be shocking if he didn’t get in next year.
Who is the biggest loser from this year’s voting results?
Olney: By all statistical measures — other than the writers’ voting percentage of 63.9% — Gary Sheffield is a Hall of Famer. But after failing to gain election in his final year on the ballot, Sheffield now gets thrown into HOF purgatory; his only chance is to wait for selection from some special committee years from now. And unfortunately for Sheffield, if he ever gets that honor, he’ll have had to wait for the perspective of committee voters to change. It was little more than a year ago that they rejected Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, who, like Sheffield, have been kept out of the Hall because they were named in the dubious Mitchell report.
Rogers: Oh, it’s definitely Sheffield. Yes, he was mentioned in the Mitchell report, but he was never suspended for a failed test — and that’s an important distinction to me. Call me old-school, but I’m all for one of the last great players to walk (1,475) more than strike out (1,171) getting in. Add his 509 home runs and 253 stolen bases to his résumé, and Sheffield did it all. His increased percentage from 55% last year to 63.9% in 2024 was nice, but voters need to take a closer look during a player’s final year of eligibility. Not enough of them did.
Doolittle: Sheffield is the obvious pick, but in a way, getting off the BBWAA ballot at least is a chance for him to move on. I personally think he’ll do well when his case comes in front of an era committee. But just to add a different name here, I’ll go with Andy Pettitte. I really thought his support would start to tick upward. I didn’t think he was likely to get in, but I thought he had a larger base of support than this.
Gonzalez: The following eight players, all in their first year of eligibility, received less than the 5% support required to remain on the ballot: Jose Bautista, Victor Martinez, Bartolo Colon, Matt Holliday, Adrian Gonzalez, Brandon Phillips, Jose Reyes and James Shields. None of them are Hall of Famers, of course. But the weeks leading up to the results presents an opportunity for us to celebrate players we otherwise might not take the time to remember. We’ll miss that with those guys. David Wright, however, barely advanced into Year 2 with 6.2% support.
What is one trend that stands out to you from this year’s voting totals?
Olney: During Beltré’s career, he collected more than 3,000 hits, nearly 500 homers, five Gold Glove Awards and consistent MVP consideration over the decades he played. Beyond his production, he had an excellent reputation as a teammate. If there is a legitimate reason to not vote for him, well, we haven’t heard it. But somehow, 19 writers decided to not include him on their ballot — just as some writers decided not to vote for Ken Griffey Jr. and Derek Jeter. Maybe Mariano Rivera will be the first and last unanimous selection.
Rogers: It’s the continuation of a decades-long trend for the Hall: Players can easily get in on their first try, but doing so unanimously is a different story. Would the 4.9% of voters who didn’t think Beltré deserved the honor have voted for him next year? Or the year after? It kind of defies logic — unless those voters simply don’t believe he deserves it at all, which would also make little sense.
Doolittle: David Wright got very little support, though, thankfully, he received enough votes to remain on the ballot. I don’t know that he’s a Hall of Famer, but it’s not that hard to build a case for him. If you look at what he did in his first 10 seasons, there are very few players who have been left out of the Hall who produced what he did (at least once you cross off active players, those still on the ballot and those left out for nonplaying reasons). We’re still not focusing enough on the number of high-quality seasons someone like Wright put up and too much on compilation.
Gonzalez: Rodriguez has made virtually no progress in his three years on the ballot, going from 34.3% to 35.7% to, this year, 34.8%. Manny Ramirez began with 23.8% in 2017 and got up to only 33.2% in 2023, then dropped to 32.5% in 2024. Ramirez is one of the best right-handed hitters of his era; A-Rod is one of the greatest all-around players in the sport’s history. But their ties to PEDs won’t get them even close to the Hall. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens broke 60% in their final year of eligibility. I don’t see A-Rod or Ramirez even approaching that.
Which one player’s vote total is most surprising to you?
Olney: Beltran’s big spike is our first real indication of how some voters will treat those linked to the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal. If Beltran was nailed with some first-ballot demerits, it wouldn’t be the first time — so was Roberto Alomar because of his spitting incident with umpire John Hirschbeck. Alomar was elected in his second year on the ballot, and Beltran seems to be trending strongly toward election in the next two or three years.
Rogers: Alex Rodriguez. With so much uncertainty about how to handle the steroid era, I’m surprised someone who has failed tests and has suspensions on his record is getting even 34% of the vote. That total hasn’t changed much from what he got last year or the year before, though, so it’s clear about a third of voters are in one category in this debate; two-thirds believe he should not be in the Hall of Fame.
Doolittle: I don’t know that it’s a major surprise, but I thought Chase Utley would do a little better than 28.8% on his first trip through the process. He’s not in a bad spot, though, and I expect his momentum to uptick quickly from here.
Gonzalez: Bobby Abreu polled at 14.8% in his fifth year on the ballot and I continue to be miffed by him not getting much support, especially in an era when we place so much more value on on-base percentage. Abreu did literally everything. He was a great defender with the power to win a Home Run Derby and the speed to accumulate 400 stolen bases, but he was also one of the most skilled, discerning hitters of his time. He batted in the .300s six times, reached 20 homers nine times and drew at least 100 walks in eight consecutive seasons. He was also incredibly durable, playing in at least 151 games 13 times. The counting numbers might not jump off the page, but he deserves a closer look.
Based on this year’s results, who do you think will get in on next year’s ballot?
Olney: The Class of 2025 might turn out to be enormous. Ichiro Suzuki should be a unanimous selection, of course — how could you not vote for him? Wagner, who fell just short this year, Jones and Beltran are within range of election, as well, and CC Sabathia could get the call in his first year on the ballot. Think about this: Sabathia finished his career with 61.8 WAR, which puts him in the same statistical neighborhood as Juan Marichal, Don Drysdale, Dennis Eckersley and Jim Bunning — all HOFers.
Rogers: Wagner has been inching toward enshrinement, and his final year of eligibility, 2025, will help push him over the top after he received 73.8% of the vote this time around. Wagner’s reputation fits with the relievers who have already gone into the Hall. Back in 2016, he was hovering at about 10%, so it has been a long, slow climb. But where you start should have no bearing on your finish. Voters nearly got him over the hump these past two years; 2025 will be his time.
Doolittle: Ichiro is a no-doubter, and I think Jones and Beltran will get over the top. I say Wagner finally gets in after nine misses. A really interesting candidate will be CC Sabathia, whose case might say a lot about the standards we will consider for Hall of Famer starters in the future. I think he’s in, with the only question being whether or not his “first ballot” status hinders him. And if that’s our class, with the U.S., Curacao, Puerto Rico and Japan all represented, Cooperstown will be a fun place to be in July 2025.
Gonzalez: I can see as many as five getting in next year: Ichiro, Sabathia, Wagner, Jones and Beltran. Here’s the thing, though: It has never happened. The BBWAA has never voted in that many. And it voted in four players on only five occasions — 1947, 1955, 2015, 2018 and 2019. Edgar Martinez didn’t get in in 2018; Mike Piazza and Hank Greenberg were snubbed in 2015 and 1955, respectively. Of the aforementioned five players, I see Ichiro and Wagner as certainties, with Sabathia, Jones and Beltran ultimately being close.
-
Adam Rittenberg
Notre Dame cornerback Benjamin Morrison, a freshman All-America selection in 2022 who became a team captain before an October hip injury ended his 2024 season, is headed to the NFL draft.
Morrison announced his decision Thursday on social media, writing, “This is not just the end of one chapter — it’s the beginning of another. I’ll carry the lessons, memories, and love from Notre Dame every step of the way.”
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. lists Morrison as his No. 23 overall prospect and No. 3 cornerback for the draft.
Forever Irish☘️ pic.twitter.com/v73phwr998
— Benjamin Morrison (@BMoe_21) January 23, 2025
Notre Dame also is losing several players to the transfer portal following Monday’s loss to Ohio State in the CFP national championship. A pair of starting offensive linemen, Rocco Spindler and Pat Coogan, entered the portal, as did backup Sam Pendleton with a “do not contact” tag. Other Notre Dame portal entries include wide receivers Jayden Thomas and Deion Colzie.
The 6-foot, 190-pound Morrison had six interceptions as a true freshman in 2022, tying for third nationally and earning freshman All-America honors from ESPN and other outlets. His six interceptions were the most for a Notre Dame player since linebacker Manti Te’o had seven as a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2012.
Morrison had three interceptions and a team-high 10 pass breakups in 2023, when he was a semifinalist for the Thorpe Award. Named a preseason All-America selection in the fall, Morrison started Notre Dame’s first six games before sustaining the hip injury Oct. 12 against Stanford. He underwent season-ending hip surgery.
He finished his Notre Dame career with 9 interceptions, 27 passes defended and 84 tackles. The Phoenix native is the son of former NFL safety Darryl Morrison, who played for Washington from 1993 to 1996.
Thomas started 12 games during the 2022 and 2023 seasons and had 43 career receptions for 838 yards and seven touchdowns with Notre Dame.
-
Ben Baby
CINCINNATI — A familiar face is headed back to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden has rejoined the Bengals in the same role, the team announced Thursday. The news comes three days after the Fighting Irish lost to Ohio State in the College Football Playoff National Championship game.
“Al is a very highly regarded coach, and we are excited to welcome him back to the Bengals as defensive coordinator,” head coach Zac Taylor said in a statement. “He understands football at every level and has had great success as a coordinator, position coach and head coach. Al has a great football mind and will bring a smart, physical, aggressive approach to our defense.”
Golden, 55, spent the past three seasons as Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator. He replaces Lou Anarumo, who held the post for the past six seasons before he was fired after the Bengals missed the postseason.
This will be Golden’s second stint on Taylor’s coaching staff. Before taking the job at Notre Dame, he was Cincinnati’s linebackers coach during the 2020 and 2021 seasons. During those years, Golden played an integral role in leading a defense that helped the Bengals reach the Super Bowl for the first time in 33 years.
The Fighting Irish’s defense was a major reason why Notre Dame was a win away from its first national championship since 1988. Entering the CFP final against the Buckeyes, Notre Dame’s defense ranked fourth among Power 4 teams in points allowed per drive (1.21), according to ESPN Research.
He will be tasked with leading a Bengals defense that looks vastly different from just a couple of years ago. Staples from that Super Bowl team, including safety Jessie Bates III and defensive tackle DJ Reader, departed in free agency in 2023 and 2024, respectively. Last season, Anarumo was tasked with balancing a group that featured aging veterans, injuries at key positions and inexperience at others.
Eventually, the defense figured things out during the Bengals’ five-game winning streak to close the regular season. But with Cincinnati missing the postseason for a second straight year, Taylor opted for a staff shake-up. Along with Anarumo, offensive line coach Frank Pollack and defensive line coach Marion Hobby were among those who were not retained.
On Monday, Cincinnati announced Scott Peters as Pollack’s replacement and Michael McCarthy as the assistant offensive line coach. Later in the day, Anarumo was hired as the Indianapolis Colts’ defensive coordinator.
The Bengals will need to improve a unit that finished near the bottom of the league in several key categories. Last season, Cincinnati was 26th in points allowed per drive, 30th in defensive red zone efficiency and 30th in first downs allowed per game, according to ESPN Research.
Cincinnati is trying to build around star quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase as the team looks to end a two-year playoff drought. Burrow was named to his second Pro Bowl following a career year. Chase made his fourth Pro Bowl in as many NFL seasons and joined defensive end Trey Hendrickson as the team’s first All-Pro selections since 2015.
-
Alden Gonzalez
LOS ANGELES — Roki Sasaki donned a No. 11 Los Angeles Dodgers jersey atop a makeshift stage Wednesday afternoon and called it the culmination of “an incredibly difficult decision.”
When Sasaki was posted by the Chiba Lotte Marines in the middle of December — a development evaluators have spent years anticipating — 20 major league teams formally expressed interest. Eight of those clubs were granted initial meetings at the L.A. offices of Sasaki’s agency, Wasserman. Three were then named finalists in the middle of January, prompting official visits to their ballparks. And in the end, to practically nobody’s surprise, it was the Dodgers who won out.
The Dodgers had long been deemed favorites for Sasaki, so much so that many viewed the pairing as an inevitability. In the wake of that actually materializing, scouts and executives throughout the industry have privately complained about being dragged through what they perceived as a process that already had a predetermined outcome. Some have also expressed concern that the homework assignment Sasaki gave to each of the eight teams he initially met with, asking them to present their ideas for how to recapture the life of his fastball, saw them provide proprietary information without ultimately having a reasonable chance to get him.
Sasaki’s agent, Joel Wolfe, admitted he has heard some of those complaints over the past handful of days.
“I’ve tried to be an open book and as transparent as possible with all the teams in the league,” said Wolfe, who has vehemently denied claims of a predetermined deal from the onset. “I answer every phone call, I answer every question. This goes back to before the process even started. Every team I think would tell you that I told each one of them where they stood throughout the entire process, why they got a meeting, why they didn’t get a meeting, why other teams got a meeting. I tried to do my best to do that. He was only going to be able to pick one.”
Sasaki, 23, is considered one of the world’s most promising pitching prospects, with a triple-digit fastball and an otherworldly splitter. Through four seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball, Sasaki posted a 2.10 ERA, a 0.89 WHIP and 505 strikeouts against just 88 walks in 394⅔ innings. But he has openly acknowledged to teams that he is not yet fully formed, and many of those who followed him in Japan believed his priority would be to go to the team that had the best chance of making him better.
Few would argue that the Dodgers don’t fit that description. Their vast resources, recent run of success and sizeable footprint in Japan made them an obvious fit for Sasaki, but it was their track record of pitching development that landed them one of the sport’s most intriguing prospects.
“His goal is to be the first Japanese pitcher to win a Cy Young, and he definitely possesses the ability to do that,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. “We’re excited to partner with him.”
Sasaki will join a star-studded rotation headlined by Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, decorated Japanese countrymen who signed free agent deals totaling more than $1 billion in December 2023. The Dodgers went on to win the ensuing World Series, then doubled down on one of the sport’s richest, most talented rosters.
Over the past three months, they’ve signed starting pitcher Blake Snell for $182 million, extended utility man Tommy Edman for $74 million, given reliever Tanner Scott $72 million, brought back corner outfielder Teoscar Hernandez for $66 million, added another corner outfielder in Michael Conforto ($17 million) and struck a surprising deal with Korean middle infielder Hyeseong Kim ($12.5 million). At some point, they’ll finalize a contract with another back-end reliever in Kirby Yates and will bring back longtime ace Clayton Kershaw.
But Sasaki, who has drawn the attention of Dodgers scouts since he was throwing 100-mph fastballs in high school, was the ultimate prize.
“As I transition to the major leagues, I am deeply honored so many teams reached out to me, especially considering I haven’t achieved much in Japan,” Sasaki, speaking through an interpreter, said in front of hundreds of media members. “It makes me feel more focused than ever. I am truly grateful to all the team officials who took the time to meet with me during this process.
“I spent the past month both embracing and reflecting on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to choose a place purely based on where I can grow as a player the most,” Sasaki continued. “Every organization helped me in its own way, and it was an incredibly difficult decision to choose just one. I am fully aware that there are many different opinions out there. But now that I have decided to come here, I want to move forward with the belief that the decision I made is the best one, trust in those who believed in my potential and (have) conviction in the goals that I set for myself.”
Major League Baseball heard complaints from rival teams about a prearranged deal between Sasaki’s side and the Dodgers before he was posted, prompting an investigation “to ensure the protocol agreement had been followed,” a league official said in a statement. MLB found no evidence, prompting Sasaki to be included as part of the 2025 international signing class.
Because he is under 25 years old and spent less than six seasons in NPB, Sasaki was made available as an international amateur, his earnings restricted to teams’ signing-bonus pools. The Dodgers gave him $6.5 million, which constitutes the vast majority of their allotment, and will control Sasaki’s rights until he attains the six years of service time required for free agency. Sasaki said his immediate goal is to “beat the competition and make sure I do get a major league contract.”
Sasaki combined to throw barely more than 200 innings over the past two years and is expected to be handled carefully in the United States. The Dodgers won’t set a strict innings limit for him in 2025 but will deploy a traditional six-man rotation, which also makes sense with Ohtani returning as a two-way player. The Dodgers’ initial meeting with Sasaki saw them tout the way their training staff, pitching coaches and performance-science group work in harmony. In their second, they brought out Ohtani, Edman, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts and Sasaki’s catcher, Will Smith, in hopes of wooing him. And in the end, it was Ohtani who broke the news to the Dodgers’ front-office members, letting them know they landed Sasaki in a text before his agent could get around to calling.
Friedman described it as “pure excitement.” Many others, however, rolled their eyes at what they felt was inevitable. Wolfe denied that, saying, “I don’t believe [the Dodgers] was always the destination.” But then he went on to describe how prevalent the Dodgers are in Japan. Their games are on every morning and rebroadcast later at night. Dodgers-specific shops outfit stadiums throughout the country.
“They’re everywhere,” Wolfe said. “And I think that all the players and fans see the Dodgers every day, so it’s always in their mind because of Ohtani and Yamamoto. But when (Sasaki) came over here, he came with a very open mind.”
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports10 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway