The Baseball Hall of Fame will unveil its newest member, or members, when the results of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) ballot are revealed on Tuesday night.
Jim Leyland, who led the Pirates, Marlins, Rockies, and Tigers over a decorated 22-year managerial career, is already headed to Cooperstown after being voted in by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee last month. But which players will join him from the writers' ballot and make up the Hall of Fame class of 2024?
Here's everything fans should know ahead of the announcement.
When Is the MLB HOF Announcement?
The voting results will be revealed at 6 p.m. ET Tuesday on MLB Network. Coverage of the 2024 BBWAA announcement will begin at 4 p.m. ET, leading up to the unveiling of the results from Hall of Fame president Josh Rawitch.
Full 2024 BBWAA HOF Ballot
This year's BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot consists of 26 players. Among them are 14 returnees and 12 first-timers. Here's a look at the players back on the ballot this year, with their 2023 election percentage, via MLB, in parentheses:
Bobby Abreu (15.4%), Carlos Beltrán (46.5%), Mark Buehrle (10.8%), Todd Helton (72.2%), Torii Hunter (6.9%), Andruw Jones (58.1%), Andy Pettitte (17%), Manny Ramirez (33.2%), Alex Rodriguez (35.7%), Francisco Rodriguez (10.8%), Jimmy Rollins (12.9%), Gary Sheffield (55%), Omar Vizquel (19.5%) and Billy Wagner (68.1%).
The players eligible for induction for the first time this year are, in alphabetical order: José Bautista, Adrián Beltré, Bartolo Colon, Adrián González, Matt Holliday, Victor Martinez, Joe Mauer, Brandon Phillips, José Reyes, James Shields, Chase Utley and David Wright.
Beltré Leads HOF Voting Tracking
This year's HOF class is sure to include at least one player.
Beltré, the four-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove third baseman, has by far the best chance of anyone on the ballot to be inducted, according to Ryan Thibodaux's Hall of Fame tracker, which monitors all publicly revealed ballots.
Among the public ballots compiled by the tracker, which was last updated on Tuesday morning (roughly 54 percent of the ballots are known), Beltré—who has 477 career home runs—has received 99 percent of the vote.
It is important to note that the listed percentages on the Hall of Fame tracker website are often higher than the final tally. Once private ballots are factored in, a player's vote percentage is almost always lower than what was publicly available.
Still, if Beltré is a lock, the next question appears to be who may join him in Cooperstown.
Mauer (83.1%), Helton (82.1%), and Wagner (77.8%) are the only other players above 75% according to the tracker. Sheffield (74.9%) is just behind. Two notable players who had their careers stained by performance-enhancing drug scandals—Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez—are on just 39.1% and 35.3% of the known ballots, according to the tracker.
How Does MLB HOF Eligibility, Voting Work?
A screening committee consisting of baseball writers is appointed by the BBWAA each year and is charged with preparing the Hall of Fame ballot. The committee then lists, in alphabetical order, eligible candidates who either received a vote on a minimum of 5 percent of the ballots in the preceding election, or are eligible for the first time and are nominated by any two of the six members of the BBWAA Screening Committee.
As listed on the Hall of Fame's website, a player must meet the following criteria to be eligible for the ballot:
- "A baseball player must have been active as a player in the Major Leagues at some time during a period beginning 15 years before and ending five years prior to election."
- "Player must have played in each of 10 Major League championship seasons, some part of which must have been within the period described [above]."
- "Player shall have ceased to be an active player in the Major Leagues at least five (5) calendar years preceding the election, but may be otherwise connected with baseball."
- "In case of the death of an active player or a player who has been retired for less than five full years, a candidate who is otherwise eligible shall be eligible in the next regular election held at least six months after the date of death or after the end of the 5-year period, whichever occurs first."
- "Any player on Baseball's ineligible list shall not be an eligible candidate."
Voting is based on "the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played," states the HOF website.
Once the ballot is complete, only active and honorary members of the BBWAA who have been active baseball writers for at least 10 years are eligible to vote.
Candidates must appear on at least 75 percent of voters' ballots to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Each voter may mark down no more than 10 players on their ballot, and no write-ins are allowed. If a player does not make the Hall of Fame during the period in which they are eligible on the writers' ballot, they can still eventually be enshrined via the Eras Committee.
When is the MLB HOF Induction Ceremony?
The players who meet the 75 percent voting threshold on Tuesday will officially be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame during a ceremony on Sunday, July 21, at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown, New York.
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