Who is on the 2026 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot?

The Baseball Hall of Fame's 2025 class is official with Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner voted in, meaning it's already time to look ahead to next year's ballot. Suzuki and Sabathia were shoo-ins in their first year of eligibility, but at first glance it seems unlikely that any of new players on the 2026 ballot were good enough to ever make the Hall of Fame. Longtime left-handed pitcher Cole Hamels has the best career WAR (59) among the players scheduled to debut next year and Ryan Braun (47.1%) was an MVP winner, but neither of them has the credentials probably necessary to be earn induction – even if voters take a more liberal approach over their 10 years on the ballot. The leading 2025 vote-getters who will return to the 2026 ballot are Carlos Beltran (70.3%), Andruw Jones (66.2%) and Chase Utley (39.8%), along a handful of other holdovers. In addition to Hamels and Braun, 2026 first-timers will include Edwin Encarnacion, Howie Kendrick, Shin-Soo Choo and Alex Gordon. Here's a look at the potential newcomers on next year's Baseball Hall of Fame ballot: The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.