Will this be the year for Andruw?

The BBWAA has officially announced the 2025 ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame and the Atlanta Braves will have two prominent figures on the ballot this year, as Andruw Jones is returning to the ballot for another season and Brian McCann is making his first-ever appearance on the ballot.

It’s ballot season! The 2025 BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot features 28 former players, including 14 new candidates.

Results will be announced at 6 p.m. ET Jan. 21 live on @MLBNetwork. https://t.co/azqI5ruwIp pic.twitter.com/5w7pxDHFhm

— National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum ⚾ (@baseballhall) November 18, 2024

As far as the overall ballot goes, Ichiro Suzuki is making his first appearance on the ballot and the only question for him is whether or not he’ll receive a unanimous trip to Cooperstown. CC Sabathia is a first-timer who also seems likely to get in at some point, whether it’s on the first ballot or at some time down the road. Félix Hernández is another newcomer who should at least have a decent enough chance of making it, since his peak is comparable to some of the best pitchers to ever set foot on a mound. His steep decline from that peak might be what ends up keeping him out, which is why it’s probably a safe bet that Félix will be waiting a long while before figuring out whether or not he’ll be getting a plaque in Cooperstown.

Meanwhile, Braves legend Brian McCann will be making his first appearance on the ballot this year and while he certainly has his fair share of accolades, I think if we’re all being honest then you have to imagine that McCann has pretty long odds of getting into the Hall of Fame. It’s definitely true that McCann is one of the best catchers of his era, he may not have the raw numbers or the elite defense that has been required of catchers in order to make it into the Hall of Fame. If there was a Hall of Very Good, McCann would be a shoo-in. As far as the actual Hall of Fame goes, I’d personally just be happy if McCann stuck around on the ballot for a few years before eventually dropping off.

Then, we have Andruw Jones. Jones will be on the ballot for the eighth year running and he’s steadily been climbing towards the threshold of 75 percent that’s needed for induction. He finished last year at 61.6 percent and as MLB.com’s Mark Bowman mentioned in his article on Jones’ Hall of Fame candidacy, Andruw’s trajectory has mirrored that of previous Hall of Famers like Scott Rolen and Todd Helton, so there’s plenty of reason to be hopeful that Andruw’s time may be coming.

The same goes for Billy Wagner, who also appears to be a lock to get into the Hall of Fame if his current trajectory holds. He was only a few votes away from getting in last time, so assuming he can hold on to all those votes and get even a tiny bit of a boost, then the Hall should be beckoning for the closer who spent the final season of his career with the Braves.

We’ll know by January 21 at 6 p.m. ET as to whether or not any of these names will be granted access to baseball immortality in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Here’s hoping we don’t see too many goofy ballots this time around.