Baseball’s 2027 Hall of Fame ballot won’t feature many new heavy hitters, but at least one fresh addition has a compelling case for Cooperstown.
That would be former San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey, who headlines the list of newcomers eligible to be voted on by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA).
Posey won three World Series championships and was the 2012 National League MVP during his 12-year career from 2009-21, all with the Giants.
He was the 2010 NL Rookie of the Year, a seven-time All-Star, a five-time Silver Slugger recipient and a Gold Glove winner.
Posey led the majors with a career-best .336 average in 2012, making him the fourth catcher in MLB history to win a batting title. He batted .302 for his career.
Working against Posey are unspectacular counting stats, as he totaled only 1,500 hits and 158 home runs during his relatively short playing career.
A player has not been elected with fewer than 1,600 career hits since Jackie Robinson (1,563) in 1962, according to MLB Network.
Posey’s career wins above replacement (WAR) of 45.0 via Baseball Reference would also be below the average among Hall of Fame catchers, according to FanGraphs’ JAWS comparison metric.
But Posey’s high peak, defensive prowess and central role on those 2010, 2012 and 2014 championship teams help bolster his candidacy, even if he’s not a lock for first-ballot induction.
The other most notable newcomer is former left-handed starter Jon Lester, whose case is similarly buoyed by postseason success.
Lester, too, was a three-time World Series champion and pitched to a 2.51 ERA over 26 playoff appearances, including 22 starts.
That included going 3-0 with a 1.77 ERA in the World Series with the Boston Red Sox (2007 and 2013) and curse-breaking Chicago Cubs (2016), for whom he was also NLCS MVP.
Lester was very good over 16 regular seasons from 2006-21, going 200-117 with a 3.66 ERA.
But Lester’s career WAR of 43.5 pales pretty significantly in comparison to those of fellow lefties Andy Pettitte (60.7), Mark Buehrle (60.0) and Cole Hamels (57.9), all of whom also seek Hall of Fame election.
Others joining the ballot include longtime Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner (44.3 WAR); former Mets and Yankees outfielder Jay Bruce; right-hander Jake Arrieta; and third basemen Kyle Seager and Ryan Zimmerman.
The lack of slam-dunk candidates joining the ballot should benefit some of the holdovers.
Topping that list is former second baseman Chase Utley, who appeared on 59.1% of the ballots in 2026 — the most among anyone who was not elected.
A candidate must receive 75% of the vote to be elected and has 10 years of eligibility.
Utley, who was in his third year on the ballot, still needs to appear on more than 15% of additional ballots to be inducted, though he did jump by nearly 20% (from 39.8%) from 2025 to 2026.
Over 16 seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers from 2003-18, Utley totaled 1,885 hits, 259 home runs, a .275 average and an .823 OPS.
Utley’s 64.6 WAR ranks a bit below the average number among Hall of Fame second basemen (69.1), according to JAWS.
Also hoping to make a leap are Pettitte, who just appeared on 48.5% of the ballots in his eighth year of eligibility, and former Seattle Mariners ace Félix Hernández, who received 46.1% of the vote in his second year.
The Class of 2026 is made up of Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones, who were voted in by the BBWAA on Tuesday night, and Jeff Kent, who was elected by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee last month.
That committee is set to vote later this year on managers, executives and umpires, with Bruce Bochy and Dusty Baker among those who could be elected for the Class of 2027. Bochy was Posey’s manager on all three World Series titles.
