How former Blue Jays fared on the 2025 Hall of Fame ballot

Five more players will be enshrined in Cooperstown this summer. We learned on Tuesday evening that Ichiro Suzuki, C.C. Sabathia and Billy Wagner all received the necessary support from the Baseball Writers Association of America to be inducted as part of the 2025 Hall of Fame class.

They'll join Dave Parker and Dick Allen, who were elected in December by the Classic Era Committee back in December.

Parker was only a member of the Toronto Blue Jays for a few weeks in 1991, helping them during the stretch run of that season to clinch the AL East division title for the third time in team history (their first of a run of three straight). “The Cobra”, as he was affectionately nicknamed, was long overdue for this induction and he will finally get his moment in the spotlight this July.

There were five other players who were eligible for election on this year’s ballot who spent some time in Toronto during their career. How did they fare?  

2025 Hall of Fame Ballot: Former Blue Jays get booted

Mark Buehrle and Omar Vizquel are still on there, but Russell Martin (played with Toronto from 2015-18), Troy Tulowitzki (played with Toronto from 2015-2017) and Curtis Granderson (played in Toronto in 2018) all fell off the ballot after receiving less than 5% of the vote.

That's pretty harsh for three guys who were widely recognizable stars in their respective eras, and while we don’t think a great case can be made for any of them, they perhaps deserved better than a one-and-done fate.

Starting with Martin, Jay Jaffe wrote this excellent piece on why he thinks the former catcher should actually be in the Hall. It comes down to a few things: catchers are extremely undervalued by Hall metrics; Martin was one of the best pitch framers in the history of the game; and at his peak he was one of the best players in the game.

“From 2006–16, his 50.6 fWAR ranks fifth in the majors, behind only Miguel Cabrera (62.5), Albert Pujols (52.7), Adrian Beltré (52.1), and Chase Utley (51.8) — a quartet of current or likely future Hall of Famers.”

And while Martin never won a World Series ring, he was consistently in the postseason with 10 trips to the playoffs in his 14 big league seasons. Maybe Martin’s resume will get a secondary look by an Era’s committee down the line.

Tulowitzki was on a Hall of Fame path when he burst onto the scene as a 21-year-old shortstop with the Colorado Rockies. He accumulated 37.8 WAR before he turned 30. He won two Gold Gloves, a pair of Silver Sluggers, and had five All-Star appearances. That decade of production puts him in some elite company as only three shortstops bested his OPS+ of 125 within the same timeframe in their respective careers: Alex Rodriguez, Carlos Correa and Nomar Garciaparra.

But injuries caught up to him, and after a strong year and a half in Toronto between 2015 and 2016, his body just wouldn’t allow him to be productive on the field anymore. He didn’t reach any of the traditional counting stat milestones that voters look for when making their ballot selections, and he fell short of the new wave analytic benchmarks as well.

Granderson was well regarded as one of the nicest people in the game during his 16-year career. He was so easy to root for and put up some fantastic individual seasons over that 16-year career. Take his 2007 season with the Detroit Tigers where he had a 7.6 WAR, led the league with 23(!) triples and slashed .302/.361/.552 with a .913 OPS.

At age 30 with the New York Yankees in 2011, he led the league with 136 runs scored and 119 RBI while hitting 41 home runs. A year later he hit a career high 43.

Like Tulowitzki, his career ended before he could get to any of the traditional Hall of Fame stats, with 1,800 hits, 344 home runs and a .249/.337/.465 slash line with a 113 OPS+. His 47.1 career WAR is a remarkable achievement, but short of what most voters would say is a Hall of Fame number.

While we don’t think Granderson will have a case to be considered by an Era’s committee, we do think it’s a shame he lasted just one year on the ballot.

As for Buehrle, he has seen his support fluctuate in his five years on the ballot. The left-hander received 44 votes in 2021, 23 votes in 2022, 42 votes in 2023, 32 votes in 2024 and 45 votes (11.4%) this year.  

There’s an interesting take by Paul Casella on MLB.com on why he thinks Buehrle should be in the hall. He points to his durability, consistency, defense, and ability to limit damage as the main reasons, and Buehrle finds himself in elite company in some of those areas. Halfway through his time on the ballot now, he’ll need to start picking up significant support in the years ahead if he’s to get in.

As for Vizquel, who is in his eighth year of eligibility, he received 70 votes (17.8%) but we don’t see him ever getting in and could likely fall off the ballot before his 10th year.

Congratulations to this year's inductees, and we'll be dialed in when the ceremony arrives in late July!