Former Sun Devils Dustin Pedroia, Ian Kinsler debut on BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot

There are only 20 second basemen in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and two former Sun Devil infielders now have a chance to join that exclusive group.

Former Arizona State infielders and teammates Dustin Pedroia and Ian Kinsler were named on the 2025 BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot, which was released Monday to eligible members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

They join outfielder Ichiro Suzuki and starting pitcher C.C. Sabathia — both strong candidates for first-ballot induction — among the newcomers on this year’s list.

Former Arizona Diamondbacks on the ballot include outfielder Adam Jones (2019) and closer Fernando Rodney (2017).

Players on the ballot need 75% of the vote to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. The 2025 newcomers, whose final MLB games were played in 2019, must receive at least 5% of the vote to remain on the ballot and eligible for future inductions.

Dustin Pedroia’s case for the BBWAA Hall of Fame

Pedroia’s case for the Hall of Fame is intriguing, and it’ll be interesting to see how voters balance his high peaks with his injury-shortened career.

At the major league level, Pedroia was a four-time All-Star, a four-time Gold Glove winner, a two-time World Series champion and a Silver Slugger winner in 14 seasons with the Boston Red Sox.

He won Rookie of the Year in 2007 and followed that up with a MVP season in 2008. Pedroia is the only player ever to earn Rookie of the Year, Gold Glove and MVP awards along with a World Series championship in his first two full seasons.

He retired with a .299 career batting average, 1,805 hits, 140 home runs, 725 RBIs and 138 stolen bases.

His last productive campaign was in 2017, when he was limited to only 105 games due to left knee soreness. He later underwent a complete cartilage restoration the following offseason but never fully recovered, appearing in only nine games combined in 2018 and 2019 before announcing his retirement at 35 years old.

At Arizona State, Pedroia put up monster numbers, recording a career batting average of .384 over three seasons. He was named Pac-10 Co-Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in 2003.

Ian Kinsler debuts on Hall of Fame ballot

Kinsler played in 14 major league seasons, spending the majority of his career with the Texas Rangers (eight seasons) and Detroit Tigers (four seasons), while also having brief stints with the Los Angeles Angels, Boston Red Sox and San Diego Padres.

Over that time, he accumulated 54.1 bWAR and secured a World Series title with the Red Sox in 2018. Kinsler retired from Major League Baseball one hit shy of 2000, with 257 home runs, 909 RBIs and 243 stolen bases. He won four Gold Glove awards and was a four-time All-Star.

In one year at Arizona State, Kinsler recorded a .230 batting average in 29 games while backing up Pedroia.

Kinsler transferred to the University of Missouri following the 2002 season and broke out with a .335 average.

Former Diamondbacks Rodney, Jones now eligible

Rodney and Jones each played a single season in Arizona toward the end of their respective careers.

Rodney pitched in 951 games spanning 2002-19, spending 2017 as the D-backs’ closer. He appeared 61 times and earned 39 saves that season as Arizona made the playoffs and got past the Wild Card round and into the NLDS, where it lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He produced an ERA of 4.23 in his lone season with the D-backs.

Over his career, the three-time All-Star donning the tilted hat racked up 327 saves, which is 19th on the all-time leaderboard.

Jones spent his final MLB season with the Diamondbacks, playing in 137 games and slashing .260/.313/.414 for the 85-77 club that missed the postseason.

Jones spent the previous 11 years in Baltimore, where he was a five-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner.

Who else is on the 2025 Hall of Fame ballot?

Ichiro, a Seattle Mariners icon, looks to become just the second player in MLB history (Mariano Rivera, 2019) to garner 100% of the vote. His 4,367 career professional hits between MLB and Nippon Professional Baseball, not to mention a .311 lifetime hitter and MLB’s single-season hits record holder (262), certainly helps his case.

Sabathia also has a good case to reach the Hall of Fame on his first try.

In his 19-year career, Sabathia recorded 251 career wins and 3,093 strikeouts in tenures with the Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers and New York Yankees. He won a Cy Young Award in Cleveland and a World Series ring in New York.

Sabathia is one of just 19 pitchers in the 3,000-strikeout club.

Other newcomers include:

• Felix Hernandez
• Curtis Granderson
• Troy Tulowitzki
• Ben Zobrist
• Russell Martin
• Hanley Ramirez
• Brian McCann
• Carlos Gonzalez

Returning members — with their 2024 vote % — include:

• Billy Wagner (10th) – 73.8%
• Andruw Jones (8th) – 61.6%
• Carlos Beltran (3rd) – 57.1%
• Alex Rodriguez (4th) – 34.8%
• Manny Ramirez (9th) – 32.5%
• Chase Utley (2nd) – 28.8%
• Omar Vizquel (8th) – 17.7%
• Bobby Abreu (6th) – 14.8%
• Jimmy Rollins (4th) – 14.8%
• Andy Pettitte (7th) – 13.5%
• Mark Buehrle (5th) – 8.3%
• Francisco Rodriguez (3rd) – 7.8%
• Torii Hunter (5th) – 7.3%
• David Wright (2nd) – 6.2%