The streets of Cooperstown will belong to Carlos Beltrán, Andruw Jones and Jeff Kent this weekend. Their Hall of Fame Induction Day arrives Sunday, so we’ll be shining the spotlight their way all weekend. Stay tuned for all of that.

But this is that “other” Hall of Fame column I serve up for you every July. It’s the one where we ask:

Which active players will get to join those three men in the plaque gallery someday?

This is the fourth year in a row I’ve asked that not-controversial-at-all little question. Shockingly, it has provided you thoughtful readers with an excellent opportunity to rant, rave and call me names that would never come out of the mouth of, say, Dora the Explorer. Thanks for the helpful input!

The format remains the same. I’ll divide the players into tiers. Then I’ll offer some incisive thoughts on those tiers. Then I’ll see how quickly I can join the Witness Protection Program because I’ve noticed in the past that this column seems to make people very agitated. Ready for the fun to begin? Let’s go.
IN RIGHT NOW
Justin Verlander
Max Scherzer
Mike Trout
Freddie Freeman
Mookie Betts
Aaron Judge
Nolan Arenado*
Jose Altuve*
Shohei Ohtani*

IN THE RED ZONE

Bryce Harper
Manny Machado
Paul Goldschmidt
Chris Sale*

ACROSS THE 50

José Ramírez
Francisco Lindor
Salvador Perez*
MOVING THE CHAINS

Juan Soto
Kyle Schwarber*
Yordan Alvarez*
Matt Olson*
Trea Turner*
Bobby Witt Jr.*

DRIVE STALLED
Gerrit Cole
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.*
Giancarlo Stanton*
Carlos Correa
Alex Bregman*
Corey Seager*
Ronald Acuña Jr.*
Christian Yelich*
Corbin Burnes*

STARTERS CORNER

Jacob deGrom
Zack Wheeler
Paul Skenes
Tarik Skubal*
Jacob Misiorowski*

CLOSERS CORNER

Kenley Jansen
Aroldis Chapman
Josh Hader
Craig Kimbrel
Edwin Díaz*

CATCHERS CORNER

J.T. Realmuto
Cal Raleigh
Will Smith

GET BACK TO ME IN THREE YEARS

Fernando Tatis Jr.
Rafael Devers
Kyle Tucker
Corbin Carroll
Cody Bellinger
Xander Bogaerts
Matt Chapman
Luis Arraez
Dylan Cease

GET BACK TO ME IN FIVE YEARS

Julio Rodríguez
Gunnar Henderson
Elly De La Cruz
James Wood
Pete Crow-Armstrong
Yoshinobu Yamamoto

GRADUATED

Clayton Kershaw

(*new to this tier)

Got it? Those are the names on the board. Now let’s take a deeper look. I’m generally going to focus on the most notable shifts in these tiers. So for perspective on the names who haven’t shifted, feel free to check out last year’s column and/or the 2024 edition.

In last year’s column, I spun the cases for every one of these holdovers: Verlander, Scherzer, Trout, Freeman, Betts and Judge. You know what hasn’t changed? If they want to start working on their speeches now, it won’t be wasted effort. I’d bet you breakfast at the Cooperstown Diner that you’ll be listening to them someday.

So let’s focus on the three new entries: Arenado, Altuve and Ohtani. That feels like the place where the debate gets juiciest.

NOLAN ARENADO: He roared through the doors of the 2,000-Hit Club this week. I was excited about that, because round numbers come in handy when you’re writing Hall of Fame columns. At the very least, they provide a great excuse to type out tidbits like this:

3B WITH 2,000+ HITS, 10+ GOLD GLOVES, 350+ HR

Mike Schmidt
Nolan Arenado
(I can stop typing now.)

Or there’s also this list:

10+ GOLD GLOVES, 3+ HR TITLES, 8+ ALL-STAR TEAMS
(at any position)

Willie Mays
Ken Griffey Jr.
Mike Schmidt
Nolan Arenado

So don’t get yourself all distracted by the 35-year-old version of Arenado currently on display in Arizona. Cooperstown is about a player’s complete body of work. So you know what we call guys who spent over a decade hitting this many long balls, tipping their caps at all those All-Star games and producing their own spectacular defensive highlight reel?

“Hall of Famers!”

JOSE ALTUVE: I spent way too much time thinking about which of these lists Altuve belongs on. Then it hit me: The Cooperstown stars have already lined up to make this guy a lock Hall of Famer. Why? I’ll hit you with three names:

Carlos Beltrán! … Jeff Kent! … Chase Utley!

Beltrán and Kent will be standing on that podium Sunday. Utley will be the leading returning vote-getter when the 2027 ballots arrive next offseason. So … get my drift?

When you view the Hall credentials of Altuve through the lens of Beltrán/Kent/Utley, how could we not elect the man who has spent the last decade and a half winning an MVP, three batting titles, seven Silver Sluggers and two World Series in Houston?

How Beltrán helps Altuve — Do I even have to explain this? Beltrán was portrayed as a leading architect of the Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing escapades … and we just elected him to the Hall of Fame. Didn’t that tell us exactly how this electorate will look at Altuve someday? He might get dinged for a year or two, but then he’ll get judged on his numbers. Which brings us to …

How Kent and Utley help Altuve — Let’s see now. What position did Kent and Utley play? Right. Second base. And what position does Altuve play? Yep. Second base. So how does his career compare with their careers? Thanks for asking.

By the end of this season, Altuve almost certainly will have passed Kent and Utley in, well, just about everything except Kent’s historic power numbers. Plus, Altuve has as many MVPs (one) as Kent and Utley combined — and more World Series rings (two) than Kent and Utley combined (one). Add in Altuve’s massive postseason bonus points, and he’s sealed the deal.

Feel free to grumble. But this couldn’t be more obvious.

SHOHEI OHTANI — I was going to keep Ohtani slogging along in the Red Zone for one more year based on a sheer technicality: He hasn’t put in the required 10 seasons in the big leagues yet. (He’s only in Year 9 on this side of the Pacific.) But then …

I found myself laughing out loud at the absurdity of that.

This dude is, without question, the most talented human being we’ve ever seen play baseball (or possibly any sport). And I like the odds that he’ll find a way to show up on the field at least once after this year. So what the heck am I waiting for?

Just think about what we’re watching: Ohtani has a better career OPS+ (160) than Henry Aaron or Stan Musial. He has a better career ERA+ (155) than Pedro Martinez or Randy Johnson. And he’s a real person. So of course he’s a Hall of Famer. Technicality, schmechnicality.

I’m going to get out my telestrator now and do my best Tony Romo impression. Let’s diagram where you can find these guys on your screen.

Harper and Machado have been stuck in the Red Zone for four straight years now, but here’s the good news: They’re at the 5-yard line!

They’re both closing in on 400 homers. Machado just crossed the 60-WAR barrier, according to Baseball Reference. Harper (55.8) is close behind. Those magic numbers will come in handy.

Plus, Harper has two MVP awards. Machado has two Gold Gloves. It’s only the age-33 season for both of them. So we know where this is leading. Their stars just have to keep on shining. And …

Goldschmidt is also spending his fourth straight year in the Red Zone. You can find him on the 10-yard line. And since he’s only inching toward the goal line at this stage of his career, I’m not 100 percent sure he’ll get there.

But I also know he’ll have a heck of a case when his name appears on the ballot. Would you believe that only two first basemen in history have rolled up at least 65 wins above replacement (bWAR), an MVP award, 375 homers and 175 steals? One is Jeff Bagwell. The other? Paul Goldschmidt.

So that’s your official Red Zone update on the holdovers. Now let’s talk about the new guy we just painted red.

CHRIS SALE: I love Chris Sale. I also know his career record is 155-94. And there has been no such thing as a Hall of Fame starter with 155 wins since Dizzy Dean staggered in with 150 (on the ninth ballot) 73 years ago.

So yeah, I got the memo that “Wins” aren’t a thing anymore. But last I checked, they were still on the stat sheet. So it’s not quite Sale’s time yet. But like Altuve, the stars are lining up for him everywhere he looks — especially in Félix Hernández’s neighborhood.

Six months ago, when the ballot smoke cleared, King Félix had just pole-vaulted from 20.6 percent of the vote in his ballot debut to 46.1 percent in Year 2. And if that means Hernández is destined for election some day, Sale is the lockiest lock to join him of any active pitcher alive who isn’t named Verlander or Scherzer. Take a look at how Félix’s numbers stack up against the ace in Atlanta.

But it’s Sale’s place in history that really propelled him into the Red Zone. Among all pitchers with at least 2,000 innings, Sale ranks second (behind only Clayton Kershaw) in WHIP. Then there are those seven top-five Cy Young Award finishes. Every eligible pitcher with seven or more is a Hall of Famer except for Roger Clemens. I don’t see that changing.

So where’d I put that telestrator? Oh, here it is. I’ve got Sale on the 2-yard line. Will he escape the Red Zone by next year? I’ll let you know after we see how King Félix fares next Hall of Fame election day.

I wish I’d started writing this column 20 years ago, so I could track this better. But if I had, I bet we’d look back and find that practically everyone who made it into this “Across the 50” group wound up getting a plaque chiseled just for them.

Nobody makes it across the 50 without spending the first half of their careers as a star. Then we let those guys hang out here for a while until we can nudge them into the Red Zone.

Normally, that happens fast. This year, José Ramírez and Francisco Lindor have dealt with just enough injury stuff that they haven’t been able to graduate.

But Ramírez is just five home runs away from becoming the first third baseman in the 300-Homer, 300-Steal Club. So his ride to Cooperstown is still rocking along on cruise control.

And Lindor, even in a year where he’s been practically a non-factor, has still climbed all the way up to ninth among active position players in WAR, according to Baseball Reference. He’s at 56.3, and everyone above him is older than he is (32).

So they’ll be prime Red Zone candidates next year. But what about the new guy in this club?

SALVADOR PEREZ: Have I mentioned how much I love a well-timed milestone while I’m working on this column?. So here’s a big thank you to Salvy, who was helpful enough to hit the bomb that made him the Royals’ all-time home run leader while I was sitting here typing about him.

That feat just adds to this man’s fascinating place in catching history:

Most homers for his franchise — Only one other catcher can make that claim. His name is Johnny Bench (389 for the Reds).

Five Gold Gloves, 300 homers — Here’s another list that won’t take long to spit out. The only names on it: Bench, Perez and Pudge Rodríguez. You might be aware that those other two guys are Hall of Famers.

Five Gold Gloves, 300 homers, nine All-Star teams, World Series MVP — Once again, just two names crack this club: Salvy and Bench.

His Cooperstown case isn’t truly as clear-cut as those last three nuggets make it look. Jay Jaffe’s invaluable JAWS metric has Perez ranked as only the 32nd-best catcher in history. And if you go by FanGraphs’ version of WAR, he lands at No. 22 — just since 2000.

But has he done enough to chug across midfield? Let’s go with yes. But is this journey going to end in the plaque gallery? I see a furious Salvy debate coming in my crystal ball.

Lots of newcomers to this club! (And also one dropout: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.) Let’s discuss.

KYLE SCHWARBER: You have to look past the WAR column (22.6) to make the case for the Schwarbino. But it’s legal to look past it in all 50 states, so let’s do that.

At age 33, Schwarber is “only” 127 home runs away from 500. You know how many he has hit just since Opening Day 2024? How ’bout 127 on the nose. So while I think he has to reach 500 to make his Cooperstown case, I also fully expect him to get there. And if he does …

He’ll be a man with (at least) two home run titles, an MVP runner-up, a World Series ring, 10 postseason appearances in his first 11 seasons, (at least) 23 postseason homers and a .907 October OPS. Not to mention all the character-and-integrity bonus points he rolls up every day of every year. Sounds like a head-turning Cooperstown case to me.

YORDAN ALVAREZ: The Astros’ favorite masher just turned 29 a few weeks ago. He’s rocking a 163 career OPS+, 203 homers and a .583 career slugging percentage. That all seems good. Let’s see just how good.

I looked at every hitter whose career began in the last 100 years. Ready for the list of guys with 200 homers plus an OPS+ and slugging percentage as good as Air Yordan’s through their age-29 season? Here it comes:

Ted Williams
Frank Thomas
Mike Trout
Albert Pujols

OK then. That’s what you call moving the chains.

MATT OLSON: We’re paying way too little attention to Olson’s Freddie Freeman-esque trek toward Cooperstown. On one hand, the Braves’ first baseman isn’t there yet. On the other …

At age 32, he’s sitting on a 135 career OPS+, 43.2 bWAR, 314 career homers, three Gold Gloves and a home run title. That puts him in more rarified territory than you probably realized.

Since the invention of Gold Glove awards in 1957, only two other first basemen have piled up 300 homers, three Gold Gloves, a home run title, at least 40 WAR and an OPS+ as far above league average as Olson’s through their age-32 season. You’ve heard of them.

One is Eddie Murray, whose plaque has already been chiseled. The other is Goldschmidt, who is in prime position for a plaque of his own. Excellent company!

TREA TURNER: Is it OK if we take a step back and ignore the raging conversation in Philadelphia about Turner’s streakiness on both sides of the ball? Let’s do that, because if that’s all you see when you look at this guy’s life and times, you’re missing a hell of a career.

He milestoned it up this week — firing both his 200th career homer and 300th career double. So check out all the cool winning numbers you can find on his Hall of Fame bingo card — at age 33, with another seven years left on his contract with the Phillies:

200 HR
300 doubles
332 SB
85.8% SB success rate*
2 batting titles
2 SB titles
41.9 bWAR

(*second best in history)

You know who has had that career? Nobody! And even the group that’s close — Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson, Joe Morgan and Altuve — is missing some of that.

If Turner can keep doing this stuff as a shortstop, which isn’t a certainty, that’s a Hall of Fame career. And even if he can’t, he’s at least moved enough chains to earn 200 words worth of attention in this column.

BOBBY WITT JR.: You know how good a player you have to be to rank this high in this column by the time you’re 26 years old? You basically have to be a dude whose talent jumps off the flat screen at you and spins your eyeballs around a few times. And if that doesn’t sound like Witt to you, it’s only because you’re not paying attention.

He just turned 26 a few weeks ago. But he has already had seasons where he led his league in doubles, triples, hits, steals and batting average. He’s spun off two 30-30 seasons and two top-five MVP finishes. And Statcast has branded him as both the fastest man in the sport and the best defensive shortstop in his league.

Does that sound like a guy who’s building a Hall of Fame case to you? It does to me. So pay more attention to the Royals out there!

Most of the names who show up on this list don’t need much explaining. But just in case …

Giancarlo Stanton hasn’t shown up in a batter’s box since April 24. Tough way to chase 500 homers.

Carlos Correa made his last trip to the plate on May 4. Ronald Acuna Jr.’s last hit was June 6. Christian Yelich and Corey Seager have played 118 games combined. Corbin Burnes signed his contract with the Diamondbacks 571 days ago. He’s pitched 11 times.

Moral of that story: When the Hall of Fame Express is in the shop, the Cooperstown Express is spinning in circles. So that explains how those men wound up at the Stalled Drive All-Stars stop — but it doesn’t explain these two:

VLADIMIR GUERRERO JR.: A year ago, when I wrote this opus, I had Vladdy in an electrifying Moving the Chains trio alongside Soto and Sale. If you’d asked me again a few months later, as he was leaving his imprint all over October, I might have made him the first 27-year-old Red Zone candidate in the history of this column. But then …

Baseball happened. And boy, has it happened to him.

It’s almost August, and he still hasn’t hit a home run in Toronto. He’s batting .115 on fly balls, barely half the league average. And the harder he tries to unearth the magic formula that made him a postseason terror, the worse he gets. Heading into Wednesday, he was slashing .191/.251/.289 over his last 39 games, with three homers in 167 trips to the plate.

Oof. Roughest season in the history of the Guerrero family.

ALEX BREGMAN: Wrigley Field and Cubbie Nation seemed like such a perfect fit for Bregman. Instead, this has the look — for now — of the worst season of his career (.239, with a .692 OPS through Wednesday). Man, baseball is hard, isn’t it?

Bregman is still an impact defender and an energizer who lifts everyone around him. So he can play for my team — as soon as I remember to buy one. But this isn’t about clubhouse chemistry. This is about finding his way to Cooperstown.

Since he’s stuck these days at 45.5 bWAR, he’s going to need a bunch of 5.0-Win seasons to reach the level of the average Hall of Fame third baseman (68.9). And here’s why that feels like trouble: He hasn’t had any 5.0-Win seasons since 2019. Seems like an ominous trend.

I don’t know what a Hall of Fame starting pitcher is going to look like in 15 years. But whatever he looks like, the back of his baseball card is guaranteed not to look anything like Justin Verlander’s.

I’m assuming that by then, we’ll live in a universe where voters just crumple up starters’ win totals and fire them into the nearest dumpster. So that gives guys like Jacob deGrom (103 wins, at age 38) and Zack Wheeler (123, at age 36) an actual chance to get elected.

Then there’s Paul Skenes. Who knows where his win total is headed — but if he retires with, say, a 2.07 ERA, he could finish with 86 wins and I’d still vote for him.

I dug in even deeper on the cases of deGrom, Wheeler and Skenes in last year’s column. But the other two names in the Starters Corner are new to this fun-filled debate. And what are they doing here? I couldn’t resist.

TARIK SKUBAL: I told Skubal this spring that I was lucky enough to be there in 2009 when Randy Johnson won his 300th game in a soggy, sparsely attended, late-afternoon game in Washington. I also told him none of us would ever see anybody win No. 300 again.

“How many (wins) have I got?” he asked.

It was 54 then — and 60 now.

“Shoot,” he replied (almost). “Then I’ve got a lot of work to do.”

But if wins become irrelevant, maybe not. The Tigers’ ace is already one of just four left-handed starters in history to win back-to-back Cy Young awards. (The others: Sandy Koufax, Clayton Kershaw and Johnson.) And if Skubal wins another Cy at any point, he’d join just those three legends and Steve Carlton in the left-handers’ Cy Young Trifecta Club.

There’s more, though. Skubal is also a strike-throwing assembly line with a sub-2.50 ERA, a sub-1.00 WHIP and a 7-to-1 strikeout/walk ratio over the last four seasons. So his light bulb hasn’t just gone on. It’s burning brighter than the sun.

So when he said, “I’ve got a lot of work to do,” he delivered those words like a man who intends to do that work all the way to Cooperstown.

JACOB MISIOROWSKI: Humor me with this one, OK? I know the Miz is only 23. And he has made just 33 career big-league starts. And he hasn’t even crossed the 5.0-bWAR plateau yet. So yes, he has no business showing up in this column. And yet …

If he keeps launching smokeballs at 103 mph for another few years — and goes down as The Hardest Throwing Starting Pitcher Ever — who’s to say that won’t meet whatever the Next Gen standard is for Hall of Fame starters?

Somewhere, Bob Feller is in need of smelling salts. But somebody up there should please remind him it isn’t 1946 anymore.

Billy Wagner gave a Hall of Fame speech as recently as last July. In the process, he also gave new Hall of Fame hope for the back-end dominators of this generation: Kenley Jansen, Aroldis Chapman, Craig Kimbrel and Josh Hader. I hope they write him a thank-you note.

I covered where those guys stand on the road to Cooperstown in last year’s column. But this year, I wanted to drop one more name of a guy who didn’t make it into that conversation …

EDWIN DÍAZ: Díaz has spun off three of the most unhittable, untouchable seasons any closer has ever had. Unfortunately for him, this isn’t one of them (10.50 ERA in seven messy appearances — and none since April 19, when he headed off to have elbow surgery).

But … Díaz is still just 32. He’s rocking the greatest strikeout ratio in the history of relief pitching (14.5 per nine innings). He has a Hall of Fame walk-up tune. And he’s a Dodger, which gives him the perfect stage to fire up some unforgettable October glory once he makes it back.

All right, so he has a lot of dominating to do if he wants to catch a glimpse of Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman and Wagner in his Cooperstown telescope. But I didn’t think I could write this section without him. So Edwin, you’re welcome.

Finally … we apparently have no idea what a Hall of Fame catcher looks like anymore. And neither does the WAR column. But Buster Posey (45 bWAR), who will be on the ballot next year, looks destined for Cooperstown. And Yadier Molina seems like he’s going to barge into the Hall in two years, with only 41.7 bWAR. And then … here are three active catchers who could be following right behind them:

I think J.T. Realmuto has the most Yadi-like case of any catcher in the sport. A decade in the best-catcher-in-baseball chat. … A workload monster who has caught 155 more games since 2019 than any active catcher. … Five seasons that were worth at least 4.5 wins, according to the more catcher-friendly FanGraphs WAR. (That’s the most of any active catcher.) … And like Yadi, Realmuto is a beloved maestro of one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, in Philadelphia. So he’ll be part of an entertaining debate someday.

And I think Will Smith is right there with him. A catcher with an .826 OPS, a bunch of World Series rings and a game-winning Game 7 World Series homer makes for an excellent claim to Cooperstown fame. In fact, the only catchers in the expansion era with an .800 OPS and multiple World Series titles are Bench, Posey, Jorge Posada, Gene Tenace and Smith.

Finally, there is Cal Raleigh. I don’t know where the Mariners catcher fits in this conversation in the midst of a strange, bumpy, not-real-healthy season. But only one catcher in history has ever hit 60 home runs in a season. And his name is Cal. So I don’t know if he’s going to wind up as Mike Piazza 2.0 or Roger Maris 2.0. But he’ll always have a spot in this Catchers Corner.