A trio of former Toronto Blue Jays could see some recognition from baseball’s most prestigious honour next season.
The MLB announced today that Former Blue Jays Curtis Granderson, Troy Tulowitzki, and Russell Martin have been added to the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot for 2025.
The 11 other names that will see themselves added to the ballot for consideration are Carlos González, Félix Hernández, Adam Jones, Ian Kinsler, Brian McCann, Hanley Ramirez, Fernando Rodney, CC Sabathia, Ichiro Suzuki, Billy Wagner, and Ben Zobrist.
Martin spent the most time of the three in the organization, playing for four seasons from 2015-2018. He had a batting average of .225 with 335 hits, 66 homers, 211 RBIs, and 224 runs scored in 447 games while with Toronto, also spending time with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Yankees.
Tulowitzki hit .250 with 224 hits, 36 homers, 122 RBIs, and 101 runs scored in 238 games for the Blue Jays from 2015-2017. He spent the first 10 years of his career with the Colorado Rockies before his trade to Toronto in the middle of 2015 and played the final five games of his career with the Yankees.
Granderson spent less time in Toronto, playing just one season with the team in 2018. He batted .245 with 74 hits, 11 home runs, 35 RBIs, and 48 runs scored in 104 games. Like the other two ex-Blue Jays, he also spent time with the Yankees and played for the Dodgers, New York Mets, Detroit Tigers, Miami Marlins, and Milwaukee Brewers in his storied career.
Of course, while simply being on the ballot is an honour, it’s still a few steps away from being officially enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
Voters must submit their ballots by December 31. Players must hit a 75% threshold to be named to the Hall of Fame. The results will be announced on January 21, and the induction ceremony will take place on July 27.
Former Blue Jays pitcher Mark Buehrle is also up for consideration, though he earned just 8.3% of votes last season and is now on his fifth ballot.
Former Blue Jays in the Hall of Fame
Eleven different players who have played for the Blue Jays have ended up in the Baseball Hall of Fame: Fred McGriff, Scott Rolen, Roy Halladay, Jack Morris, Bobby Cox, Frank Thomas, Roberto Alomar, Rickey Henderson, Paul Molitor, Dave Winfield, and Phil Niekro.