Buster Posey, Jon Lester, and more: Looking ahead to 2027 Hall of Fame ballot

With the retirements that have happened within Major League Baseball during and since the end of the 2021 season, we are getting a look at some of the names who will appear as eligible first-time players on the 2027 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot.

Who are some of the players who could appear for the first time on the 2027 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot?

Among the notable names who will appear on the 2027 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot for the first time are former San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey, former Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jon Lester, former Seattle Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager, former Cincinnati Reds outfielder Jay Bruce, and former Kansas City Royals and Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Wade Davis.

Of course, some of the players listed above played with other teams during their MLB careers as well (Seager spent his entire 11-year career in Seattle and Posey was in a Giants uniform for the entirety of his 12-year career). However, the others were listed with teams they could potentially represent if they are indeed granted baseball immortality in Cooperstown.

With the players who have retired during the time span required to be placed for the first time on the 2027 ballot, Posey seems like the most likely of the group to earn 75 percent or more of the votes from eligible members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) to earn a place in the Hall of Fame on his first voting cycle.

You can learn more about Posey’s chances at the Hall of Fame here.

As a note, of the 267 players currently inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame at the time of this writing, only 19 are catchers and only 10 of those were elected by a BBWAA vote. Ted Simmons was the last catcher to earn a Hall of Fame nod, inducted as part of the 2020 class after being voted in by members of the Modern Baseball Committee.

Lester’s Hall of Fame chance will likely rest on his postseason numbers more than his overall career. Despite winning 200 games, his overall case will make it an uphill climb for the five-time All-Star and three-time World Series champion.

Could players like Clayton Kershaw, Albert Pujols, and Zack Greinke join this list by retiring before the start of the 2022 campaign? It’s possible, and will certainly add more intrigue to the 2027 ballot if they do.