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Two highlights stand out from the 2023 World Baseball Classic, both involving Shohei Ohtani.
The first isn’t the one you’re probably thinking about. In one of the most surreal baseball moments in recent years, a 5-foot-9 electrician from Czechia named Ondřej Satoria, with a fastball that topped out at 79 mph, fanned the mighty Ohtani on three pitches, inducing the strikeout with a wild swing on a 72 mph changeup.
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The second is the one you remember: Ohtani striking out his then-Los Angeles Angels teammate Mike Trout for the final out of Japan’s 3-2 victory over the United States in the championship game, two future Hall of Famers in the ultimate showdown.
That’s where we turn with this article: future Hall of Famers. How many of them will be competing in the 2026 WBC? Unfortunately, some Hall of Fame candidates who played in previous tournaments will not be participating in this WBC. Freddie Freeman, who has played for Canada in the past, is sitting this one out. Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa were unable to obtain injury insurance, with Lindor later injuring a hamate bone anyway, leaving Puerto Rico without two key players.
The United States team, meanwhile, has signed up some exciting first-time performers, including Aaron Judge and Bryce Harper.
We’ll go through the 2026 candidates, breaking them down into four tiers as to likely induction to Cooperstown, then look back and compare this year’s tournament with previous editions of the WBC.
Tier 1: The locks
Clayton Kershaw (USA): Yes, Kershaw is retired from the Los Angeles Dodgers but will now cap his career with his first WBC appearance. He might be there to soak up the atmosphere as much as anything and is unlikely to pitch any critical innings later in the tournament, but let’s hope he gets some action in pool play.
Shohei Ohtani (Japan): Technically, Ohtani isn’t eligible for Cooperstown since he’s entering his ninth season in the majors and a player needs 10 seasons — but we’ll ignore that detail. Ohtani is an easy lock, with four MVP Awards and counting. He won’t pitch for Japan in this WBC, instead focusing on a full slate of pitching with the Dodgers.
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Aaron Judge (USA): The question at this point isn’t whether Judge is a Hall of Famer but if he can climb into the inner circle of Hall of Famers. Because he started late — he was 25 as a rookie — and then had some injuries early in his career, it will be difficult for Judge’s career counting stats to measure up to some of those legends. He’s accumulating value at a high rate, however, and is one of just 23 position players with at least four 8-WAR seasons. If he can compile two more such seasons — and he has produced seasons of 10.8, 10.8 and 9.7 since 2022 — then he would be one of just 15 position players with six 8-WAR seasons and just the sixth to do it whose career started after World War II. That sounds like inner circle.
Manny Machado (Dominican Republic): In general, 60 career WAR makes you a strong Hall of Fame candidate. Machado is already at 61.7, entering his age-33 campaign while still playing well, if no longer an MVP candidate. He’s also going to end up with some impressive career counting numbers as he’s over 2,000 hits with 369 home runs and 1,144 RBIs, which gives him a good chance to join Mike Schmidt as the only third basemen with 500 home runs and 1,500 RBIs.
Bryce Harper (USA): Harper’s career hasn’t exactly been a straight line of excellence. He has two MVP Awards but just one other top-10 finish. His 2015 season — .330/.460/.649, 42 home runs, 9.7 WAR — was one of the best this century, but he has just two other seasons above 5 WAR. He has played 150 games just three times, the last coming in 2019. But he was so young when he came up that he’ll get to some big milestones, and he’s at 54.0 WAR entering his age-33 season. He has been one of the faces of the game since he was 19. He’s in.
Juan Soto (Dominican Republic): It’s easy to forget that Soto is still just 27 years old, with six top-10 MVP finishes already under his belt. His 42.6 WAR through age 26 ranks 21st all time among position players through that age. Every player ahead of him is in the Hall of Fame except the not-yet-eligible Trout and Albert Pujols, plus Alex Rodriguez. We should mention that Cesar Cedeno (40.2) and Vada Pinson (40.1) aren’t far behind Soto through age 26, however, and didn’t sniff Cooperstown. Nonetheless, I’m calling Soto a lock.
Paul Goldschmidt (USA): With 63.8 career WAR, I feel like he’s 99% of a lock, but Hall voters can be tough on first basemen — see Keith Hernandez, Will Clark and Fred McGriff (who got in only via the era committee) — plus Goldschmidt has 372 home runs and might not get to 400, which some voters might believe is a must for a first baseman. Still, Todd Helton was elected a couple of years ago with 369 home runs and 61.8 WAR, so Goldschmidt — with one MVP Award and two second-place finishes — will eventually get in.
Tier 2: Likely to get in
Nolan Arenado (Puerto Rico): A couple of years ago, Arenado looked like a stone-cold sure thing, but his offense has dropped precipitously since his big 2022 season and he hit just .239/.289/.377 in 2025, so there might not be much left in the tank. Still, he’s at 57.8 career WAR, won 10 consecutive Gold Gloves and three home run titles, will pass 2,000 hits in 2026, had an incredibly high peak when he was one of the game’s best all-around players, and has 353 home runs and nearly 1,200 RBIs. He might not add much value over the rest of his career, but getting to 400 home runs would help make him a slam dunk.
Kenley Jansen (Netherlands): Jansen hasn’t really been an elite closer since 2017 — he has posted just two seasons since then with an ERA under 3.00 — but he has remained good enough to close for somebody and now ranks fourth on the career saves list, just three away from passing Lee Smith. His career ERA of 2.57 is the fifth lowest since World War II among pitchers with at least 900 innings. Factor in that voters have been more generous electing relievers than any other position, and Jansen is pretty close to a lock.
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Salvador Perez (Venezuela): Perez’s case is much different from those of Arenado and Jansen, as his Hall of Fame discussion promises to be much more heated. His 35.5 career WAR via Baseball-Reference — and, coming off a 0.4-WAR season, he’s unlikely to add much more career value — would be the lowest for any modern position player (Bill Mazeroski, George Kell and Harold Baines are the only sub-40 WAR position players elected who played the most of their careers after World War II). FanGraphs, which factors catcher framing into its WAR calculation, is even harsher, crediting Perez with just 19.0 career WAR due to his poor framing metrics.
On the other hand, with 303 home runs and 1,016 RBIs, Perez is one of just eight catchers to reach 300 and 1,000 — and six of the other seven are Hall of Famers (Lance Parrish is the exception). Perez also won a World Series — although so did Parrish, who finished with 39.5 WAR — and he’s going to spend his entire career with the Royals, which should help him. In the end, Perez is a popular player and a nine-time All-Star. I think he gets in, and if the BBWAA doesn’t vote for him, the era committee almost certainly will.
Alex Bregman (USA): With 43 career WAR, he has had two-thirds of a Hall of Fame career. That final third is the toughest part, however, and at 32 Bregman could be entering the decline phase of his career. The Cubs just made a big bet that won’t be the case. He needs at least three more seasons at his current level to get those stats close to Hall of Fame territory, and assuming he does that — and that the 2017 cheating scandal for the Astros isn’t held against him (Carlos Beltran just got elected despite being the ringleader of the affair) — he can get in.
Tier 3: On the right path
Bobby Witt Jr. (USA): The players in this group are all younger players who have flashed Hall of Fame seasons — like Witt, who finished second in the MVP voting in 2024 and fourth in 2025. With 21.7 career WAR though age 25, I thought Witt might classify as one of the best young shortstops ever, but he ranks only 15th — behind Hanley Ramirez, among others, an example of why we don’t want to leap to early conclusions and call any of these players locks just yet. Still, if I’m betting on any young player to become a Hall of Famer, Witt is my pick.
Julio Rodriguez (Dominican Republic): J-Rod just finished his age-24 season and has 22.9 WAR, with three top-10 MVP finishes already to his credit. I don’t know if Rodriguez will ever put up the offensive numbers needed to win an MVP, but his all-around game is superlative and he’s compiling some impressive totals at a young age. Comparing him to center fielders, like we did with Witt and shortstops, he’s 10th in WAR through age 24. Warning: Cedeno and Pinson, mentioned above, were center fielders who peaked in their early 20s.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Dominican Republic): He has been a little inconsistent on a year-to-year basis, but he does have two 6-WAR seasons and was so young when he reached the majors — just 20 — that he’s still just turning 27 this year. One thing helping him is his durability, as he has played at least 156 games each of the past five years. Now let’s see what kind of season he can put up if he remains locked in for six months like he was in October.
Gunnar Henderson (USA): He has nearly matched Witt in career WAR at 21.4 — and he’s a year younger. The gap between them is much smaller than the perception, and Henderson is clearly on a similar Hall of Fame path.
Ronald Acuna Jr. (Venezuela): At 28, Acuna is the oldest player in this group, and at his best — like in his 2023 MVP season — he’s a clear Hall of Famer. But he’s at just 28.6 career WAR and has played only 62% of the possible games over the past five years. If he stays healthy, he has the ability, but that’s a big if.
Fernando Tatis Jr. (Dominican Republic): He hasn’t been the same dominant offensive player after missing the 2022 season with a PED suspension, but he is still producing valuable seasons with above-average offense and great defense. That formula can work for the Hall of Fame — see the recently elected Andruw Jones or Scott Rolen — but it feels like Tatis will need to pump out a couple of bigger seasons at the plate.
Tarik Skubal (USA): I have no idea how future voters will evaluate starting pitchers from this era, but we’re starting to see some indication with Felix Hernandez, who reached 46% of the vote in his second year on the ballot despite just 169 career wins. Of course, Skubal — with 54 wins — is still a long way from King Felix, but Skubal also has two Cy Young trophies, one more than Hernandez won. Will the wins matter if he ends up with three or four Cy Young Awards?
Paul Skenes (USA): Stay healthy, big guy.
Tier 4: You never know
Xander Bogaerts (Netherlands): He’s at 42 career WAR but slipping, with a sub-100 OPS+ each of the past two seasons. Remarkably, he has eight years left on his contract, but he’ll need some bounce-back seasons, and at his current rate of regression won’t be in the majors at age 36, let alone 40.
Ketel Marte (Dominican Republic): I wouldn’t bet on it, especially since he has had issues staying healthy, but he has averaged 5.3 WAR over the past three seasons. If he can keep that going over the next four seasons — which takes him through age 35 — then he’d be at 55 career WAR. That would put him within shouting distance.
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Junior Caminero (Dominican Republic): He just hit 45 home runs in his age-21 season, so it’s hardly a stretch to picture a 500-home run slugger here. He’s also a player with “old player skills”: He doesn’t run well and probably moves to first base in a few years, so his value will be all offense and no defense. But if he pumps out a few 50-homer seasons and a bunch more 40-homer seasons, the defense won’t matter.
Jackson Chourio (Dominican Republic): He hasn’t played at a Hall of Fame level yet, but he has youth on his side, just entering his age-22 season. With more than 1,100 plate appearances now in the majors, this is the year we’ll see if he can improve and turn into an All-Star player — and potential Hall of Famer.
Kyle Schwarber (USA): Based on WAR, he has no chance, as he’s sitting on 19.9 career WAR with no 5-win seasons — and he turns 33 on Thursday. He’s also a .231 lifetime hitter, and you can probably guess that no hitter with an average that low has ever been elected to the Hall of Fame. The lowest? The just-elected Andruw Jones at .254. But Schwarber has 340 home runs, and considering he just had his best season with 56 bombs, he might hit a whole bunch more. He hit 187 home runs the past four seasons. If he matches that over the next four, he’s up to 527 and … well, you never know.
Cal Raleigh (USA): His career average is even lower than Schwarber’s at .226, but his 60-home run season at least raises the Hall of Fame possibility. He’ll need to produce four or five more great seasons — not necessarily at his 2025 level, but something between that and what he did prior to 2025 — for there to be a serious discussion.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Japan): He was young enough when he came over — he was 25 as a rookie — that he might have a shot. His legendary 2025 postseason will help, but we’re years away from knowing what kind of career he might have.
Mason Miller (USA): He’s older than you might think — entering his age-27 season — but with his blazing fastball, it’s not that hard to envision a 10-year run where he dominates as the best closer in the game, and that makes him a potential Hall of Famer.
Previous World Baseball Classics
2006 (Japan over Cuba; MVP: Daisuke Matsuzaka)
Hall of Famers: Ichiro Suzuki (Japan), Derek Jeter (USA), Chipper Jones (USA), Ken Griffey Jr. (USA), Andruw Jones (Netherlands), Ivan Rodriguez (Puerto Rico), Carlos Beltran (Puerto Rico), Vladimir Guerrero (Dominican Republic), Adrian Beltre (Dominican Republic), David Ortiz (Dominican Republic), Mike Piazza (Italy)
Will get in: Albert Pujols (Dominican Republic), Yadier Molina (Puerto Rico), Miguel Cabrera (Venezuela)
Might get in: Chase Utley (USA), Bobby Abreu (Venezuela), Carlos Delgado (Puerto Rico), Bernie Williams (Puerto Rico)
Long shots: Omar Vizquel (Venezuela), Francisco Rodriguez (Venezuela), Johan Santana (Venezuela)
Special cases: Roger Clemens (USA), Alex Rodriguez (USA)
Final tally: 14 Hall of Famers, plus Clemens and A-Rod.
I believe Utley, who just polled at 59% in the latest vote, will get in within three years, but we won’t call him a lock just yet. Abreu just received 30% on the same ballot after seven years, so his more likely route to election will be through the era committee. Delgado was just on the contemporary era ballot and received nine of 16 votes, falling three short, which bodes well for his future selection. Vizquel polled at 52% in 2020, but his support has dwindled to 18% after domestic abuse allegations and a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment against a bat boy that was resolved with a confidential settlement. Once he gets bumped over to the era committee, maybe he has a chance.
2009 (Japan over South Korea; MVP: Daisuke Matsuzaka)
Hall of Famers: Ichiro Suzuki (Japan), Derek Jeter (USA), Chipper Jones (USA), Pedro Martinez (Dominican Republic), David Ortiz (Dominican Republic), Ivan Rodriguez (Puerto Rico), Carlos Beltran (Puerto Rico)
Will get in: Miguel Cabrera (Venezuela), Joey Votto (Canada), Yadier Molina (Puerto Rico)
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Might get in: Kenley Jansen (Netherlands), Felix Hernandez (Venezuela), Bobby Abreu (Venezuela), Aroldis Chapman (Cuba), Robinson Cano (Dominican Republic), Carlos Delgado (Puerto Rico), Bernie Williams (Puerto Rico)
Long shots: Evan Longoria (USA), Dustin Pedroia (USA), Jimmy Rollins (USA), David Wright (USA), Francisco Rodriguez (Venezuela)
Final tally: It looks like a bit of a drop from 2006, with 10 Hall of Famers, or 11 if we include Jansen as a lock.
Cano would be going in, but two PED suspensions likely assign him to the Clemens/A-Rod persona not grata class. Hernandez is trending in the right direction on the ballot, and Chapman is climbing the career saves list (up to 12th and just coming off one of the most dominant relief seasons ever). Longoria finished with 58.9 career WAR but fell just short of 2,000 hits. Pedroia and Wright would be Hall of Famers if not for injuries. The BBWAA is unlikely to elect them, but the era committee might like their high peak value.
2013 (Dominican Republic over Puerto Rico; MVP: Robinson Cano)
Hall of Famers: Andruw Jones (Netherlands), Carlos Beltran (Puerto Rico), Joe Mauer (USA)
Will get in: Yadier Molina (Puerto Rico), Miguel Cabrera (Venezuela), Joey Votto (Canada)
Might get in: Salvador Perez (Venezuela), Kenley Jansen (Netherlands), Robinson Cano (Dominican Republic), Giancarlo Stanton (USA)
Long shots: Xander Bogaerts (Netherlands), Francisco Rodriguez (Venezuela), Craig Kimbrel (USA), Jimmy Rollins (USA), David Wright (USA), Nelson Cruz (Dominican Republic)
Final tally: Six Hall of Famers, plus Perez and Jansen.
This looks like the weakest year of the WBC as far as Hall of Fame talent goes. The Dominican team that won didn’t feature any slam dunk Hall of Famers but did feature a powerhouse lineup with Cano, Cruz, Edwin Encarnacion, Hanley Ramirez, Jose Reyes, Miguel Tejada and Carlos Santana. The U.S. team, which went 3-3 and didn’t even reach the semifinals, featured Ryan Braun, Ben Zobrist and Adam Jones as the best of the rest.
2017 (United States over Puerto Rico; MVP: Marcus Stroman)
Hall of Famers: Adrian Beltre (Dominican Republic), Carlos Beltran (Puerto Rico)
Will get in: Paul Goldschmidt (USA), Buster Posey (USA), Freddie Freeman (Canada), Manny Machado (Dominican Republic), Francisco Lindor (Puerto Rico), Jose Altuve (Venezuela), Miguel Cabrera (Venezuela)
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Might get in: Nolan Arenado (USA), Alex Bregman (USA), Giancarlo Stanton (USA), Kenley Jansen (Netherlands), Xander Bogaerts (Netherlands), Robinson Cano (Dominican Republic), Carlos Correa (Puerto Rico), Felix Hernandez (Venezuela), Salvador Perez (Venezuela)
Long shots: Nelson Cruz (Dominican Republic), Edwin Diaz (Puerto Rico), Francisco Rodriguez (Venezuela), Andrew McCutchen (USA), Christian Yelich (USA)
Final tally: I’m counting Buster Posey as a lock, although he would have the shortest career for any modern Hall of Fame position player. That gives us nine Hall of Famers, up to 11 if we include near locks Arenado and Jansen, with several other strong candidates as well.
The star pool seemed to increase this year, although the U.S. team still struggled to pull in top pitchers to the roster. The U.S. team that won actually finished only 6-2, while Puerto Rico (which upset Japan in the semifinals) and Japan each lost just once.
2023 (Japan over United States; MVP: Shohei Ohtani)
Will get in: Shohei Ohtani (Japan), Mookie Betts (USA), Mike Trout (USA), Paul Goldschmidt (USA), Freddie Freeman (Canada), Francisco Lindor (Puerto Rico), Jose Altuve (Venezuela), Miguel Cabrera (Venezuela), Manny Machado (Dominican Republic), Juan Soto (Dominican Republic)
Might get in: Nolan Arenado (USA), Bobby Witt Jr. (USA), Trea Turner (USA), Kenley Jansen (Netherlands), Xander Bogaerts (Netherlands), Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Japan), Salvador Perez (Venezuela), Ronald Acuna Jr. (Venezuela), Robinson Cano (Dominican Republic), Julio Rodriguez (Dominican Republic)
Long shots: Pete Alonso (USA), Kyle Schwarber (USA), Kyle Tucker (USA), Adam Wainwright (USA), Ketel Marte (Dominican Republic), Rafael Devers (Dominican Republic)
Final tally: After a six-year layoff, the WBC returned with a bang and star-studded rosters, with 10 guaranteed Hall of Famers, plus Arenado, Jansen and Perez running the near-lock total to 13.
All those young stars who reached the majors in the late 2010s and early 2020s were playing in their first WBC, so after that initial 13, we get to Witt, J-Rod, Acuna and Yamamoto. This was an absolutely stacked U.S. lineup, but the strong Japanese pitching staff shut it down with that victory in the championship game.
