Two-time SF Giants World Series champ among 12 new players on Hall of Fame ballot

Are you ready to feel old yet? The Baseball Hall of Fame revealed its ballot for the upcoming cycle, and two-time SF Giants World Series champion Hunter Pence was among the 15 players added to the ballot.

Two-time SF Giants World Series champ among 12 new players on Hall of Fame ballot

In total, there will be 27 players on this year's ballot. This includes 15 holdovers from last year's ballot who received at least five percent to remain.

The results will be announced on January 20, 2026. Before that, Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent will be appear on the Contemporary Era Baseball Ballot. That voting will take place during the winter meetings. The selection committee consist of 16 former players and managers, as well as baseball writers. Any player that receives at least 75 percent of that vote will be inducted into the Hall of Fame next summer.

Bonds failed to garner any type of traction when he was on the ballot in 2023. Unfortunately, he will likely face a similar outcome this time around.

On the other hand, Kent remains one of the best offensive second basemen in baseball history. His 377 career home runs lead all second basemen by a comfortable margin, and no active player at that position is within 100 home runs.

On the Hall of Fame ballot, Hunter Pence will be joined by several former Giants players, including Carlos Beltrán and Omar Vizquel. If you want to stretch the definition a little, Jimmy Rollins will also return to the ballot. He was a non-roster invite to camp in 2017, but did not make the club out of spring training.

Beltrán has arguably the strongest case of any player on the ballot. Last year, he fell narrowly shy of induction, appearing on 70.3 percent of the ballots.

On paper, Beltrán has a Hall of Fame résumé, but his role in the Houston Astros' sign-stealing scandal in 2017 has weighed down his candidacy. Nevertheless, he will likely enter the Hall of Fame this year, which will continue a trend of voters selectively choosing how they view cheating with respect to Hall of Fame credentials.

On the other hand, Hunter Pence will face an uphill battle to remain on the ballot. Across 14 seasons, he posted a .794 OPS with 244 home runs and 942 RBI. This included parts of eight seasons with the Giants, where he appeared one All-Star game while helping them to two World Series titles.

Pence tallied 12 hits in 27 at-bats during the 2014 World Series against the Kansas City Royals. It is a reflection of a great career to even appear on the ballot.