You may have heard: This year is a star-studded World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees. And this year's edition has something for everyone. The two true superstars in the game: Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge. The most powerful hitter of this era: Giancarlo Stanton. And the great young sensation: Juan Soto.
This Fall Classic has the chance to end up as one of the best matchups ever -- certainly Game 1 delivered, with Freddie Freeman as the star of the show.
With so many big names facing off against each other, it made us wonder: How many future Hall of Famers are playing in this World Series? Let's break down the top players into tiers based on how likely they are to make it into the Hall and then compare 2024 to recent years and historical totals to determine if we really are seeing more future Hall of Famers share the field than ever before.
Current Hall of Fame status
Should be locks (4)
Mookie Betts, RF/SS, Dodgers
Betts continues to be overlooked in the conversation surrounding the legends playing in this World Series; the most common names you hear are Ohtani, Judge and Soto.
On the surface, it might make sense: Betts hasn't had a historic hitting/pitching combo or 50/50 season like Ohtani, three 50-homer seasons like Judge or drawn comparisons to Ted Williams as a hitter like Soto.
In terms of career WAR, however, Betts easily outdistances that trio:
Betts: 69.6
Judge: 52.2
Ohtani: 43.8
Soto: 36.4
He has been playing longer, but Betts is actually a few months younger than Judge and just two years older than Ohtani. Soto, obviously, is the youngest of the group and has time to catch up.
Betts' brilliance is more subtle, built on his all-around play. He has been an amazing right fielder, winner of six Gold Gloves, but even his defense out there is subtle: He has more of a quick release than a pure howitzer of an arm. His power has been a mixture of home runs (four 30-homer seasons) and doubles (seven 40-double seasons). He hits for a high average (.294 in his career) and draws walks (.373 career on-base percentage). He has never been the fastest player in baseball but was arguably the best baserunner in the game earlier in his career (he clearly has lost a couple of steps by now).
While his brilliance might be a bit more under the radar, it has shown up in the MVP voting: one first-place finish, three seconds, a fifth, a sixth and an eighth. Put it this way: In the expansion era (since 1961), only six position players have reached 100 career WAR. Betts has a chance to get there. That's a legend.
Freddie Freeman, 1B, Dodgers
Freeman's numbers fell off in 2024 in his age-34 season -- all the way down to a 143 OPS+. But he already has accomplished enough to warrant Hall of Fame selection: 60.7 WAR, over 2,200 hits, 343 home runs, more than 1,200 runs and 1,200 RBIs, 142 OPS+, one MVP award and seven other top-10 finishes. His dramatic grand slam to win Game 1 felt like his signature Hall of Fame moment.
Shohei Ohtani, DH, Dodgers
Ohtani's brilliance needs no defense or explanation. Technically, he still needs to play three more seasons to reach Hall of Fame eligibility. Realistically, what he has done over just the past four seasons -- two MVP awards, headed for a third -- is already enough to get him elected.
Over those four seasons, he has hit .286/.382/.602 while averaging 44 home runs, 105 RBIs and 29 stolen bases, with this year's 50/50 season going down as one of the most memorable achievements in MLB history. As a pitcher, he has gone 34-16 with a 2.84 ERA, finishing fourth in the Cy Young voting in 2022.
Here's one way to look at his greatness. As a hitter over the past four seasons, his numbers resemble those of David Ortiz from 2004 to 2007:
Ohtani: 178 HR, 420 RBIs, .984 OPS, 169 OPS+, 23.5 WAR
Ortiz: 177 HR, 541 RBIs, 1.024 OPS, 159 OPS+, 21.6 WAR
As a pitcher, he racked up an additional 14.2 WAR -- which ranks 10th since 2021 even though he didn't pitch at all this season.
Aaron Judge, CF, Yankees
Judge does need one more season to reach qualification, but his peak level of awesomeness -- 52 home runs, 8.0 WAR in 2017; 62 home runs, 10.5 WAR in 2022; 58 home runs, 10.8 WAR in 2024 -- all but cement his Hall of Fame status. He's one of just 14 position players with at least two 10-WAR seasons, and the others are your inner-circle Hall of Famers: Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Rogers Hornsby, Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Ty Cobb, Cal Ripken Jr., Carl Yastrzemski, Lou Gehrig, Honus Wagner and Tris Speaker (the other two are Mike Trout and Barry Bonds).
Given that he just had perhaps the greatest season ever for a right-handed batter with a 1.159 OPS and 223 OPS+, he's going to hit a lot more home runs on top of the 315 he has hit so far. Despite his late start in the majors -- he was 25 his rookie season -- 600 home runs is a possibility.
In ... but currently watching from the dugout (1)
Clayton Kershaw, SP, Dodgers
Kershaw's legacy is firmly established, with three Cy Young Awards, five ERA titles, an MVP award, 212 wins and a 2.50 career ERA -- the lowest since the live ball era began in 1920 for pitchers with at least 1,500 innings. (If you lower the threshold to 1,000 innings, only Mariano Rivera has a lower ERA.) He said he's going to pitch again in 2025. Go watch him if you can.
Likely to get in (2)
Juan Soto, RF, Yankees
Soto is well on his way to the Hall of Fame -- maybe even an inner-circle Hall of Fame-type career. Through age-25 seasons, here's where Soto ranks in the expansion era:
• Tied for second in home runs (with Albert Pujols and Trout, behind only Alex Rodriguez)
• Second in OBP (behind Frank Thomas)
• Sixth in OPS+ (behind Thomas, Trout, Pujols, Dick Allen and Yordan Alvarez)
• Third in runs (behind A-Rod and Trout)
He has been one of the best young hitters of the past 60-plus years, and he's coming off the best full season of his career. He's also about to get paid a very large sum of money when he hits free agency this winter, with the expectation that he'll keep putting up big numbers for the next decade.
Gerrit Cole, SP, Yankees
Based on historical standards for starting pitchers, Cole isn't there yet: 153 wins, 43.3 WAR. The baseline standards right now are probably 200 wins and 60 WAR or so. Cole finally won a Cy Young last year, which helps, and a World Series title this year will help as well. Even if he's past his peak -- and you have to worry about the elbow inflammation that knocked him out at the start of this season -- he probably needs only a few hanging-around seasons from here on out to cement his status.
Aside from that, it's also possible that the standards for starting pitchers will eventually change to reflect modern usage -- more of a focus on what a pitcher did at his peak and less emphasis on wins. Felix Hernandez, who enters the ballot this year, will be an interesting test case for that thinking -- he finished with 169 wins and 49.7 WAR but had a high peak value and an eight-year run as one of the best pitchers in baseball. Cole is basically where Hernandez finished, so if Hernandez gets little support, it will suggest Cole might have quite a bit of work left to do.
Going to reach some milestones (1)
Giancarlo Stanton, DH, Yankees
Stanton is a one-dimensional player these days, hitting home runs but not really contributing all that much (the playoffs notwithstanding). He has hit 82 home runs the past three seasons, but that has come with a .213 average and .291 OBP -- and no defensive or baserunning value.
But in the first nine years of his career, he was an excellent player, winning an MVP award with the Miami Marlins in 2017 when he hit 59 home runs. He's up to 429 career home runs, 1,103 RBIs and 44.7 WAR. No doubt, he'll likely hang around and reach 500 home runs, but 600 feels unlikely. What furthers his Hall of Fame case are his playoff numbers, as Stanton has consistently shown up for New York in October. In 38 games over six postseasons, he has slashed .266/.335/.669 with 17 home runs and 38 RBIs.
I'm pretty skeptical about his chances of making the Hall, but 500 home runs means he'll get serious consideration -- and maybe he pulls off a few more 30-homer seasons.
Other players to consider
Yoshinobu Yamamoto: Well, the Dodgers did give him $325 million and he's still only 26 years old.
Anthony Rizzo: He has had an outstanding career, but in the Hall of the Very Good.
Anthony Volpe: He does have 6.7 WAR through age 23, which is better than many Hall of Famers at that point, but he would have to drastically improve at the plate.
Jasson Dominguez: Baseball card collectors seem to believe he's a future Hall of Famer.
Putting 2024 in historical context
OK, so we have six very strong candidates, including Kershaw and Soto, plus Cole, who I think will do enough to get in. Maybe Stanton, but let's leave him out for now and call it seven Hall of Famers. How do seven Hall of Famers compare historically?
Here's the decade-by-decade average for total Hall of Famers in the World Series. Note: This includes any Hall of Famer who played for the team that season, although not necessarily in the World Series (like Kershaw). It also doesn't mean all these players were at or near their peak, which is primarily the case this year.
1900s: 5.8
1910s: 5.6
1920s: 9.4
1930s: 9.8
1940s: 6.1
1950s: 8.8
1960s: 5.5
1970s: 4.8
1980s: 4.0
1990s: 5.1
2000s: 2.6
It's no surprise the 1920s and 1930s have the most Hall of Famers. It's the most represented era in the Hall of Fame -- including many of the most marginal electees. Also, we're counting a lot of the same players here; the Yankees appeared in 11 World Series over the two decades, so that's a lot of Ruth, Gehrig and friends. The most Hall of Famers who played in one World Series is 13 in 1932, with nine members from the Yankees and four from the Cubs: Earle Combs, Bill Dickey, Gehrig, Lefty Gomez, Tony Lazzeri, Herb Pennock, Red Ruffing, Ruth and Joe Sewell for the Yankees; Kiki Cuyler, Burleigh Grimes, Gabby Hartnett and Billy Herman for the Cubs.
Our seven future Hall of Famers from 2024 would be a big total for recent decades, which, of course, also have slightly lower HOF totals due to various PED-related issues for players who would have been otherwise elected -- such as Rodriguez, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire and Manny Ramirez. Not to mention Pete Rose's banishment, which affects the six World Series he played in.
Since 1970, only five World Series featured teams with at least seven Hall of Famers:
1972: Oakland Athletics over Cincinnati Reds (7 HOFers). Rollie Fingers, Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson and Orlando Cepeda for the A's (although Jackson was injured and didn't play, while Cepeda had appeared in only three games during the season); Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez for the Reds.
1982: St. Louis Cardinals over Milwaukee Brewers (8). Jim Kaat, Ozzie Smith, Bruce Sutter for the Cardinals; Paul Molitor, Ted Simmons, Don Sutton, Robin Yount and Fingers for the Brewers (Fingers was injured and didn't pitch).
1983: Baltimore Orioles over Philadelphia Phillies (7). Eddie Murray, Jim Palmer, Cal Ripken Jr. for the Orioles; Steve Carlton, Morgan, Perez, Mike Schmidt for the Phillies.
1995: Atlanta Braves over Cleveland (8). Tom Glavine, Chipper Jones, Greg Maddux, Fred McGriff, John Smoltz for the Braves; Murray and Jim Thome for Cleveland. Dave Winfield also played for them that year but not in the World Series. This World Series also featured other strong candidates in Kenny Lofton, Orel Hershiser, Omar Vizquel, Albert Belle and Manny Ramirez, who all played for Cleveland. Other than Winfield, Hershiser and Murray (although he hit .323 that year), all these players were also essentially in their primes. Maddux was the best pitcher in the game, in his run of four straight Cy Young Awards. Belle had his own 50/50 season in 1995 -- 50 home runs and 50 doubles. This would get our vote for the most star-studded World Series, going back at least to the Yankees-Dodgers battles of the 1950s or maybe even the Ruth/Gehrig teams -- at least until this year.
1996: Yankees over Braves (9). Wade Boggs, Derek Jeter, Tim Raines and Mariano Rivera for the Yankees; Glavine, Chipper Jones, Maddux, McGriff and Smoltz for the Braves. There are even four other players who could make it from that World Series: Andruw Jones (who received 61% of the vote on last year's ballot and is on track to get elected in a couple of years); Andy Pettitte (who received 13%); and David Cone and Bernie Williams, who are off the ballot but are reasonable era committee candidates in the future.
How 2024 compares to the past 10 years
As for recent World Series, let's see how they would have compared at the time to 2024.
2014: San Francisco Giants over Kansas City Royals. The only reasonable candidates at the time would have been Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner, Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Tim Hudson on the Giants, although Lincecum was already on the downslide and Posey and Bumgarner were very early in their careers. Posey looks like a lock once he hits the ballot, and Hudson (222 wins, 57.9 WAR) would have to be an era committee candidate, since he fell off the ballot in 2022. Salvador Perez, a non-discussion at the time, is still plugging along and might now be a candidate.
2015: Kansas City Royals over New York Mets. No slam dunks. The best candidate would have been David Wright, who was just 32 years old and had 49.2 career WAR, but injuries were already keeping him sidelined (he played just 39 more games in his career). The Mets had those young starters in Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom. Maybe deGrom has a chance with 45.2 career WAR, but with just 84 career wins, he's a long shot even with a few more good seasons.
2016: Chicago Cubs over Cleveland. Kris Bryant won the NL MVP that year in his second season, so he certainly had strong Hall of Fame potential at the time. Francisco Lindor flashed a similar profile, finishing ninth in the MVP voting and winning a Gold Glove in his second season. Corey Kluber was in the midst of a stellar five-year run, winning a Cy Young in 2014 and finishing third in 2016, but injuries set in after 2018. The player nobody would have considered was Jose Ramirez, who hit .312 in 2016 but with just 11 home runs. His power blossomed the following season, and he now looks like a future Hall of Famer. Jon Lester and Aroldis Chapman of the Cubs are long shots, so it's possible that 2016 Cubs team ends up with no Hall of Famers.
2017: Houston Astros over Los Angeles Dodgers. Carlos Beltran played his final season in MLB and looked like a lock -- until the sign-stealing scandal and his involvement hit a couple of years later. He received 57% of the vote last year, so he should eventually get in. Jose Altuve, 27 years old at the time, had won his third batting title and would win the MVP award, so he looked good and is still going strong. Carlos Correa would have been the third choice at the time since he was so young and productive, but injuries have hurt his chances. Alex Bregman had a solid first full season in 2017 and had Hall of Fame-caliber seasons in 2018 and 2019 but hasn't played at that level since. Then there was late-season pickup Justin Verlander, who was close to a lock at the time: 188 wins, 58.4 WAR, 34 years old. He has since become a first-ballot selection.
Over on the Dodgers' side, Kershaw was already a three-time Cy Young winner with 144 wins. Chase Utley was nearing the end of his career. He debuted on the ballot last year with 28.8%, and I think he eventually will get in. Kenley Jansen is one of the top 10 closers of all time and has a chance. Cody Bellinger was coming off a rookie season in which he hit 39 home runs at age 21. He'd win an MVP at 23 but has since struggled to match that early dominance. And Corey Seager was in his second season with two All-Star appearances already under his belt at 23 years old.
Whew. For now, you have Verlander, Kershaw, Altuve and Beltran who will get in. Utley is a strong candidate. Correa, Seager and Jansen could make it eight, and you shouldn't rule out Bregman. An absolutely loaded World Series, although nobody was approaching Ohtani or Judge on the individual level.
2018: Boston Red Sox over Los Angeles Dodgers. You have all those same Dodgers, plus peak Manny Machado, a trade deadline acquisition (although Seager was hurt and Utley wasn't on the playoff roster). The Red Sox had a young Betts in his MVP season; Chris Sale, who looked a lot like Cole does right now (injuries set in the following season); plus Craig Kimbrel, who looked like a slam-dunk Hall of Fame closer (alas, that would be his last great season). Xander Bogaerts was a nice young player at the time and played like a Hall of Famer from 2018 through 2022, but he has slowed down since going to San Diego. Andrew Benintendi looked kind of like Anthony Volpe, maybe a little better, but went backward after 2018.
2019: Washington Nationals over Houston Astros. This was an even more talented Astros team than in 2017. You still had Verlander, Altuve, Correa and Bregman, but they had also added Cole (who had his best season), Zack Greinke (an almost certain Hall of Famer) and rookie Yordan Alvarez. That's seven potential Hall of Famers on one team, although just three locks right now (Verlander, Altuve, Greinke). Meanwhile, the Nationals had Max Scherzer (close to a lock then), Stephen Strasburg (his best season put him on a possible path), plus a 20-year-old Soto (already being compared to Ted Williams) and Anthony Rendon (his best season and he already had 30 career WAR through age 29).
2020: Los Angeles Dodgers over Tampa Bay Rays. Kershaw, Betts, Jansen and Seager for the Dodgers, plus Bellinger, before he fell off a Hall of Fame trajectory. The Rays were young and their only player to flash Hall of Fame-type potential was Blake Snell, who had won the Cy Young in 2018 but was just 42-30 through age 27.
2021: Atlanta Braves over Houston Astros. This was about the time you started thinking of Freeman as a potential Hall of Famer. Ronald Acuna Jr. was injured and missed the playoffs. Ozzie Albies reached the majors at 20 years old and was already a two-time All-Star by age 24 in 2021, but he's more Hall of Very Good. Austin Riley had his breakout season that year at 24 -- a bit of a late start for a Hall of Famer, but he played at the level from 2021 to 2023 and could get back there. For the Astros, you still had Altuve, Correa, Alvarez, Bregman and Greinke (Verlander was injured all season), with Alvarez looking like a young David Ortiz.
2022: Houston Astros over Philadelphia Phillies. Correa and Greinke were gone, but Verlander was back -- and won the Cy Young -- and Kyle Tucker had turned into a star. The Phillies had Bryce Harper, a clear future Hall of Famer, but otherwise maybe just a couple of midcareer long shot candidates in Aaron Nola and J.T. Realmuto. Zack Wheeler, if he continues to pitch well into his late 30s, could yet emerge as a late-blooming Hall of Famer (he's at 103 wins and 35.2 WAR).
2023: Texas Rangers over Arizona Diamondbacks. Scherzer was a lock by this point and Seager had a huge season, but he remains years away from becoming a viable candidate. Marcus Semien is interesting. He finished third in the MVP voting in 2023 (his third career third-place finish) and was up to 41.7 career WAR through age 32. He fell off the plate in 2024, however, and his WAR figures rely heavily on playing time (he never misses a game) and defense more than dominance. He'd have to rebound in a big way in 2025 and upcoming seasons. Arizona had Evan Longoria in his final season -- great career and he'll get some Hall of Fame votes -- and explosive rookie Corbin Carroll, who unfortunately was nowhere near as good in 2024.
No doubt, 2024 ranks high up on the list of star-packed World Series matchups. I don't know if this World Series will eventually match the nine Hall of Famers from 1996 -- but consider where that group was in 1996. Really, only Maddux and Boggs were clear Hall of Famers at the time. Boggs was nearing the end, Raines was a part-time player, Rivera wasn't even a closer yet, Jeter was a promising rookie who hit 10 home runs and Chipper was in his second season. Smoltz and Glavine were household names since the Braves had made so many trips to the postseason, but neither was a Hall of Fame lock (Smoltz did win the Cy Young Award that season and his 7.4 WAR led both teams). McGriff was good but didn't pick up even a single 10th-place vote in the MVP voting. In fact, the only player on either team to finish in the top 10 of the voting was Chipper, who finished fourth in the NL.
In other words: That World Series didn't feature the two greatest players on the planet like this one does. Enjoy the show.