Stars will be all over the diamond when the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers meet up in the World Series.
The Yankees and Dodgers will likely have a combined 20 players on their World Series rosters who have been named an All-Star at some point in their careers. That’s also not including a few All-Stars who are currently on each team’s respective 40-man rosters, such as Clayton Kershaw, Tyler Glasnow and DJ LeMahieu.
Additionally, the series will also include the likely winners of the AL and NL MVP awards. Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani are near locks to win the top individual honor in their respective leagues, which would be the first time since 2012 that the MVPs from each league went head-to-head in a World Series.
That begs the question: With so much star power, will this year’s World Series end up featuring the most Hall of Fame players ever?
That might be a stretch, as the 1932 World Series featured 13 players who wound up in Cooperstown.
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However, this year’s World Series could end up having the most Hall of Fame players in the Divisional Era (since 1969). The 1996 World Series between the Yankees and Atlanta Braves had nine players who later became enshrined in Cooperstown (Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Wade Boggs, Tim Raines, Tom Glavine, Chipper Jones, Greg Maddux, Fred McGriff, John Smoltz). The 2019 World Series between the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals also seems to be a likely threat to challenge that record.
But as the 2024 World Series is set to begin, let’s take a look at the players on each roster who either likely already possess Hall of Famer credentials or are on the path to doing so. We’ll enlist the help of Baseball Reference’s Hall Monitor score (100 means a good chance, while anything over 130 means a virtual lock) and how far they are from the average bWAR for Hall of Famers (62.6 for position players, 64.4 for pitchers) for this exercise.
See you in Cooperstown
Career bWAR: 79.4
Monitor score: 211
Kershaw won’t be pitching in this year’s Fall Classic due to a toe injury. Even though he has already said he plans to pitch again in 2025, the 36-year-old Kershaw will almost certainly make the Hall of Fame. With three Cy Youngs, an MVP and a World Series win, he’s second-highest among active pitchers.
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Likely, if not certain, to make the Hall of Fame
Career bWAR: 69.6
Monitor score: 116
Betts has already made his mark as one of the best players of his generation. Since 2016, he’s been named an All-Star in every season except the COVID year. He won the AL MVP Award and a World Series title with the Boston Red Sox in 2018. He won another World Series title with the Dodgers in 2020.
As he recently turned 32 earlier in October, it’s easy to think that Betts can accomplish more in his career. If he posts his 162-game average bWAR for the next five seasons, he’d have a career bWAR of 110.6 by 2030.
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Career bWAR: 60.7
Monitor score: 123
Freeman, meanwhile, has the highest Monitor score among all hitters and active players in the World Series. The 35-year-old already has a World Series win, capturing the title with the Braves in 2021. His eight All-Star appearances and 2020 NL MVP have further pushed his case, alongside his longevity, as he’s within striking distance of the average bWAR among position players.
Career bWAR: 52.2
Monitor score: 116
Similar to Betts, Judge has been a perennial All-Star since his Major League call-up. He’ll likely win his second AL MVP in November. While his postseason numbers might not be where Yankees fans want them to be, Judge’s regular-season dominance makes him a near lock for the Hall of Fame. At 32, Judge still likely has some prime seasons left in him to add to his résumé.
Career bWAR: 43.8
Monitor score: 86
Ohtani currently falls short of the threshold in bWAR and Monitor score among Hall of Famers. However, his peak might be unmatched in baseball history. He’ll likely win his third MVP in November after another terrific year, one in which he didn’t pitch.
With Ohtani likely taking the mound again in 2025, his bWAR by 2030 could be 100.8 if he posts his 162-game average in bWAR between hitting and pitching over the next five seasons. That would vault him into potential GOAT status, if he’s already not there.
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Career bWAR: 43.3
Monitor score: 120
Cole has the highest Monitor score among any Yankees player and any active pitcher in this year’s World Series. Similar to Freeman, Cole’s bWAR might fall a bit short compared to the average Hall of Famer at their respective position. However, Cole has been a consistent candidate for AL Cy Young since 2018 and won the award for the first time last season. Considering that he’s put up strong numbers into his 30s, it’s reasonable to think that Cole could get to the average bWAR for a Hall of Fame pitcher before his career is over.
Something catastrophic would have to happen to not make it
Career bWAR: 36.4
Monitor score: 52
If, for whatever reason, Soto’s career ended before Friday’s Game 1, it’d be tough to imagine him making the Hall of Fame. Soto, who turns 26, has already accomplished a lot in his career since his call-up with the Nationals in 2018, being named an All-Star four times and winning a title with his first ballclub in 2019. But he doesn’t have the peak argument that Ohtani has to boost him, failing to win an MVP to this point in his career.
Still, Soto has already accomplished things that only icons like Ted Williams have accomplished this early in his young career. As he’s been among the game’s best hitters since 2019, Soto likely just needs a few more All-Star years to become a Hall of Fame lock. A dominant World Series performance could certainly help, too.
Toss-up
Career bWAR: 44.7
Monitor score: 82
Stanton might be the only player whose Hall of Fame chances are legitimately on the line in the World Series. He’s been outstanding so far this postseason, hitting .294 with five home runs in nine games. His four homers against the Cleveland Guardians helped him win ALCS MVP.
But as Stanton turns 35 right after the end of the World Series, he’s clearly on the back nine of his career. His bWAR has been less than one in each of the past three seasons, making it unlikely he reaches the average Hall of Famer threshold in that metric. If Stanton can certify his status as a postseason hero in the Bronx and win World Series MVP, it might not matter what he does from here on out.
Still has (a lot of) time to make his case
Career bWAR: 18.5
Monitor score: 18
Smith might not be on pace to make the Hall of Fame at the moment. But at just 29, Smith has already accomplished a good deal of things in his MLB career. He’s been named an All-Star in each of the last two seasons and has hit at least 20 home runs in three of the last four years. If he can have a stellar moment in this year’s World Series and continue to be a productive catcher for a Dodgers team that’s positioned to win titles beyond this season, Smith might wind up in Cooperstown.
Career bWAR: 8.9
Monitor score: 3
Chisholm hasn’t accomplished much at this point in his career, being named an All-Star just once. However, he’s just 26 and after a pair of seasons that could be characterized as underwhelming considering his potential with the Miami Marlins, Chisholm was solid for the Yankees after being traded in July. He hit 11 homers with a .825 OPS over 46 regular-season games.
Chisholm hasn’t been able to carry that success into the postseason (.147 batting average). Similar to Smith, though, Chisholm has the opportunity to rectify in the World Series and could possibly play a key role for title-contending Yankees teams in the foreseeable future.
Jazz Chisholm helped the Yankees win the AL pennant after being traded to New York in July. He hit 24 homers with 73 RBIs in 2024 in his time between the Marlins and Yankees. (Photo by Lauren Leigh Bacho/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Long shots
Career bWAR: 39.8
Monitor score: 42
Rizzo was key to the Cubs‘ World Series win in 2016 and could help the Yankees break their title drought in the next week. But the three-time All-Star will likely fall short of Cooperstown consideration as the 35-year-old’s play took a noticeable dip this season.
Career bWAR: 12.2
Monitor score: 28
If we made this list in 2020, Buehler might have been included in the same section as Soto. He was a 26-year-old who was already among the best pitchers in the league in just his third season. But injuries have greatly impacted Buehler since 2022, likely derailing his path to the Hall. He’s pitched in just 28 regular-season games over the last three seasons, posting a 5.38 ERA in 2024. Maybe a strong World Series performance can get Buehler’s Hall of Fame chances back in the picture.
Career bWAR: 23
Monitor score: 23
Muncy is a favorite among Dodgers fans, serving as a glue piece for Los Angeles since 2018. But he also was a late bloomer, and with only two All-Star appearances to his name at 34, Muncy would need a lot to happen in order to surge his Hall of Fame chances.
Career bWAR: 17.1
Monitor score: 15
Hernández might have had the best season of his career in his first year with the Dodgers. He’s also been among the best power right-handed hitters in baseball since the turn of the decade. However, Hernández just turned 32 last week and only has two All-Star appearances in his career. He’s also at 192 home runs for his career, making 500 an unlikely proposition.
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Career bWAR: 22.5
Monitor score: 9
Stroman has a pair of All-Star nods, but he hasn’t been stellar outside those two seasons. The 33-year-old had a 4.31 ERA this season and has yet to pitch this postseason.
Career bWAR: 14
Monitor score: 13
After a bad first season in The Bronx, Rodón got back on track in 2024. But he didn’t match the level he pitched at in 2021 and 2022, when he was an All-Star who threw a pair of sub-3.00 ERA seasons. He turns 32 this offseason and hasn’t had any outstanding years beyond those seasons, so it’s easy to deduct that Rodón probably won’t be a Hall of Famer.
Career bWAR: 9
Monitor score: 9
When healthy, Glasnow’s been among the best pitchers in baseball over the last few years. That’s been the issue with him, though. Glasnow threw 134 innings this season, which was a career-high, before he was shut down in September.
Is it too early to start thinking about it?
Career bWAR: 1.7
Monitor score: 1
Yamamoto might have the highest Hall of Fame upside of any other player who isn’t in the first three tiers. The 26-year-old had a solid rookie season, going 7-2 with a 3.00 ERA over the regular season. However, he pitched just 90 innings, as a shoulder injury sidelined him for a couple of months. Still, there’s a reason why Yamamoto received the largest contract for a pitcher in MLB history when he signed with the Dodgers last offseason. If Yamamoto anchors their rotation to a World Series win as a rookie, that would be one way to quickly boost your Hall of Fame résumé.
Will this year’s World Series break the record for most Hall of Famers?
If you count Kershaw, eight players are in the first three categories of this list, falling one short of the record set for most Hall of Famers in a World Series in the divisional era. So, in addition to Stanton likely having to improve his Hall of Fame odds, someone else will have to improve their Hall of Fame chances at some point in order for this year’s World Series to match the mark set in 1996.
Regardless, it’s clear that this year’s Fall Classic will have icons all over the place.
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