Which Former Yankee is Headed to the Hall of Fame Next? originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

Now that CC Sabathia is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, who might be the next Yankees enshrined in Cooperstown?

Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones were the closest players to making the Hall this year who wore the pinstripes, but neither did so for very long. We want to know the next Hall of Famer that will be wearing a Yankee hat on their plaque.

The next closest to getting over the 75% vote threshold? Alex Rodriguez. 

Maybe the most polarizing player to ever take the field in the Bronx, A-Rod’s numbers alone scream that he is deserving. But it is impossible to just look at the numbers themselves. 

A season-long suspension. Lawsuit and courtroom drama. Obstructing an investigation. No voter is going to ignore those parts of his story. This was only his fourth time on the ballot, but he will have to more than double his number of votes. His chances are murky despite one of the greatest careers in the history of baseball.

The next-closest Yankee faces similar challenges to get into the Hall. 

Andy Pettitte received 27.9% of votes in his seventh year on the ballot. Needing to triple his tally within the next few years, the odds are not in his favor, but he absolutely could make his way in depending on how ballots take shape.

In December 2007, Pettitte publicly admitted to using human growth hormone to recover more quickly from an injury in 2002. Because the substance was not banned until 2005, he was not given any suspension. 

He said that, at the time, he only wanted to get back from an injury as soon as possible. “I wasn’t looking for an edge.” said Pettitte in a statement issues by his agent. “I was looking to heal.”

Some could argue healing at an enhanced rate is an edge over people healing at a slower, natural pace.

Maybe he never would have made it. He was not the most dominant pitcher early, but few pitchers went 18 years and posted a 3.85 career ERA. After retiring for the 2011 season, Pettitte came back to pitch two more years in his age-40 and 41 seasons, putting up numbers that were just as good, if not better.

That sounds like someone who should be in Cooperstown, but having any steroid-link just casts a shadow over any player, no matter how great.

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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 29, 2025, where it first appeared.