Can Stanton Make It?

By Mike Whiteman January 12, 2026 Any conversation about the Aaron Boone-era Yankees has to include Giancarlo Stanton. Both arrived in New York for the 2018 season. Fans in general were quite excited about the trade that brought the 2017 National League Most Valuable Player to the Yanks. Stanton's 59 home runs and Aaron Judge's 52 in 2017 drew comparisons to great Yankees one-two power duos from seasons past and created huge expectations in the Bronx.

Sadly, while Stanton has had his moments in Pinstripes, the high expectations were never really fulfilled, and the excitement of the combo has waned. The disappointments of the Stanton years are primarily due to the impact of injuries on his performance. Many fans, myself included, like and root for Stanton. He always seems to put forth 100% effort and looks to be a good guy and teammate. Even with his struggles, Stanton at bats are must see for me, as he's always capable of turning on a pitch and blasting it a long, long way. As he came back last season after missing significant time with tennis elbow in both elbows, he caught fire and had a real nice half a season, pushing some of his lifetime numbers to levels not reached by many in the history of the game. This prompted the question from some parts of the baseball world last summer: Is Stanton a Hall of Famer? I thought I'd dig in a bit. To start: Any conversation about Stanton making the Hall has to reason that he is one of the great sluggers of our era, and perhaps of all-time. I acknowledge his fielding and baserunning has been sub par for some time, definitely during his tenure in Pinstripes, impacted by his many injuries. The case to make is that his hitting overcomes the other deficits in his game. Let's first look at how he ranks if he would retire tomorrow: 1. Stanton's 453 home runs rank 40th all-time. Of the 39 players ahead of him: 26 are Hall of Famers Seven have some PED association Two are retired and not eligible for voting yet Four have not attained enough votes Immediately ranking after Stanton on the list are Carl Yastrzemski, Jeff Bagwell, and Vladimir Guerrero. All are Hall of Famers. 2. Stanton's .528 slugging percentage ranks 55th of all-time. Of the 54 players ahead of him: 36 are Hall of Famers Five have some PED association Four are active players Eight have not attained enough votes One is retired and isn't eligible yet Immediately ranking after Stanton are Mike Schmidt, Jim Edmonds, and Chick Hafey. Two of the three are in Cooperstown. Then, let's consider if he has a "Stantonian" 2026, which I propose would be the average of his past three years: 98 games played, 25 home runs .228 batting average .484 slugging percentage After 2026: 25 home runs in 2026 would give him 478, moving him to 30th all-time. The only players with that many homers not in Cooperstown are not yet eligible (Miguel Cabrera, Albert Pujols) or are connected to PEDs. After 2026: A .484 slugging percentage would drop him a few slots but would still be well above .500 career. Say he drops to .520 - about two thirds of those at or above that level either are in the Hall or a lock to someday be. Take the players with PED connections and that number goes up to about 75%. Would a "typical" Stanton season get him closer to Cooperstown? What about two? What if he gets to 500 home runs? Nobody with over 500 home runs without PED connections has not been enshrined in the Hall of Fame. It's a big deal. The other thing to consider is that his 2025 numbers (.273/.350/.594) were the best we've seen from Stanton since 2021. Was it luck? Has he unlocked something? Say he adds 60 home runs over the rest of his career, and ends up with 513? That places him 24th all-time. Can he be denied then?

What might a Stanton plaque say? I asked Google AI Mode to take up the task. Here's what it came up with:

Interesting! I'm rooting for Stanton. I'd love to see him get to 500 and make a case.