As in the past, the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) voted by mail to select from a ballot of recently retired players, and the results were announced on January 21.

Players who met first-year eligibility requirements but were not selected by the screening committee for inclusion on the ballot were: Matt Albers, Yonder Alonso, Gordon Beckham, Jerry Blevins, Peter Bourjos, Clay Buchholz, Melky Cabrera, Andrew Cashner, Welington Castillo, Rajai Davis, Daniel Descalso, Ian Desmond, Lucas Duda, Zach Duke, Mike Dunn, Marco Estrada, David Freese, Luke Gregerson, Carlos Gómez, Jeanmar Gómez, Jeremy Hellickson, David Hernandez, Nick Hundley, Chris Iannetta, Edwin Jackson, Shawn Kelley, Mike Leake, Francisco Liriano, Kendrys Morales, Pat Neshek, Steve Pearce, Martín Prado, Mark Reynolds, Clayton Richard, Tyson Ross, Fernando Salas, Tony Sipp, Carlos Torres, Mark Trumbo, Jason Vargas, and Bobby Wilson.

[7][8][9] The Classic Baseball Era Committee met at the Winter Meetings in December 2024 to consider the election of eight players who made their greatest impact on the game through 1979.

[14][15] The 2025 finalists, and the teams they are best known as broadcasters for, are:[16] On December 11, 2024, the Hall of Fame declared Tom Hamilton as the recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award.

On December 10, 2024, the Hall of Fame announced Thomas Boswell as the recipient of the 2025 BBWAA Career Excellence Award.