The case (or lack thereof) for Brewers OF Ryan Braun to get into the Hall of Fame

The Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2025 has been announced. Ichiro Suzuki, Billy Wagner, and Milwaukee Brewers legend CC Sabathia are joining Dick Allen and former Brewer Dave Parker as inductees to Cooperstown this summer. Now that this voting cycle is done, the attention turns to next year's ballot.

The top returners to the ballot are Andruw Jones and Carlos Beltran. The group of first-year eligible players in 2026 includes quite a number of great players, but few in terms surefire selections to the Hall of Fame and that may be a generous description. Among the first-year eligible players is longtime Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun.

Let's examine the case that Ryan Braun has put forth to be potentially inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Ryan Braun's case in 2026 for the Hall of Fame

Ryan Braun is a Rookie of the Year, a NL MVP, a six-time All Star, and a five-time Silver Slugger. Hardware is very important to have when considering Hall of Fame cases and Braun has the hardware to put his name in the conversation.

A career .296 hitter, Braun tallied just shy of 2,000 hits with 1,963 of them. That would put Braun with the 142nd-most hits in the Hall of Fame, just behind Bill Dickey and just behind Gil Hodges. He's well below-average among players inducted in this category.

Braun has 352 home runs, which would give him the 49th-most in the HOF, just ahead of Dick Allen, who is getting inducted this year, and just behind Yogi Berra.

Braun has 47.1 career bWAR, which is considered low for HOF standards, but it's not unprecedented. Gil Hodges, whom Braun is quite similar to statistically, has just 43.8 bWAR. Braun's 47.1 wins above replacement would place him 144th among Hall of Fame hitters.

Jay Jaffe's JAWS score for Hall of Fame candidacy gives Braun a score of 42.9. The average for a Hall of Fame left fielder is 53.4.

The average "7 year peak" WAR for HOF left fielders is 41.7 while Braun's 7 year peak accrued 38.6 WAR, which puts him right about there for his peak performance years. However, his total career WAR falls well below the average for his position.

Of course, any examination of Ryan Braun's case for the Hall of Fame has to mention Braun's ties to performance enhancing drugs. He failed a PED test, but was able to get the test overturned on appeal. In 2013, he was suspended 65 games because of his connection to Biogenesis, a lab that supplied PEDs to a number of pro athletes. That connection followed Braun for the rest of his career.

The bottom line: Ryan Braun's Hall of Fame case is lacking

In a statistical vacuum, Braun has a fringe, below-average case for the Hall of Fame. Injuries plagued him in the later years of his career, and he only played 14 seasons, the last of which was just a 60 game season. The peak years of his career were putting him on pace for the Hall early in his career, but he tailed off that pace as he aged and the total resume isn't as impressive as it would need to be. Perhaps if the DH came to the NL a year earlier, Braun could've continued playing and accrued some more stats to help boost his case.

However, even if that did happen, the PED connection will forever stain Braun in the eyes of the writers. Braun overturning his PED test on appeal, subsequent victory lap, and then suspension a year later left a bitter taste in the mouths of most outside of Milwaukee when looking at Braun's legacy. The fringe statistical case you could argue for Braun is going to be sunk by that PED connection.

The question isn't whether Braun is going to get 75% support from the voters. The question is going to be if Braun gets even 5% support to stay on the ballot for a second year and even that is probably going to be a tough climb. If Barry Bonds, who has the best statistical case of anyone for induction to Cooperstown, is going to be held out because of his connection to PEDs, Braun stands virtually no chance of induction.