The Athletic's Jayson Stark took a deep dive into the Hall of Fame chances for a couple modern day closers with Billy Wagner receiving enshrinement this year.

In electing Wagner, the BBWAA has defined the modern-day closer as its own entity, with candidates’ credentials measured not against the whole of the body but against this specific peer group.

Billy Wagner received 82.5 percent of the tally from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, after he missed by just five votes last year.

Other bits of intrigue ahead of Tuesday's 6 p.m. announcement: Will CC Sabathia be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and is this the year Billy Wagner gets in?

After falling five votes short of Baseball Hall of Fame last year, Billy Wagner is hopeful on his final year on ballot.

In his 10th and final year on the ballot, former Astros closer Billy Wagner earned is place in Cooperstown, N.Y. in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Miller School baseball coach Billy Wagner, known to the outside world as the best lefthanded closer in MLB history, is a Baseball Hall of Famer.

The trio of stars, each of whom spent part of their career in New York, will be inducted in Cooperstown on July 27.

Not the 82.5% of HOF voters who decided that Billy Wagner deserves a spot amongst ... ranking alongside Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman in every closer category between 1996 to 2010.

This piece was initially supposed to be a list of takeaways about the 2025 BBWAA Baseball Hall of Fame election. However, all my takeaways came back to the same theme, one that seems to be overshadowed by negativity.

Football. The game itself. The matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills. The fabulous spectacle that can be the National Football League. Unless you’re emotionally attached to one of the teams involved.

The identity of the writer has not been revealed and may never be. BBWAA members who vote for the Hall of Fame have to be in the association for 10 years. They have the option of making their ballots public. The public ballots for this election will be released by the Hall of Fame on Feb. 4.