Astros ' legend Billy Wagner honored as part of 2025 Hall of Fame class

The time has finally come! After 10 grueling years of waiting to finally be honored among the greats, Billy Wagner has cemented himself among the elite of the elite.

Wagner nearly joined the 2024 class, missing the boat by just 5 votes. But a strong start to the 2025 class and more people just appreciating how dominant he was, was the big push he needed to join Cooperstown.

Billy Wagner, Ichiro and CC Sabathia make up 2025 MLB Hall of Fame class

Wagner was one of the most consistently dominant arms to every play. Over 16 years, the only time he had an ERA over three, was in 2000 when he threw just 27.2 innings, mainly due to a left elbow injury that made it difficult for Wagner. The former first-round pick would go on to throw 903 innings over his 16-year career, nine of them with the Houston Astros. His career 2.31 ERA and 11.9 K/9 are numbers deserving of Cooperstown. A seven-time All-Star with two top six finishes in the Cy Young voting, Wagner was truly one of the most feared relievers in the game.

Wagner has one of the most interesting stories as well. The lefty stands at just 5'10, vastly different than the imposing 6'10 figures likes Randy Johnson. However, Wagner was a natural righty. When Wagner was just a kid, Wagner suffered back-to-back broken right arms, leading to him experimenting as a lefty. What a decision that was! A natural righty that turned left-handed and was able to throw a 100+ mph is just insanity.

Wagner will join a great Hall of Fame class with Ichiro (who was 1 vote shy of a unanimous decision) as well as CC Sabathia. Ichiro finished with 393 of 394 votes while CC Sabathia finished at 86.8% and Wagner was comfortably in at 82.5%. A pair of outfielders, Andruw Jones (66.2%) and Carlos Beltran (70.3%) just missed the cut, but will look to join the 2026 class.

Congratulations to Billy Wagner, a franchise legend, for finally getting his deserved place among the all-time greats!