These Dodgers are on a Cooperstown track

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How does one separate great ballplayers from the all-time greats? That's the challenge, and privilege, that the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Baseball Writers' Association of America voters face every year.

The full 2025 Hall of Fame class was announced on Tuesday, with Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner joining Classic Era ballot inductees Dick Allen and Dave Parker. No former Dodgers were elected from this year's BBWAA ballot, though five earned enough votes to remain in consideration.

Los Angeles has several of the top players in the game, but how many of them will be considered the best of the best down the road? As we celebrate the newest members of the Hall, let's take a look at which current members of the Dodgers could one day be immortalized in Cooperstown, N.Y.

LHP Clayton Kershaw
This is bending the rules, because Kershaw has not re-signed with the Dodgers yet (although he has stated his intention to return for his 18th season with the team that drafted him in 2006). But it's impossible to do this exercise without mentioning him.

A three-time National League Cy Young Award winner and the 2014 NL MVP, Kershaw is not just a franchise icon, but also one of the greatest starting pitchers of his generation. In what could be considered his peak, from 2011-17, he posted a 2.10 ERA and struck out 1,623 across 207 starts. He won all of his major BBWAA awards and also garnered seven of his 10 All-Star nods during that span.

Kershaw owns a career 212-94 record, and he is 32 strikeouts shy of 3,000. That said, most people who have watched Kershaw throughout his career probably don't need to review his statistics to know he's likely bound for the Hall of Fame. Sometimes, you can just feel it.

IF/OF Mookie Betts
Betts has plenty of individual accolades (2018 AL MVP, six Gold Glove Awards, seven Silver Slugger Awards) and team success (three World Series titles). He ranks eighth on the all-time right field JAWS leaderboard, and the seven names ahead of him -- Babe Ruth, Henry Aaron, Stan Musial, Mel Ott, Frank Robinson, Roberto Clemente and Al Kaline -- are all Hall of Famers.

What could make Betts an even more intriguing candidate is if he can successfully transition from being an elite right fielder to an elite shortstop. If he can do that while maintaining a high offensive profile, then Betts' case for the Hall writes itself.

1B Freddie Freeman
A career .300 hitter through 15 seasons, Freeman has actually gotten better later in his career. He won the NL MVP Award in 2020 and the World Series with the Braves in '21 and the Dodgers in '24, also earning Fall Classic MVP honors in the latter -- while playing through an injury in the postseason. He ranks 22nd on the all-time first base JAWS leaderboard, ahead of such Hall of Famers such as Harmon Killebrew, Tony Perez and Fred McGriff.

As for the key counting stats, Freeman could get to 400 career homers -- he has 343 -- and he's the active Major League hits leader with 2,267. He has said in the past that he wants to play long enough to get to 3,000 hits -- which might be a long shot, as he's heading into his age-35 season, but it's tough to count out Freeman when he's set on achieving something.

TWP Shohei Ohtani
Maybe this is speaking too soon, as Ohtani hasn't played in the requisite 10 Major League seasons. But the way his career has played out thus far, it would not be surprising to see Ohtani in Cooperstown once his playing days are over.

The three-time unanimous MVP and founder of the 50-50 club has had the unprecedented opportunity to serve as a two-way player at the highest level of the game, and he's been elite in both roles in his career (157 OPS+, 142 ERA+). As stellar as Ohtani's first season with the Dodgers was, he can fly even higher if he makes a successful return to the mound in 2025.