There are dozens of active Major Leaguers that appear to be on a Hall of Fame trajectory, but actually achieving Cooperstown credentials in most cases requires good health and good performance extending beyond a player’s peak. Listing all the guys in baseball that could someday wind up enshrined would require a lot of time and even more speculation, so this post aims instead to list only those active players who appear to have already secured entry to the Hall.

There are eight of them, but we’ll start with some…

Honorable mentions

Chase Utley: Utley was one of the very best players in the game during most of his years in Philadelphia, a great hitter and baserunner and an elite defender at an up-the-middle position. He’s having a decent year for the Dodgers at age 37, and the Hall is certainly not outside the realm of possibilities for Utley if he can contribute for a couple more seasons. But due to some injuries and a somewhat late start, his peak was probably a bit too short for him to get in based on what he has done so far.

CC Sabathia: Sabathia is the active leader in Wins Above Replacement among pitchers, and he looked like a shoo-in to someday reach the Hall of Fame as recently as 2012. But outside of his incredible 2007-08 run, he wasn’t quite dominant enough in his heyday. Sabathia is enjoying a resurgent season now at age 35, and a few more decent seasons could get him in. It so happens that four of the Top 20 pitchers in baseball history — Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez — plus the best closer the game has ever seen, Mariano Rivera, are all still fresh on voters’ minds. That works against guys like Sabathia.

Joe Mauer: Some Twins fans will be angry Mauer didn’t make the list below, some will be angry he even gets an honorable mention. But though injuries forced Mauer to move to first base, his offensive peak as a catcher ranks with some of the best in the game’s history. His numbers stack up well against some Hall of Famers at the position, but, sadly, he didn’t last long enough as a backstop to get himself to that strata.

Robinson Cano: Another one that might surprise the haters. Though he has a weird knack for bothering people, Cano has been totally awesome for most of his 12 big-league seasons and already has better numbers than a bunch of Hall of Fame second basemen. His durability has allowed him to play at least 156 games in each of the last nine full seasons, and means he’ll almost certainly have a solid Hall of Fame case within a few years.

Felix Hernandez: Cano’s teammate with the Mariners has a similar case: He looks well on his way, he has stayed healthy, and he’s not quite there yet. Hernandez’s low win totals, a function of too many years pitching for Mariners teams with lousy offenses, will hurt him whenever he’s eligible. His peripheral stats this season are worrisome, but he is still effective and he’s only 30, so he’ll probably get there.

Alex Rodriguez: A-Rod clearly owns Hall of Fame numbers, but the precedent for guys associated with PED use does not bode well. And even if, like me, you believe the Hall of Fame should celebrate great players regardless of their indiscretions, Rodriguez’s case is murkier because — unlike guys like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens — he cheated and got caught during an era in which the league was actively trying to stop players from doing that. He served his penalty, so I’ll still vote for him if I get a chance. But it’s impossible to put him on the list below.

And now on to the guys who’ll make it:

1. Albert Pujols

Do I even need to explain this one? Pujols has 572 home runs, three MVP awards and two rings, and stands as one of the greatest right-handed hitters in baseball history. He led all NL position players in WAR for six straight seasons from 2005-10.

2. Ichiro Suzuki

Another layup. Suzuki’s 2,982 MLB hits would probably be enough to get him in even if he hadn’t started his career in Japan. Plus he has been an incredible defender and baserunner, and he’s a pioneer.

3. Adrian Beltre

People were still debating Beltre’s Hall of Fame candidacy a couple years ago, but now he seems fairly certain to get in. Third basemen have traditionally been underrepresented in Cooperstown, and Beltre’s got 2,835 hits, 423 home runs, and a superlative defensive record at third base. By WAR, he has had a better career than (among thousands of others): Pete Rose, Derek Jeter, Nolan Ryan, Reggie Jackson and Ken Griffey Jr.

4. Miguel Cabrera

Here’s hoping Miggy doesn’t retire today, because he’s still an excellent hitter and the Tigers definitely need him. But if Cabrera for whatever reason decided to hang ’em up at age 33, he’d do so with 10 All-Star nods, two MVP awards and a Triple Crown under his belt. His .960 career OPS ranks 16th in Major League history, ahead of scores of Hall of Fame sluggers.

5. Carlos Beltran

Similar to Beltre in that a lot of his value is locked up in his defense and he doesn’t quite have any of the standard counting numbers for entry. But even after knee injuries shortened his prime, Beltran has hung around long enough and remained productive enough that he now seems likely to make the Hall. His numbers stack up well against Hall of Fame center fielders like Duke Snider and Andre Dawson, and he owns the added distinction of being one of the greatest postseason hitters of all time.

6. David Ortiz

Speaking of the greatest postseason hitters of all time. Ortiz’s status as a designated hitter will work against him, but everything else about him screams Hall of Fame. He’s got 521 homers, nine All-Star nods and three World Series rings, and he has been one of the most visible players on one of the most successful franchises in recent baseball history.

7. Yadier Molina

I suspect this will be the most controversial entry on this list, because Molina has nothing like the offensive numbers necessary for a Hall of Fame case. But by every measure we have — and likely by some we don’t even have yet — Yadi’s defensive value is off the charts. Molina still regularly leads the league in caught-stealing percentage even after every conscious baserunner has learned his lesson about trying to run against him. And we’re only beginning to understand his impact as a pitch-framer and handler of pitching staffs. He gets in the same way Ozzie Smith did: By being a historically great defender at a premium position.

8. Clayton Kershaw

Kershaw has not yet played in 10 Major League seasons, and so he would technically not yet be eligible for Hall of Fame election if he retired today. But if Clayton Kershaw retired today — for whatever reason — it’d be such a baseball tragedy that it’d only be appropriate to waive that rule and put him on the ballot. Kershaw’s last five and a half seasons hold up well against many of the most dominant stretches of starting pitching in baseball history, and all indications suggest he is somehow getting better. Only seven other guys have won at least three Cy Young Awards, and they’re all either Hall of Famers or Roger Clemens. And if the 2016 season keeps going like it has been going, Kershaw could end up the first pitcher since Hal Newhouser to win two MVP awards. I really hope Clayton Kershaw doesn’t retire today.

An earlier version of this post named Carl Hubbell as the last pitcher to win multiple MVP awards. Hubbell won MVP awards in 1932 and 1936, but Newhouser did so more recently, in 1944 and 1945.