Former Mets second baseman Jeff Kent has been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee. Kent, who spent five years calling Shea Stadium home, was the only player to secure the 12 votes needed to gain entry into Cooperstown. He ended up with 14 votes from the 16-person committee.

Kent began debuted in 1992 with the Blue Jays, who drafted him in the 20th round of the 1989 MLB draft. After appearing in 65 games for Toronto, he was traded to the Mets for David Cone. Kent would go on to appear in parts of five seasons for the Mets, slashing a very respectable .279/.327/.453. His 377 career home runs, 67 of which were hit while with the Mets, remains a record for second basemen. Kent was traded to Cleveland in 1996 before heading to the Giants in 1997. He blossomed in San Francisco, earning three consecutive All-Star game nods from 1999-2001. He was voted NL MVP in 2000 while with the Giants and won the Silver Slugger in 2000, 2001, and 2002. He also won a Silver Slugger in 2005 while playing for the Dodgers.

Kent retired from baseball in 2008 after his fourth and final season in Los Angeles. He fell off the Hall of Fame ballot in 2023 after receiving 46.5% of the vote, well short of the required 75%. However, the Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee (formerly called the “Veterans Committee”) viewed his contributions to the sport as Hall of Fame-worthy. On the current ballot, the committee was reviewing players who primarily played from 1980 onward.

Another former Met, Carlos Delgado, received nine votes, falling three short of earning a spot in the Hall of Fame. Dale Murphy and Don Mattingly each received six votes, while Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Fernando Valenzuela, and former Met Gary Sheffield did not clear five votes, meaning they will not be under consideration in the next voting cycle. Should they fail to reach five votes again the next time they make the ballot, they will no longer be eligible on future ballots.

Jeff Kent will find out who is joining him in the Hall of Fame Class of 2026 on January 20, when the BBWAA ballot results will be revealed. Carlos Beltrán is considered a strong possibility to eclipse the 75% voting threshold.