{"id":528429,"date":"2026-01-20T00:33:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T00:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/528429\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T00:33:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T00:33:15","slug":"carlos-beltran-could-add-another-mets-cap-to-hall-of-fame-lineup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/528429\/","title":{"rendered":"Carlos Beltran could add another Mets cap to Hall of Fame lineup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza are the only players in the Hall of Fame enshrined as Mets, but that list could be expanding.<\/p>\n

Carlos Beltr\u00e1n, who told The Post last summer that he plans to wear a Mets cap on his plaque if he\u2019s elected to the Hall of Fame, will know his fate Tuesday evening when the Baseball Writers\u2019 Association of America vote is revealed for the Class of 2026.<\/p>\n

Beltr\u00e1n last year appeared on 70.3 percent of the ballots cast. A candidate needs to reach the 75 percent threshold for induction.<\/p>\n

Another player with New York ties, Andruw Jones, is a strong possibility to receive the call after last year appearing on 66.2 percent of the ballots. Jones played the final two seasons of his career with the Yankees. Beltr\u00e1n also had a stint in The Bronx, where he spent 2 \u00bd seasons.<\/p>\n

Over a 20-year major league career, Beltr\u00e1n hit 435 homers and was selected to nine All-Star teams. He won three Gold Gloves and two Silver Sluggers. Beltr\u00e1n played for the Mets from 2005-11 after beginning his career with the Royals and Astros.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he was on the field, he was always one of the best \u2014 if not the best \u2014 that was out there,\u201d Hall of Fame closer Billy Wagner<\/a>, a former teammate of Beltr\u00e1n\u2019s with the Mets, told The Post. \u201cHe was always in the thick of everything. He had a tremendous ability to stay calm at the plate a very high level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beltr\u00e1n, now in his fourth year of eligibility, might have seen his candidacy stalled following his involvement in the Astros sign-stealing scheme. Beltr\u00e1n resigned as Mets manager \u2014 before he had even managed a game \u2014 as part of the fallout, but has since returned to the organization as a special assistant.<\/p>\n

\"Mets'Mets\u2019 Carlos Beltran smiles during an introductory baseball news conference in New York, Nov. 4, 2019. AP<\/p>\n

Among the disappointments of Beltr\u00e1n\u2019s tenure in Queens was the called third strike<\/a> he took with the bases loaded against Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright that ended Game 7 of the NLCS in 2006.<\/p>\n

Largely forgotten is the fact Beltr\u00e1n hit three homers in the series.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all had our moments in 2006 where we could have done something,\u201d Wagner said. \u201cBut that was a heck of a series, and he played very well the whole series. It\u2019s unfair to put that specifically on any one person. He had just been good the whole time.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Beltr\u00e1n isn\u2019t fully appreciated by the Mets fan base, it might be because the team failed to reach the World Series during his tenure.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not like when you are playing with the Mets that you aren\u2019t dealing with the team next door,\u201d Wagner said. \u201cThat\u2019s always going to be your battle as a Met \u2014 the team next door has that many championships, so you are battling their championships.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NewNew York Mets right fielder Carlos Beltran lunges for the ball during the third inning of an MLB baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, April 22, 2011 in New York. AP<\/p>\n

Jones won 10 Gold Gloves as the premier defensive center fielder of his era and hit 434 homers over a 17-year major league career. Jones was selected to five All-Star teams. He spent most of his career with the Braves and appeared in two World Series.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe could change a game in so many ways,\u201d Wagner said. \u201cI don\u2019t think [Tom] Glavine or [Greg] Maddux have the same numbers if Andruw Jones is not there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others to watch on the ballot include Chase Utley, Andy Pettitte and F\u00e9lix Hern\u00e1ndez. Alex Rodriguez remains a long shot following his admission to using performance-enhancing drugs and a lengthy suspension for his association with a PED lab during his Yankees tenure.<\/p>\n

David Wright received 8.1 percent of the vote last winter in his second year on the ballot. Candidates remain on the ballot for 10 years provided they secure at least five percent of the vote in a given cycle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza are the only players in the Hall of Fame enshrined as Mets, but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":528430,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2396],"tags":[13424,5,1708,325,101,4,1690,61,62,2548,4203,185],"class_list":{"0":"post-528429","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-mets","8":"tag-andruw-jones","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-baseball-hall-of-fame","11":"tag-carlos-beltran","12":"tag-mets","13":"tag-mlb","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-mets","16":"tag-new-york-yankees","17":"tag-newyork","18":"tag-newyorkmets","19":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115924619576257229","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=528429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528429\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/528430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=528429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=528429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=528429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}