The baseball writers have spoken, and on Tuesday, it was announced that outfielders Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones have been elected to the Hall of Fame\u2019s Class of 2026.<\/p>\n
Over a 20-year career, the switch-hitting Beltran collected 2,725 hits, 435 home runs, and just shy of 1,600 runs batted in. The 9x All-Star was the American League Rookie of the Year in his first full season in 1999, and won a Gold Glove from 2006 through 2008. He played for seven different clubs, most notably the Mets and the Royals. In his final season, at the age of 40, he helped the Houston Astros win the World Series.<\/p>\n
Fellow outfielder Andruw Jones spent 17 seasons in the big leagues, 12 of them with the Braves. He clubbed 434 homers, one shy of Beltran\u2019s total. Known for spectacular plays in center field, Jones won 10 Gold Glove awards in a row beginning in 1998. Jones is the youngest player ever to hit a home run in a World Series game. It came in game one of the 1996 Fall Classic when 19-year-old Jones hit one in his first at-bat, then another in his second at-bat against the Yankees.<\/p>\n
In 2005, he led the league with 51 home runs and 128 runs batted in.<\/p>\n
To be elected, players must finish with at least 75% of the writer\u2019s votes. In his fourth year on the ballot, Beltran polled at 84.2%. Jones finally got over the hump at 78.4% in his ninth year on the ballot. In his first year of eligibility, he received 7.3% of the vote, which is the lowest starting point for an eventual inductee. <\/p>\n
The two join second baseman Jeff Kent, who was elected in December by the contemporary baseball era committee – a group of former players, managers, executives, and umpires who provide a second chance for figures from the modern era.<\/p>\n
Kent\u2019s career spanned 17 seasons with six different clubs. He finished with a .290 batting average, five All-Star selections, and four Silver Slugger awards. He won the MVP in 2000 with the Giants and later helped take them to the World Series in 2002, losing to the Angels. <\/p>\n
All three men – Beltran, Jones, and Kent – were incredibly fine ballplayers, and every year were either the best at their position, or in the top 5. But are they Hall of Famers? It\u2019s subjective. A case can certainly be made for each of them. In my mind, this feels like the perfect crop for the \u201cHall of Very Good.\u201d <\/p>\n
Anyone who\u2019s been around the game long enough will tell you that Beltran has one of the highest baseball IQs ever. He was a dynamic player with a combination of speed and power, stealing 272 bases and belting 263 homers in 10 years. Even with talent like David Wright, Carlos Delgado, and Jose Reyes, Beltran was the best player on the Mets during his time there in the mid to late 2000s. <\/p>\n
But this is also a player who never led the league in anything other than playing in 162 games in a season once. He finished 275 short of 3,000 career hits, 65 homers short of 500, and he finished as a top-5 MVP just once in 20 years. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s even harder to make the case for Jones. He\u2019s an unimpressive .254 career hitter with less than 2,000 hits. He wasn\u2019t even the best \u201cJones\u201d on the Braves. That honor goes to third baseman Chipper Jones, who won an MVP, a batting title, and is the only switch-hitter with a career average over .300 from both sides of the plate.<\/p>\n
Again, Beltran, Jones, and Kent aren\u2019t undeserving players by any stretch – it\u2019s just hard to picture them in the same elite category as legends like Chipper Jones, Ken Griffey Jr., Derek Jeter, Todd Helton, and Jim Thome. <\/p>\n
Last year, starting pitcher Felix Hernandez polled at 20.6% of the vote in his first year on the ballot. This year, the \u201cKing\u201d doubled to 46.1%. Hernandez should be elected to Cooperstown. He won an ERA title twice, a CY Young, and he tossed a perfect game. He also finished top 10 in Cy Young voting six times. <\/p>\n
Second baseman Chase Utley fell short at 59.1%. He, on the other hand, would be a great addition to the \u201cHall of Very Good\u201d with his 1,885 hits, .275 average, and six All-Star nods. Now go and compare his career numbers with Hall of Fame second basemen Joe Morgan and Craig Biggio. <\/p>\n
Andy Pettitte, a critical Yankees pitcher during their years of terror from 1995 through 2003, finished with 48.5%. Pettitte finished his 18-year career with five World Series rings, and no one in the history of the sport has more wins in the playoffs than him. <\/p>\n
Francisco Rodriguez, better known as \u201cK-Rod,\u201d finished his career with the 6th most saves all-time, yet reeled in just 11.8% of the vote. Steroid-era sluggers continue to sit in voting purgatory. Alex Rodriguez finished with 40% of the vote. Manny Ramirez garnered just under that at 38.8%. <\/p>\n
Red Sox fan-favorite Dustin Pedroia polled at 20.7% in his first year on the ballot. Former Red Sox starting pitcher Rick Porcello, who won a Cy Young in 2016, and then helped the Sox win a World Series in 2018, finished with just two votes. <\/p>\n
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