NEW YORK — Carlos Beltrán, one of the most accomplished center fielders in recent Major League history, could be two months away from earning his place in Cooperstown.
This marks Beltrán’s fourth year on the National Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, which the Hall revealed in its entirety on Monday. Of the dozens of players on the ballot — including former Mets David Wright, Daniel Murphy and Francisco Rodríguez — Beltrán is the highest returning vote-getter after 70.3 percent of the electorate supported him last year. Andruw Jones is next at 66.2 percent, with no one else receiving even 40 percent of the vote.
That puts Beltrán in prime position to make the Hall this year. The last eight Cooperstown entrants who did not earn first-ballot induction saw their support increase by an average of more than 14 percent the year they finally made it. For Beltrán, such a bump appears realistic, and would put him easily above the 75 percent threshold required for induction.
Moreover, there are no obvious Hall of Famers among newcomers on the 2026 ballot. The top WAR totals of that group belong to Cole Hamels (59.0) and Ryan Braun (47.2) — both of whom rate well behind Beltrán (70.0).
In other words, if the writers elect anyone to the Hall of Fame Class of 2026, it’s likely to be Beltrán. The Hall will announce final balloting results on Jan. 20 on MLB Network.
Had Beltrán’s name not appeared in MLB’s report on the Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing scandal, he might have made it to Cooperstown already. But most eligible Baseball Writers’ Association of America voters have been willing to look past Beltrán’s involvement, given his superlative 20-season career on the field.
The 1999 American League Rookie of the Year, Beltrán spent his first six and a half seasons in Kansas City before moving to Houston, where he became one of the most successful Trade Deadline rentals in history. After hitting 23 homers and stealing 28 bases in 90 regular-season games for the Astros, Beltrán produced a 1.557 postseason OPS for a team that made it to within one win of the World Series.
Following his otherworldly post-Deadline run, Beltrán signed with the Mets on a then-record seven-year, $119 million contract. He spent the next six and a half years in Flushing, where, despite a slow start to his Mets tenure, Beltrán compiled a huge chunk of his career production, hitting 149 homers, stealing 100 bases and driving in 559 runs.
As injuries piled up toward the back end of Beltrán’s time in Queens, it appeared that his career was winding down. But he began a surprising second act after the Mets traded him to the Giants in another deadline deal in 2011, posting a .920 OPS down the stretch that year. From there, Beltrán bounced to the Cardinals, Yankees, Rangers and Astros, winning a ring in Houston in his 20th and final season.
“I’m satisfied with my career,” Beltrán said after announcing his retirement in 2017. “I can see myself back in my hometown of Manati [Puerto Rico], walking to the ballpark when I was a kid, trying to become a professional ballplayer. Seeing the things that I have accomplished in the game, not a lot of guys have accomplished that. That God chose me to be one of those guys, I’m extremely blessed.”
Only years later did reports surface regarding his involvement in the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal. Beltrán was the only player named in MLB’s investigation of the episode, which listed him among “a group of players” who determined “that the team could improve on decoding opposing teams’ signs and communicating the signs to the batter.”
For Beltrán, the fallout resulted in his dismissal as Mets manager before he served a single day in uniform. Beltrán spent two years out of baseball before returning as a part-time broadcaster and, eventually, a member of the Mets’ front office. He remains a special assistant to president of baseball operations David Stearns today.
When Beltrán first became eligible for the Hall of Fame ballot in 2023, he garnered just 46.5 percent of the vote — notably low for a player of his stature. But his support has increased significantly in recent years, with 57.1 percent of the vote in 2024 and 70.3 percent this past year. A similar jump in January would put Beltrán in Cooperstown, where he compares favorably to many of his contemporaries. Beltrán’s WAR total is higher than those of more than a dozen Hall of Fame center fielders, including Richie Ashburn, Andre Dawson and Larry Doby.
