This will be Carlos Beltrán’s fourth time on the Hall of Fame ballot. He’s gone from 46.5% to 57.1% to 70.3% in his first three shots.
Carlos played for 20 seasons. In 2586 games, he hit .279/.350/.486
with 435 home runs, 1587 RBI, and 312 stolen bases. His 9,768 at-bats put him 39th all-time.
He made 9 All-Star teams, had MVP votes 7 times (but never made it higher than 4th), won 2 Silver Sluggers, and won 3 Gold Gloves. He has a 70.1 career bWAR and ranks 70th all-time among position players.
Beltrán played on teams that made the playoffs seven times. He hit .307/.412/.609 in 65 playoff games. And he was a World Series winner. That World Series team cost him some Hall of Fame votes, as that was with the trash can-pounding, sign-stealing Astros. Beltrán was named one of the masterminds behind the plan, and his teammates claimed he ‘intimidated’ some into going along with the scheme. The scandal cost him the manager’s job with the Mets. He signed a three-year contract with the Mets, but they parted ways after the MLB report.
Without the scandal, he’s an interesting candidate. He was never considered the best player in the game. He was fourth in MVP voting once. In other years, he finished 9th and 12th. He finished from 20th to 26th in the vote four more times.
But he had the bulk numbers that would usually get a guy into the Hall. It depends on how you view the Hall. Is longevity and bulk numbers enough? Or do they have to be one of the very best players in the league for a few seasons?
And then there was the cheating. Barry Bonds wasn’t voted into the Hall because of cheating. How do we compare what Bonds did to what Beltrán did? Is one worse than the other?
