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Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones appear on track to gain election to the Baseball Hall of Fame

[January 20, 2026] By RONALD BLUM

NEW YORK (AP) — Center fielders Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones appear on track to gain election to the Hall of Fame on Tuesday when voting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America is announced.

As of Monday evening, Beltrán had been picked on 89.2% of the 223 ballots revealed early and tabulated on Ryan Thibodaux's online vote-tracker, just over half of the estimated total submitted. Jones was at 83%, like Beltrán well over the 75% needed for induction to the shrine in Cooperstown, New York.

Making his fourth ballot appearance, Beltrán has moved up steadily from 46.5% in 2023 to 57.1% the following year and 70.3% in 2025, when he fell 19 votes short as Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner were elected.

Jones is on the ballot for the ninth of a maximum 10 times. He received just 7.3% in his first appearance in 2018 — his 31 ballots were just over the 22 needed to remain eligible for future BBWAA votes. He didn't get half the total until receiving 58.1% in 2023, then increased to 61.6% and 66.2%, falling 35 votes short in 2025.

Anyone elected would be inducted on July 26 along with second baseman Jeff Kent, voted in last month by the contemporary era committee after he received a peak of 46.5% of votes from the BBWAA during his time on the ballot from 2014-23.

BBWAA members with 10 or more consecutive years in the organization were eligible to vote.

Beltrán's case

A nine-time All-Star, Beltrán hit .279 with 435 homers and 1,587 RBIs over 20 seasons with Kansas City (1999-2004), Houston (2004, '17), the New York Mets (2005-11), San Francisco (2011), St. Louis (2012-13), the New York Yankees (20014-16) and Texas (2016).

He was the 1999 AL Rookie of the Year and won three Gold Gloves, also hitting .307 in the postseason with 16 homers and 42 RBIs in 65 games.

Beltrán was hired as Mets manager on Nov. 1, 2019, then fired on Jan. 16 without having managed a game, three days after he was the only Astros player mentioned by name in a report by Major League Baseball regarding the team’s illicit use of electronics to steal signs during Houston’s run to the 2017 World Series championship.

“We all did what we did. Looking back today, we were wrong,” Beltrán said on a YES Network broadcast in 2022, after he was hired as an analyst. "I wish I would’ve asked more questions about what we were doing. I wish the organization would’ve said to us, `Hey man, what you guys are doing, we need to stop this.'”

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The Netherlands' designated hitter Andruw Jones (25) tries to dodge Korea's catcher Kang Minho (47) on home plate in the fourth inning of a World Baseball Classic first-round game at the Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taichung, Taiwan, March 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Wally Santana, File)

Jones' case

Jones hit .254 with 434 homers, 1,289 RBIs and 152 stolen bases in 17 seasons with Atlanta (1996-2007), the Los Angeles Dodgers (2008), Texas (2009), the Chicago White Sox (2010) and the Yankees (2011-12). He finished his career with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Japan's Pacific League from 2013-14.

His batting average would be the second-lowest for a position player voted to the Hall of Fame, just above the .253 of Ray Schalk, a superior defensive catcher, and just below the .256 of Harmon Killebrew, who hit 573 homers.

A five-time All-Star, Jones earned 10 Gold Gloves.

In the 1996 World Series opener at Yankee Stadium, at 19 years, 5 months, Jones became the youngest player to homer in a Series game, beating Mickey Mantle’s old mark by 18 months. Going deep against Andy Pettitte in the second inning and Brian Boehringer in the third of a 12-1 rout, Jones became the second player to homer in his first two Series at-bats after Gene Tenace in 1972.

Appearing to fall short

Chase Utley (68.2%), Pettitte (57.4%) and Félix Hernández (56.5%) were the only other candidates to get at least half the votes revealed on the tracker before the announcement.

Utley was on the ballot for the third time after getting 28.8% and then 39.8% last year, and Hernández received 20.6% last year in his first ballot appearance.

Pettitte, on the ballot for the eighth time, has moved up substantially. He got 9% in his initial appearance in 2019, 13.5% in 2024 and 27.9% last year.

Cole Hamels at 31.4% had the highest total among a dozen newcomers on the 27-man ballot.

Alex Rodriguez (43% in fifth appearance) and Manny Ramirez (40.4% in 10th appearance) are well shy. Both served suspensions for performance-enhancing drug violations.

Looking ahead

Buster Posey and Jon Lester are the top first-time candidates on the 2027 BBWAA ballot, followed by Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina in 2028, and Miguel Cabrera, Zack Greinke and Joey Votto in 2029.

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