Former Texas Rangers third baseman Adrián Beltré will get his first chance to appear on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2024.
Beltré is one of more than a dozen players expected to appear on the ballot for the first time. He is already a member of the Rangers Hall of Fame and has his No. 29 retired.
His credentials should make him a prime candidate for induction. He hit .286 for his career, with 3,166 hits and 477 home runs. He also drove in 1,707 runs in a 20-year career that saw him play for the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Seattle Mariners, the Boston Red Sox and the Rangers. He played the final eight years of his career in Arlington.
He was a four-time All-Star selection, won five Gold Gloves — three of which were with the Rangers — and four Silver Slugger Awards, two of which were with the Rangers.
He also led the National League in home runs in 2004.
One of the key benchmarks of Beltre’s career is his 3,166 hits. He is one of 33 players with at least 3,000 hits for his career. Not all of them are in the Hall of Fame. Some are not eligible yet, such as Beltré’s countryman Albert Pujols and Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki, who will be eligible in 2025.
Others that are not in are dogged by scandal, including Pete Rose (gambling), Alex Rodriguez (PEDs) and Rafael Palmeiro (PEDs).
If Beltré receives 75 percent of the vote next January, he’ll be inducted. The Athletic — which previewed the 2024 Class — wrote that Beltré is the only candidate that should consider making travel plans now.
Other first-time candidates could include Joe Mauer, Chase Utley, David Wright, José Bautista, Bartolo Colon, Adrián González, Matt Holliday, José Reyes, Yovani Gallardo, Chase Headley, Ryan Madson, Victor Martinez, Brandon Phillips, James Shields, Denard Span and Brad Ziegler.
To be eligible a player must have played in the Majors for 10 years and been retired for five full seasons. Beltré retired after the 2018 season.
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