The New York Mets could have two former players elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame next week, but another former star is in danger of falling off next year’s ballot.
Both reliever Billy Wagner and slugger Gary Sheffield are tracking well for election to the Class of 2024, which will be announced next Tuesday on MLB Network.
More than half of the ballots have not been made public and voting by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America was completed on Dec. 31.
But it’s David Wright who is in danger on his fist year on the ballot.
After counting 160 ballots made public, which is 41.7 percent of the expected ballots to be cast by membership, Wright has appeared on just 11 of them, or 6.9%.
Wright needs to be on at least 5% of the ballots cast to remain in the running to be elected next year. If he doesn’t, he will fall off the ballot entirely.
It’s expected that 384 ballots will be cast and that 288 votes are needed for induction, based on tracking on social media.
Wright is a fan favorite for the Mets. The lifetime .296 hitter finished his career with 242 home runs and 979 RBI. For the first 10 years of his career, Wright was tracking like a potential Hall-of-Famer while playing third base. But injuries curtailed the final four seasons of his career and he only played 77 games.
Wright was a seven-time All-Star, two-time Gold Glove winner and two-time Silver Slugger winner. He batted .300 seven different times, drove in 100 or more runs five times and hit 20 or more home runs six times.
Wagner and Sheffield were at or above 75% of the vote after 160 ballots. Sheffield, who is in his final year of eligibility, was right at 75%. Wagner, in his ninth, was at 79.6%
Sheffield is 27th all-time with 507 home runs, putting him in the select company of the 500 home-run club. He also drove in 1,676 runs, earned nine All-Star Game berths and won five Silver Sluggers. He won a World Series ring with the Marlins in 1997, and while he was never named an MVP, he was the Top 10 in balloting six times.
Sheffield played his final year with the Mets and batted .276 with 10 home runs and 43 RBI.
Wagner spent four seasons with the Mets and saved 101 games for the franchise. He made the All-Star Game twice with the Mets and his 422 saves at the end of his career were sixth all-time and second among left-handed relievers.
Based on results after 160 ballots, Adrián Beltré (98.8%), Joe Mauer (83.3%) and Todd Helton (83.1%) would also be elected. Former manager Jim Leyland is already set for induction after he was elected by the Eras Committee in December.
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