Of the 26 players on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, 10 spent time with the New York Mets.
Zero got in.
Joe Mauer, Adrian Beltre, and Todd Helton got the call to Cooperstown on Tuesday night, making this the third-largest class ever inducted into the Hall by the BBWAA. They’ll be enshrined near Lake Otsego in late July.
Of the 10 former Mets that were on the ballot, four were eliminated from next year’s consideration as Jose Bautista, Bartolo Colon, Adrian Gonzalez, and Jose Reyes failed to garner the necessary 5% needed to stay on.
Former Mets captain David Wright, who pieced together a productive 14-year career through late, ceaseless pain, managed to just stay on with 6.2% of the vote.
Had injuries not derailed the second half of his career, his Hall-of-Fame candidacy would have been much stronger. Regardless, he was a seven-time All-Star, a two-time Gold Glove Award winner, a two-time Silver Slugger Award winner, and is one of only four third basemen in Major League Baseball history with at least 350 career doubles, 200 home runs, and 150 stolen bases.
Gary Sheffield, who hit 509 home runs in his career, including his 500th with the Mets in 2009, garnered 63.9% of the vote (75% is needed for induction) in his 10th and final season on the ballot, meaning his only way in now will be through the Veterans’ Committee.
A pair of ex-Mets, however, are positioned to get their calls to the Hall within the next few years.
Reliever Billy Wagner, who spent three of his 16 seasons with the Mets, fell just five votes short of induction with next year being his 10th and final year of eligibility. It’s next year or bust for him, though the way he’s trended in recent years and by falling just short, 2025 feels like it’ll be a shoo-in for him.
The southpaw was a seven-time All-Star and the 1999 Reliever of the Year. His 422 saves rank second among left-handed relievers in MLB history, which was built on a sterling 2.31 ERA and 0.998 WHIP. His 11.92 strikeouts per nine innings and .187 batting average against are the best of any pitcher in MLB history with at least 900 innings pitched.
Carlos Beltran, who spent seven years with the Mets from 2005-2011, received a significant boost compared to last year’s voting, going up by 10.6% from 46.5% to 57.1% in his second year on the ballot.
The nine-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner, and two-time Silver Slugger is one of just four players in MLB history with 1,500 runs scored, 2,700 hits, 400 home runs, and 300 steals.
By his current pace, he’s projected to gain induction in 2026.
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