Beltrán, Jones and Kent inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame
Beltrán, Jones and Kent reached Cooperstown by different ballot routes, with Beltrán at 84.2%, Jones at 78.4% and Kent backed by 14 of 16 era committee votes.
Carlos Beltrán, Andruw Jones and Jeff Kent were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday in Cooperstown, New York, giving the Class of 2026 a stage built around elite play up the middle. Beltrán and Jones brought Caribbean roots to the ceremony, with Beltrán from Puerto Rico and Jones from Curaçao, while Kent arrived as the most productive power-hitting second baseman in major league history.
Beltrán and Jones were elected by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on Jan. 20, 2026, and Kent was chosen the previous month by the Hall’s Contemporary Baseball Era Committee. Beltrán received 84.2% of the BBWAA vote in his fourth year on the ballot, after coming 19 votes short in 2025 when Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner were elected. Jones received 78.4% of the writers’ vote. Kent earned 14 of 16 votes on the era committee, a strong margin that pushed him into Cooperstown after years of debate over middle-infield value and offensive production.
The three inductees were recognized for different parts of the modern Hall of Fame argument. Beltrán’s case rested on longevity and all-around production, with nine All-Star selections and three Gold Glove awards. Jones entered with a reputation built on center-field range and run prevention, while Kent’s 351 career home runs remained the most ever by a second baseman. Together, they reinforced how voters now weigh peak performance, defensive value and positional scarcity alongside traditional counting stats.
Jones had already been honored in 2023 at an Atlanta Braves number-retirement ceremony, and Beltrán had made public appearances at Hall-related events before induction. Their election also carried a strong regional thread, with two of the three honorees from Puerto Rico and Curaçao bringing a distinctly Caribbean presence to Cooperstown.
The Hall planned another Class of 2026 event for Monday at Doubleday Field, extending a weekend that moved from the induction ceremony to a broader celebration of a class that reached the shrine through both the writers’ ballot and the era committee.
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