Adrian Beltre Among Newcomers to Baseball Writers’ Association of America Hall of Fame Ballot

Adrian Beltre is getting his first chance at entering the hall…

The 44-year-old Dominican former professional baseball player, regarded as one of the greatest third basemen of all time, is among the newcomers to the 26-player Baseball Writers’ Association of America Hall of Fame ballot, as revealed on Monday.

Adrian Beltre Beltre, a four time MLB All-Star. played 21 major league seasons and won the Rawlings Gold Glove Award five times. He played for the Los Angeles DodgersSeattle MarinersBoston Red Sox and Texas Rangers.

Other newcomers are  Bartolo ColonMatt HollidayJose BautistaAdrian GonzalezJose ReyesVictor MartinezJames Shields, David Wright, Joe MauerChase Utley and Brandon Phillips.

Players must receive 75% of the vote to gain induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, with the top holdovers from last year’s vote including Todd Helton (72%), Billy Wagner (68%), Andruw Jones (58%), Gary Sheffield (55%) and Carlos Beltran (46.5%).

It’s the 10th and final year on the ballot for Sheffield, while Wagner is on the ballot for the ninth time.

Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez, both of whom received PED suspensions during their careers, also return to the ballot.

Beltran returns for the second time after his vote total might have been held down in his initial appearance due to his involvement in the 2017 Houston Astros cheating scandal.

Here’s a look at the top Latino newcomers:

  • Beltre should be a lock as a first-year candidate after finishing with 3,166 hits, 477 home runs and 93.5 WAR while capturing five Gold Gloves. He ranks third in WAR among third basemen, behind only Mike Schmidtand Eddie Mathews. He had his career season with the Los Angeles Dodgersin 2004, when he led the National League with 48 home runs and finished second in the MVP voting, but his best run came in his 30s with the Texas Rangers from 2011 to 2018, when he had four 30-homer seasons and hit .304.
  • Colon became a fan favorite late in his career, and he finished with 247 wins and won a Cy Young Award with the Angels in 2005, but his career ERA of 4.12 is a little high for serious consideration.
  • Bautista had a nice run from 2010 to 2015 as the game’s top power hitter — he led the AL with 54 home runs in 2010 and 43 in 2011, and his 227 home runs over those six seasons were 28 more than Miguel Cabrerato lead all hitters — but he was late bloomer and didn’t do enough on the front end or back end of his career, and Hall of Fame voters tend to reward longevity over peak value.
  • Gonzalez (43.5 WAR) falls into the “Hall of Very Good” category, with just over 2,000 hits, 317 home runs and seven 100-RBI seasons, but the offensive bar is high for first basemen.

Other holdovers are Omar VizquelAndy PettitteBobby AbreuJimmy RollinsMark BuehrleFrancisco Rodriguez and Torii Hunter.

After years of electing multiple candidates, the BBWAA has elected just one each of the past two years — Scott Rolen in 2023; David Ortiz in 2022 — and didn’t elect anyone in 2021.

Earlier, the Hall of Fame announced its Contemporary Era Committee ballot, which this year considered managers, executive and umpires.

The eight candidates on that ballot are managers Jim Leyland, Lou Piniella, Cito Gaston and Davey Johnson; executives Hank Peters and Bill White (who was also a fine player); and umpires Joe West and Ed Montague.

Colon’s Historic Homer Immortalized in Trading Card Form

Bartolo Colón’s feat is being immortalized…

The 42-year-old Dominican starting pitcher for the New York Mets delighted fans when he hit his first career home run Saturday against the San Diego Padres, and now his fans will have a chance to own that historic moment — in trading card form.

Bartolo Colón

On May 7, 2016, Colón hit his first major league home run, against the Padres at Petco Park off of James Shields.

Colón’s first homerun is the newest baseball card from the Topps Company.

The card is being produced as part of the Topps Now line, in which the classic company takes memorable moments from the 2016 MLB season and turns them around into instant cards that are available for purchase for just 24 hours.

The Colon card includes the text “The Impossible Becomes Possible”, an allusion to announcer Gary Cohen‘s line “the impossible has happened” — itself a callback to Vin Scully‘s famed call of Kirk Gibson‘s walk-off home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series.

At age 42 years, 349 days, Colon became the oldest major league player to hit his first home run.

Volquez Agrees to Two-Year Deal with the Kansas City Royals

Edinson Volquez has landed a royal deal…

The 31-year-old Dominican professional baseball pitcher has finalized a $20 million, two-year contract with the Kansas City Royals.

Edinson Volquez

Volquez’s deal includes a mutual option for the 2017 season and was announced this week during a brief news conference at Kauffman Stadium.

The right-handed Volquez, coming off one of the best seasons of his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, will make $7.5 million this season and $9.5 million next season. The option year would be worth $10 million and carries with it a $3 million buyout.

“I want to be here and help the team win some games, the way they did last year,” Volquez told reporters. “We did in Pittsburgh, too, but Kansas City went a little bit farther. They almost won the World Series. Why not do it here?”

The Royals have already signed designated hitter Kendrys Morales and outfielder Alex Rios to fill two of their most pressing needs. They also signed pitcher Kris Medlen, who is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and could help contribute midway through the season.

Volquez fills the last big hole by taking James Shields‘ place in the rotation. Shields became a free agent and it was unlikely the Royals would be able to keep him.

“We know full-well we’ll have to continue to make adjustments on our roster. It’s not a push-button club, it never was,” Royals general manager Dayton Moore said recently. “But right now we feel like we’re in a good position to start spring training and to start the season.”

Volquez was an All-Star for the Cincinnati Reds in 2008, going 17-6 with a 3.21 ERA. But he struggled with injuries and inconsistency the next few seasons, and started bouncing around the league.

He spent 2012 and part of the 2013 season with the San Diego Padres, finished up that season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and then joined Pittsburgh last season, where he seemed to resurrect his career.

Volquez went 13-7 with a career-best 3.04 ERA, and his 2-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio was among the best of his career. Volquez also ended the season with a career-best 18 straight scoreless innings, and had a 1.08 ERA in September.

Volquez was 9-1 with a 1.85 ERA after June 23, spanning his final 17 starts.

Volquez should slot into a starting rotation that includes young fireballer Yordano Ventura, left-handers Danny Duffy and Jason Vargas and veteran right-hander Jeremy Guthrie.