December 24, 2024

Adrián Beltré, Joe Mauer, Todd Helton Named to 2024 Baseball Hall of Fame Class

Joe Mauer #JoeMauer

Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images

Adrián Beltré, Joe Mauer and Todd Helton were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2024.

The results were announced Tuesday on MLB Network, with at least 75 percent of votes needed for players to receive an induction.

Beltré, Mauer and Helton will join three-time Manager of the Year Jim Leyland, who was elected in December through the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee with 93.8 percent of the vote.

There were 26 candidates on this year’s ballot, with 12 newcomers and 14 holdovers. Beltré was considered a shoo-in in his first year on the ballot, as he had appeared on 99 percent of public ballots. Mauer also was a popular first-year candidate with a public ballot of 83.2 percent.

Beltré played a total of 21 major league seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers. He won five Gold Glove Awards for his exemplary performance at third base. He also won four Silver Slugger Awards and earned four selections to the All-Star Game. At the time of his retirement in 2018, he was the only third baseman in MLB history with over 3,000 career hits and 400 home runs. His No. 29 was retired by the Rangers in 2019.

Mauer spent his entire 15-year career with the Minnesota Twins and was one of the team’s most beloved players. He took home the American League MVP award in 2009 and won three AL batting titles. He earned six All-Star selections, five Silver Slugger Awards and three Gold Glove Awards during his time as a catcher before switching to first base later in his career. The Twins retired his No. 7 in 2019 as well.

Helton was in his sixth year on the ballot, but he barely fell short last year with 72.2 percent of the vote, so it was expected that he would be able to break through this year. He spent his entire 17-year career with the Colorado Rockies, winning an MLB batting title in 2000. The five-time All-Star finished his career with 2,519 hits, 369 home runs and a .316 career batting average.

Billy Wagner, Gary Sheffield, Andruw Jones and Carlos Beltrán were among the repeat players on the ballot who once again failed to meet the 75 percent threshold for induction. Sheffield was in his final year on the ballot.

It was Wagner’s ninth year on the ballot, so next year will be his last. The longtime closer was a seven-time All-Star and ranks sixth in MLB history with 422 career saves in his 16 major league seasons with the Houston Astros, New York Mets, Phillies, Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves.

Of course, Alex Rodriguez remains the biggest snub in his third year on the ballot thanks to his connection to performance-enhancing drugs, which kept Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens out of the Hall of Fame during their 10 years on the ballot. Rodriguez, who has three MVP awards and ranks fifth in MLB history with 696 home runs, received 34.8 percent of the vote, down from 35.7 percent last year.

The class of 2024 will officially be inducted into the Hall of Fame during a ceremony at Cooperstown on July 21.

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