Wagner Elected to Hall of Fame; Beltrán Falls Just Short
Billy Wagner has gotten the call to Cooperstown.
Wagner, eighth on the all-time saves list with 422 and sixth in Mets history with 101, earned 82.5% of the vote in his 10th and final chance on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot, it was announced Tuesday. Players need 75 percent of the vote to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Carlos Beltrán, unfortunately, will have to wait.
Beltrán, a nine-time All-Star who accumulated 70.1 WAR over his 20-year career, received 70.3% of the vote in his third year on the ballot. That’s up from the 57.1% he earned last year.
Ichiro Suzuki (99.7%—all but one vote) and CC Sabathia (86.8%) were the two biggest vote-getters, both getting elected on their first ballot. Wagner, Suzuki, and Sabathia join Dick Allen and Dave Parker (voted in by committee) in the Hall of Fame class
David Wright earned 8.1% of the vote in his second year on the ballot up from 5.4% last year. Francisco Rodriguez earned 10.2% in his third year. Curtis Granderson, unfortunately, garnered less than 1% in his first year, meaning he’ll fall off the ballot. Players need 5% to remain on the ballot the following year.
Wagner Earns His Spot
Wagner posted a 2.31 ERA and 0.99 WHIP over 903 career innings while striking out 1,196 in 16 seasons. His career K% is 33.2 and his 11.92 K/9 is one of the best marks ever. The lefty came to the Mets as a free agent in 2006 (four years, $43 million) after 11 years in Houston and Philadelphia. He saved 40 games in his first year in New York with a 2.24 ERA and 1.10 WHIP. He had 94 strikeouts in 72.1 innings. He made the All-Star team seven times, including twice with the Mets in 2007-08.
Wagner was traded to the Red Sox in August 2009 for a couple of players to be named later and finished his career with the Braves in 2010.
Beltran Will Have to Wait… But Not Long
With 435 career home runs and 312 steals, Beltrán is one of five players in the 400 home run/300 stolen base club. The others are Willie Mays, Andre Dawson, Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez.
While Beltrán’s stats are Hall-worthy, he is likely losing support from some writers because of his admitted involvement in the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal, which also cost him his job as Mets skipper in 2020 before he ever managed a game.
Still, with Beltrán gaining 70.3% this year, he has an excellent chance of reaching the 75 percent threshold soon, especially with a slew of names dropping off this year, and not a ton of great candidates getting added for the 2026 ballot.
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