Carlos Beltran falling short of Hall of Fame in revealed balloting

Baseball’s Hall of Fame might be getting a little bit bigger Tuesday night. Or it might not. Either way, the results of this year’s ballots could provide significant insight into how some prominent names in New York baseball history will be seen in the future.

While lifetime Rockie Todd Helton led the way on revealed ballots Monday morning, the greatest intrigue came via Carlos Beltran’s candidacy. The former Met and Yankee, who was the only player named in the 2017 Astros’ sign-stealing scandal, has all the typical Hall of Fame credentials but was checked off on only 55.6% of ballots Monday, as tallied by Ryan Thibodaux’s Hall of Fame tracker.

Former Mets closer Billy Wagner, in his eighth year of candidacy, had 73.3% of the vote.

Candidates are voted on by qualified members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Players need at least 75% of the vote for induction, and numbers generally dip once the undisclosed ballots are tallied. The official results will be revealed beginning at 6 p.m. Tuesday on MLB Network.

Helton, whose candidacy in past years has been hurt by playing mostly in Colorado’s hitter-friendly confines, nonetheless was one of the best hitters of his generation. He was listed on 79.4% of revealed ballots Monday and eight-time Gold Glove winner Scott Rolen was on 78.9% of them.

Both players lost 5% to 8% of their votes when non-disclosed ballots were factored in last season, meaning there’s an outside chance for a second Hall of Fame shutout in three years.

Andruw Jones and Gary Sheffield also have slim shots of induction. Jeff Kent was on only about 50% of revealed ballots in his 10th and final year of candidacy (other committees may vote him in down the road).

Alex Rodriguez (40.0%) and Manny Ramirez (37.2%), both of whom were suspended for using performance-enhancing drugs after baseball’s crackdown in 2001, also were receiving far fewer votes than needed on the revealed ballots. It’s Rodriguez’s second year of eligibility and Ramirez’s seventh.

Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, both of whom fell off the ballot last year, saw steady gains throughout their candidacies. Because both were implicated in steroid use before baseball began formally testing for substances, voters could have looked at them differently compared to more modern players.

Other than Rodriguez, Beltran might be the most statistically impressive candidate on the ballot. A switch hitter and five-tool player, the nine-time All-Star played 20 major-league seasons. He totaled 2,725 hits, earned three Gold Gloves, stole 312 bases (and was thrown out only 49 times) and had a proven record of postseason domination. He hit .307 with 16 homers, 42 RBIs and 45 runs scored in 65 postseason games.

His lone World Series ring, though, came at a hefty cost: Beltran, 40, was found to be one of the ringleaders in the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal in 2017, his final season. Naming active players could have triggered a grievance with the players’ union, so Beltran, who was retired by the time the commissioner’s disciplinary report came out, took the fall.

The revelation — and the view of him as one of the masterminds of the plot — cost him his new job as the Mets’ manager before the 2020 season began.

Beltran, who had a .279/.350/.486 slash line in his career, has nine more years to make his claim. His initial numbers indicate that he has more than a fair shot at induction down the line.

Less certain is Wagner, who, after this year, has two more shots.

Wagner, one of the top closers in baseball history, is vying to become one of the few relievers in the Hall of Fame — a role that’s received more recognition thanks to the likes of Mariano Rivera, who became the first unanimously elected player ever, and Trevor Hoffman, who was inducted in 2018. Rivera and Hoffman, though, are first and second in career saves. Wagner, who featured an exceptional fastball-slider combination, is sixth at 422.

Wagner, a natural righty who learned how to throw with his left hand after injuring his dominant arm as a child, spent 16 seasons in the majors, was a seven-time All-Star and finished fourth in the Cy Young Award voting in 1999. He had 1,196 strikeouts and a career 2.31 ERA. Among qualified candidates, Wagner has the second-highest K/9 rating in MLB history (11.9). He had four seasons of at least 100 strikeouts and, along with Rivera and Hoffman, helped build the framework for the ninth-inning closer as baseball sees it today.

By Laura Albanese

laura.albanese@newsday.com@AlbaneseLaura

Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.