Carlos Beltran, Andruw Jones elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

The center field roster of the Baseball Hall of Fame grew deeper on Tuesday with the announcement that Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones have been selected for induction.

Beltran was elected in his fourth year of eligibility after being named on 84.2% of the BBWAA ballots, easily clearing the 75 percent threshold for enshrinement. Jones was named on 78.4 percent of the ballots, just clearing the bar to earn election in his ninth and second-to-last year of eligibility.

A nine-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glover, Beltran hit .279 during his 20-year career with 2,725 hits, 435 homers and 312 stolen bases. He is one of four players to reach 2,700 hit, 400 homers and 300 steals, joining Barry Bonds, Willie Mays and Alex Rodriguez.

PLAYERVOTESPCT. (%)Carlos Beltrán35884.2Andruw Jones33378.4Chase Utley25159.1Andy Pettitte20648.5Félix Hernández19646.1Álex Rodríguez17040Manny Ramírez16538.8Bobby Abreu13130.8Jimmy Rollins10825.4Cole Hamels10123.8Dustin Pedroia8820.7Mark Buehrle8520Omar Vizquel7818.4David Wright6314.8Francisco Rodríguez5011.8Torii Hunter378.7Ryan Braun153.5Edwin Encarnación61.4Shin-Soo Choo30.7Matt Kemp20.5Hunter Pence20.5Rick Porcello20.5Alex Gordon10.2Nick Markakis10.2Gio González00Howie Kendrick00Daniel Murphy00

Beltran becomes the fifth player born in Puerto Rico to be elected in addition to Edgar Martinez, who was born in New York but grew up and attended high school on the island.

Beltran, the 1999 AL Rookie of the Year with Kansas City, likely would have gotten in during his first year or two of eligibility if not for his association with the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal tracing back to their 2017 World Series-winning club. His election surely bodes well for other members on that squad who will eventually arrive on the ballot, such as Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Carlos Correa and George Springer.

Jones will become the first player born in Curacao to be inducted. Best remembered for the legendary defensive prowess he displayed during the first decade his career, Jones is one on just six outfielders to win 10 or more Gold Gloves. He hit .254 with 434 homers during his 17 seasons in the majors.

Jones burst onto the scene in 2006, when at age 19 he homered twice in Game 1 of the 1996 World Series for the Braves against New York at Yankee Stadium. Jones’ candidacy built slowly during his years of eligibility, growing from 7.3 percent in his first season to eventual enshrinement.

Likely holding Jones back in the early years of the process was the decline he displayed after his age-30 season, and domestic violence charges filed against him in 2012, a couple of months after he played his last big league game. He went on to play two seasons in Japan.