Baseball Hall of Fame: Jeff Kent elected into Cooperstown for Class of 2026

The Contemporary Baseball Era Committee has elected Jeff Kent into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, museum president Josh Rawitch announced Sunday at the Winter Meetings in Orlando.

Kent was named on 14 of 16 ballots. Twelve votes are needed for induction. Others on the ballot this year were Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Carlos Delgado, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, Gary Sheffield and Fernando Valenzuela. 

As a reminder, there are two separate Hall of Fame votes each offseason and the one that generally comes to the forefront is the BBWAA vote. This Contemporary Era Hall of Fame vote is tantamount to a second chance for players who have lapsed off the BBWAA ballot. 

A 16-person panel met in person to discuss the merits of eight candidates before casting their ballots. The panel: 

• Hall of Famers Fergie Jenkins, Jim Kaat, Juan Marichal, Tony Perez, Ozzie Smith, Alan Trammell, Robin Yount
• Executives Mark Attanasio, Doug Melvin, Arte Moreno, Kim Ng, Tony Reagins, Terry Ryan 
• Media/historians Steve Hirdt, Tyler Kepner, Jayson Stark

Kent, 57, hit .290/.356/.500 (123 OPS+) in parts of 17 seasons along with 2,461 hits, 560 doubles, 377 home runs, 1,518 RBI, 1,320 runs and 55.4 WAR. He’s the all-time leader in home runs by a second baseman. 

Kent played for the Giants for six seasons and amassed most of his career value there (31.6 WAR with San Francisco, while he didn’t get more than 8.4 WAR with any other team). Kent hinted Sunday that he’d like to go in with a Giants logo on his plaque cap, citing his “great moments in the Bay Area with those fans.” It’s also possible that the Hall will go with a blank logo, as he spent five years with the Mets, four with the Dodgers, two with the Astros, one with the Blue Jays and one with Cleveland.

A five-time All-Star and four-time Silver Slugger, Kent won the National League MVP in 2000. 

In 10 years on the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot, Kent never got higher than 46.5% of the vote. He was the victim of a crowded ballot and probably punished far too heavily for being a so-called one-dimensional player. He was one of the best hitting second baseman of all time, but defensive and baserunning metrics weren’t kind to him and dragged down all-encompassing metrics like WAR. 

Speaking of, Kent ranks 19th in WAR among second basemen in baseball history and he’s now the 21st Hall of Famer at the position. As noted, he’s first in home runs at the position and ranks third among second basemen in RBI. He’s also 12th in runs and 13th in hits.

Kent will be inducted into the Hall in July in Cooperstown, alongside the winners of the BBWAA vote that will be announced in January. Among the candidates on the BBWAA’s ballot are newcomers Ryan Braun and Cole Hamels, as well as holdovers like Carlos Beltrán, Andruw Jones, Alex Rodriguez, and more.

Bonds, Kent’s former teammate, and Clemens both received fewer than five votes and, according to a new rule, they are now ineligible to appear on the next Contemporary Baseball Era Committee ballot in December 2028. The earliest they can appear on the ballot again is in December 2031. If they receive fewer than five votes again, they will no longer be eligible for Hall of Fame consideration. Sheffield and Valenzuela also got fewer than five votes. Murphy and Mattingly got six votes each while Delgado got nine.