Jeff Kent Elected To Baseball Hall Of Fame

Jeff Kent was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, as revealed by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee tonight.  Kent received 14 of a possible 16 votes from the Era Committee, easily topping the 75% (12 of 16) threshold needed for induction to Cooperstown.  Of the other seven candidates under consideration, Carlos Delgado was the next-closest candidate with nine votes, and Dale Murphy and Don Mattingly each received six votes.  Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Gary Sheffield, and Fernando Valenzuela all received less than five votes.

A veteran of 17 Major League seasons with the Blue Jays, Mets, Indians, Giants, Astros, and Dodgers from 1992-2008, Kent hit more homers as a second baseman than any other player in history, going yard 351 times from the position.  His resume includes four Silver Slugger awards and five All-Star nods, as well as the 2000 NL MVP Award when Kent was a member of the Giants.

Kent is primarily remembered for his six seasons in San Francisco and five seasons with the Mets.  Beginning his career as a well-regarded prospect in the Blue Jays’ farm system, Roberto Alomar’s presence in Toronto made Kent expendable, and the Jays dealt Kent for David Cone in August 1992.  Cone’s presence helped the Blue Jays capture the 1992 World Series, while Kent went onto establish himself as a solid regular during his time in New York.

The 1996 trade deadline saw Kent again on the move, this time to Cleveland.  During the 1996-97 offseason, the Tribe flipped Kent to San Francisco, where he truly rose to stardom.  Kent hit .297/.368/.535 with 175 homers over 3903 plate appearances and an even 900 games with the Giants from 1997-2002, teaming with Bonds to form a devastating one-two punch in the lineup.  The 2002 Giants reached the World Series for Kent’s only appearance in the Fall Classic, as the team fell just short in a seven-game loss to the Angels.  For his career in the postseason, Kent hit a solid .276/.340/.500 over 189 PA.

Kent spent his final six seasons with the Astros (2003-04) and Dodgers (05-08), and remained an offensive force at the plate until his production finally trailed off in his 17th and final MLB season.  Over 2298 career games and 9537 PA, Kent hit .290/.356/.500 with 377 home runs, 1518 RBI, and 1320 runs scored.

Despite his impressive career numbers, Kent didn’t gain much traction during his 10 years on the writers’ ballot, as he never received more than 46.5% of the vote.  A crowded ballot during Kent’s era didn’t help, yet his subpar defense and surly reputation probably also didn’t help curry much favor with voters.  Clubhouse controversy followed Kent during his time with the Mets and Giants, and his stint in San Francisco included a well-publicized feud with Bonds.  There is some irony, therefore, in the fact that Kent is finally making it into Cooperstown while on the same Era Committee ballot as his former Giants teammate.

Formerly known as the Veterans Committee, the Era Committee is the latest incarnation of the process that for decades has given some fresh evaluation and a second chance to players initially overlooked on the writers’ ballot.  This year’s version of the Era Committee focused on players whose greatest contributions came during the “Contemporary Baseball” (1980-present) era.  Next year’s ballot will focus on managers, executives, and umpires from the Contemporary Baseball era, and the 2027 ballot will consider candidates from the “Classic Baseball” era (prior to 1980) before Contemporary Players are again considered in 2028.

A rule change introduced this year added an extra layer of intrigue (or even controversy) to this year’s proceedings.  Because they received less than five votes on this year’s ballot, Bonds, Clemens, Sheffield, and Valenzuela must be omitted from the next voting cycle, and can’t return to the Contemporary Players ballot until at least 2031.  If any of these four players then don’t receive at least five votes in 2031 or on any future ballot, they are no longer eligible for inclusion on any Contemporary Players ballot.

The aim of this new rule is to allow more candidates to be included on Era Committee ballots on a regular basis.  The concept of permanent disqualification from ballots, however, has been viewed by some as a way for the Hall of Fame to sidestep the ongoing controversy about Bonds, Clemens, Sheffield, or other prominent superstars (i.e. Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro) who were linked to PEDs.  While obviously Era Committee rules could again be altered down the road, for now, the path to Cooperstown has gotten even narrower for Bonds, Clemens, or Sheffield.

The results of the writers’ ballot will be announced on January 20, with such players as Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones seen as strong candidates to finally get over the 75% threshold after multiple years on the ballot (nine years for Jones, four years for Beltran).  Any players elected on January 20 will join Kent in being officially inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 26 in Cooperstown.

The 16 members of this year’s Era Committee could vote for as many as three players, and as few as zero players.  This year’s Era Committee was comprised of seven Hall of Famers (Ferguson Jenkins, Jim Kaat, Juan Marichal, Tony Perez, Ozzie Smith, Alan Trammell, Robin Yount), four former MLB general managers (Doug Melvin, Kim Ng, Tony Reagins, Terry Ryan), two current MLB owners (the Brewers’ Mark Attansio and the Angels’ Arte Moreno), two media members (the Athletic’s Tyler Kepner and Jayson Stark), and historian Steve Hirdt.