Ex Royals great Carlos Beltran falls short in bid for MLB Hall of Fame enshrinement

Former Kansas City Royals outfielder Carlos Beltran fell just short in his bid to enter the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Beltran, 47, missed Hall of Fame enshrinement after receiving 277 votes on Tuesday.

Beltran garnered 70.3% of all votes in his third year on the ballot. The Hall of Fame threshold is 75% and he is positioned as a strong candidate for the 2026 class.

This year, Hall of Fame inductees include Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner. Suzuki received 393 votes (99.7%), Sabathia had 342 votes (86.8%), and Wagner had 325 (82.5%) in the final tally.

Beltran hit .279 with 435 home runs and 1,587 RBIs across 20 seasons. He finished with nine All-Star nominations, three Gold Gloves and two Silver Slugger Awards with multiple teams.

Beltran played for the New York Mets, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Astros, Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants in his career. However, his prolific journey began with the Royals as a second-round pick in the 1995 MLB Draft.

The Royals developed Beltran in their minor-league system. He rose through the ranks and made his MLB debut in 1998 at 21 years old. He appeared in 14 games before becoming entrenched as a full-time starter in 1999.

That season, Beltran was named the American League Rookie of the Year. He hit .293 with 22 home runs and 108 RBIs. He also registered a 4.7 WAR (wins above replacement) while racking up 27 stolen bases.

Beltran spent seven seasons with the Royals before being traded to the Mets. In 2001, he was named the Royals Player of the Year becoming the youngest Royal to win the award since George Brett in 1975 and 1976. Two years later, Beltran became the sixth MLB player to have three consecutive seasons of 100 runs, 100 RBIs and 30 stolen bases.

The Royals saw Beltran plenty of times late in his career. In 2017, he won a World Series with the Astros and retired the following offseason.

All told, Beltran hit .287 with 123 home runs, 516 RBIs and a 24.8 WAR with the Royals. He received 46.5% of the Hall of Fame vote in 2023 and 57.1% in 2024.

Brett still remains as the Royals’ lone Hall of Famer in Cooperstown. The Class of 2025 Hall of Fame inductees will be enshrined on July 27.