Adrian Beltre Among Newcomers to Baseball Writers’ Association of America Hall of Fame Ballot

Adrian Beltre is getting his first chance at entering the hall…

The 44-year-old Dominican former professional baseball player, regarded as one of the greatest third basemen of all time, is among the newcomers to the 26-player Baseball Writers’ Association of America Hall of Fame ballot, as revealed on Monday.

Adrian Beltre Beltre, a four time MLB All-Star. played 21 major league seasons and won the Rawlings Gold Glove Award five times. He played for the Los Angeles DodgersSeattle MarinersBoston Red Sox and Texas Rangers.

Other newcomers are  Bartolo ColonMatt HollidayJose BautistaAdrian GonzalezJose ReyesVictor MartinezJames Shields, David Wright, Joe MauerChase Utley and Brandon Phillips.

Players must receive 75% of the vote to gain induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, with the top holdovers from last year’s vote including Todd Helton (72%), Billy Wagner (68%), Andruw Jones (58%), Gary Sheffield (55%) and Carlos Beltran (46.5%).

It’s the 10th and final year on the ballot for Sheffield, while Wagner is on the ballot for the ninth time.

Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez, both of whom received PED suspensions during their careers, also return to the ballot.

Beltran returns for the second time after his vote total might have been held down in his initial appearance due to his involvement in the 2017 Houston Astros cheating scandal.

Here’s a look at the top Latino newcomers:

  • Beltre should be a lock as a first-year candidate after finishing with 3,166 hits, 477 home runs and 93.5 WAR while capturing five Gold Gloves. He ranks third in WAR among third basemen, behind only Mike Schmidtand Eddie Mathews. He had his career season with the Los Angeles Dodgersin 2004, when he led the National League with 48 home runs and finished second in the MVP voting, but his best run came in his 30s with the Texas Rangers from 2011 to 2018, when he had four 30-homer seasons and hit .304.
  • Colon became a fan favorite late in his career, and he finished with 247 wins and won a Cy Young Award with the Angels in 2005, but his career ERA of 4.12 is a little high for serious consideration.
  • Bautista had a nice run from 2010 to 2015 as the game’s top power hitter — he led the AL with 54 home runs in 2010 and 43 in 2011, and his 227 home runs over those six seasons were 28 more than Miguel Cabrerato lead all hitters — but he was late bloomer and didn’t do enough on the front end or back end of his career, and Hall of Fame voters tend to reward longevity over peak value.
  • Gonzalez (43.5 WAR) falls into the “Hall of Very Good” category, with just over 2,000 hits, 317 home runs and seven 100-RBI seasons, but the offensive bar is high for first basemen.

Other holdovers are Omar VizquelAndy PettitteBobby AbreuJimmy RollinsMark BuehrleFrancisco Rodriguez and Torii Hunter.

After years of electing multiple candidates, the BBWAA has elected just one each of the past two years — Scott Rolen in 2023; David Ortiz in 2022 — and didn’t elect anyone in 2021.

Earlier, the Hall of Fame announced its Contemporary Era Committee ballot, which this year considered managers, executive and umpires.

The eight candidates on that ballot are managers Jim Leyland, Lou Piniella, Cito Gaston and Davey Johnson; executives Hank Peters and Bill White (who was also a fine player); and umpires Joe West and Ed Montague.

Cesar Hernandez Agrees to One-Year Deal with the Cleveland Indians

Cesar Hernandez is heading to Cleveland…

The 29-year-old Venezuelan professional baseball player and second baseman has agreed to a one-year, $6.25 million contract with the Cleveland Indians, according to ESPN.

Cesar Hernandez

Hernandez became a free agent when he wasn’t tendered a contract by the Philadelphia Philliesafter a season in which he hit .279 with 14 home runs and a career-high 71 RBIs.

He avoided arbitration in 2019 by reaching a one-year, $7.75 million deal with Philadelphia, and he was again eligible for arbitration had he signed after the season.

Hernandez had been a starter with the Phillies since 2015, when he replaced Chase Utley. He led the team with a .294 batting average in both 2016 and 2017, then had a career-high 15 home runs in 2018. He has averaged 2.5 wins above replacement over the past four seasons.

Hernandez had been with the Phillies since signing with them out of Venezuela in 2006 at the age of 16. He has a .277 career average with 253 RBIs and a .352 on-base percentage.

With the addition of Hernandez, the Indians will likely keep Jose Ramirezat third base. The club considered sliding Ramirez over to the right side of the infield and pairing him with All-Starshortstop Francisco Lindor, whose name continues to be bounced around in trade rumors.

Tejada Signs One-Year Contract with the St. Louis Cardinals

Ruben Tejada will be flying high in St. Louis…

The 26-year-old Panamanian professional baseball player has signed a one-year contract with the St. Louis Cardinals. The deal is worth $1.5 million, according to multiple reports.

Ruben Tejada

The announcement comes just days after Tejada was released by the New York Mets.

St. Louis needed another infielder after losing shortstop Jhonny Peralta for the first few months of the season with a torn ligament in his left thumb, which required surgery to repair.

“We do feel like there is an opportunity to add depth, because Tejada was recently released, and for us it made sense to pursue this,” Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said, according to MLB.com. “I just think it makes our club stronger overall, and ultimately it then gives (manager) Mike (Matheny) the flexibility to utilize the different infield positions until Peralta gets back.”

Tejada had returned healthy this spring training after suffering a fractured fibula in his right leg on a slide from Chase Utley of the Los Angeles Dodgers during Game 2 of the National League Division Series.

Tejada hit .261 with three homers and 28 RBIs in 360 at-bats last season.

Had he not been released by the Mets, Tejada was due to earn $3 million this season. By releasing him more than 15 days before Opening Day, the Mets were obligated to pay him slightly less than $500,000.

Tejada became expendable with the Mets because they added middle infielders Neil Walker and Asdrubal Cabrera during the offseason and also have Wilmer Flores to handle shortstop.

Colón Wins 200th Game as Mets Defeat the Phillies

Bartolo Colón has joined an elite Major League Baseball club…

The 41-year-old Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets pitched eight innings for his 200th career victory, as the teamheld on for a 5-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Bartolo Colón

Colon joined Pedro Martinez and Juan Marichal as the only Dominican-born pitchers to reach 200 victories.

“I’m really happy to be in that category,” Colon said through an interpreter. “I’m expecting a call from those guys.”

He gave up one run and six hits, struck out six and walked none.

“It’s amazing that he’s still able to perform like he does,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “Two hundred wins, that’s a lot of wins.”

Colon (11-9) didn’t allow a batter to reach second base except for Byrd, who led off the seventh with a drive over the wall in left for his 22nd homer. Colon departed after throwing 107 pitches.

“He throws a lot of fastballs but he changes speeds with them making it difficult to gauge the velocity,” said Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg.

Philadelphia’s A.J. Burnett (6-12) surrendered 11 hits, tying a season high, resulting in five runs in his third consecutive loss. The right-hander struck out eight and walked two while falling to 0-4 with a 6.66 ERA in his last five starts.

The Mets nearly blew it in the ninth, when Philadelphia scored three runs on three hits.

Chase Utley doubled and Ryan Howard walked against left-hander Dana Eveland. Closer Jenrry Mejia relieved Eveland and Byrd singled to load the bases. Sizemore then lined a two-run double off the wall in right that trimmed New York’s lead to 5-3.

“I was praying for the ball to stay in the ballpark,” Colon said. “Thanks to Mejia for doing his job and holding his composure on the mound.”

After Cody Asche had a run-scoring groundout, Mejia struck out pinch-hitter Reid Brignac for his 17th save in 19 opportunities.