Andruw Jones Deserves to be in Cooperstown; Carlos Beltrán Does Not

The BBWAA announced that it elected Andruw Jones and Carlos Beltrán to the National Baseball Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2026.

I am delighted that Jones will get a plaque in Cooperstown.

However, I am disappointed that the BBWAA saw fit to elect Beltrán.

With that, let's start with Andruw Jones who earned 78.4% of the vote in his ninth (and next to last) year of eligibility on the BBWAA ballot.

Of note, Jones is the first player from the Dutch island of Curacao to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He will not be the last.

I have had Jones on my unofficial ballot since his second year of eligibility in 2019. Actually, I came this close to putting him on my unofficial 2018 ballot on the strength of his 10 Gold Gloves, but I was prioritizing other defensive stalwarts like Larry Walker, Scott Rolen and Omar Vizquel (before the allegations of sexual assault against him).

Jones earned all 10 of his Gold Gloves during his days with the Atlanta Braves. He would decline significantly as a player after the age of 30 during brief tenures with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox and the New York Yankees.

But still 10 Gold Gloves is 10 Gold Gloves. Ken Griffey, Jr, Ichiro Suzuki and Al Kaline had 10 Gold Gloves for their outfield play and they are bonafide Hall of Famers. The only outfielders with more Gold Gloves are Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente who each won 12 Gold Gloves. Also bonafide Hall of Famers. Andruw Jones belongs with this elite group and belongs in Cooperstown.

I wish I could say the same for Carlos Beltrán.

His stats as a player are Hall of Fame worthy. My objection is to Beltrán's character or lack thereof.

Yesterday, I expressed concern about his involvement in the Houston Astros electronic sign-stealing scandal in 2017 and 2018. 

Today, I express disgust. After being hired as an analyst with the New York Yankees' YES Network in 2022, Beltrán claimed:

We all did what we did. Looking back today, we were wrong. I wish I would’ve asked more questions about what we were doing. I wish the organization would’ve said to us, `Hey man, what you guys are doing, we need to stop this.

Nonsense. There would have been no sign stealing scandal without Beltrán. When veteran catcher Brian McCann approached Beltrán about stopping the scheme, he was flatly ignored. In 2019, Beltrán falsely denied any shenanigans were taking place. The idea that it was the responsibility of the Houston Astros to tell him it was wrong to do something he knew to be wrong is preposterous. 

Unfortunately, in our Trumpian age, good character no longer matters. And taking page out of Trump's book, 84.2% of the BBWAA has rewarded Beltrán for his dishonest and duplicitous behavior. Shame on them.