Beltre, Helton & Mauer Heading to Cooperstown With Wagner Falling Five Votes Short

The triumvirate of Adrian Beltre, Todd Helton and Joe Mauer will be headed to Cooperstown this summer. 

Beltre, who played 21 MLB seasons with stops with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers, earned 95.1%. Helton and Mauer, who played their entire careers with the Colorado Rockies and Minnesota Twins, respectively, earned 79.7% and 76.1% of the tally from the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA). 

There were nearly four inductees this year. However, Billy Wagner fell five votes short of inclusion garnering 73.8% of the vote. Inductees must earn at least 75% of the BBWAA vote. Wagner's last year of eligibility is next year. More on him in a moment.

Beltre and Mauer were both first time inductees and I wrote about them a couple of days ago so I'll focus my commentary on Helton who earned baseball immortality in his sixth year on his ballot. For my part, I did not support his inclusion into Cooperstown until his third year on the ballot in 2021. This was the case I made for Helton more than three years ago:

The only other addition to my ballot is Colorado Rockies legend Todd Helton who is entering his third year on the ballot. While one could argue that Helton's peak might have been short (1998-2004) and his power declined significantly after he turned 30, he consistently hit above .300 and was consistently at or near .400 in OBP. Indeed, Helton had a OBP of .400 or better in nine seasons. Helton ended his career with a lifetime batting average of .316 and an OBP of .414. Of course, the problem is that Helton's offensive numbers were substantially better at Coors Field than away from it. While Helton had a lifetime batting average and OBP of .345 and .441 at Coors, he was far less immortal outside of Colorado at .287 and .386. The same holds true for his power numbers. 

Yet if we go by that approach then we effectively preclude any player who spent a significant portion of his career with the Rockies. The admission of Larry Walker into Cooperstown earlier this year might ease Helton's path a little although I suspect he will probably have to wait until his ninth or tenth year of eligibility to gain admission. But for my money Helton is worthy of induction right now.

As it turned out, Helton didn't have to wait until his ninth or tenth year of eligibility. Let me put it another way. If hitting in Coors Field is so easy, then everyone would be hitting .345 on Blake Street. In 2023, the Rockies (who lost an NL high 103 games) collectively batted .269 in Coors Field. 

A few more words about Billy Wagner. Given how close he came this year, methinks he will get the call next year unless he decides to pull a Schilling and demand the BBWAA not vote for him and remove him from the ballot altogether. I think Wagner will keep his mouth shut.

With 422 career saves, Wagner is sixth on MLB's all-time list. Among lefthanders only John Franco has more saves although he too is not in Cooperstown. In fact, Franco only got 4.6% of the vote in his only year on the BBWAA ballot in 2011. What works in Wagner's favor is that it took him 16 seasons to earn 422 saves while it took Franco 21 seasons to earn 424. In any case, it does seem egregious that no southpaw closer has ever been inducted. 

Beltre, Mauer and Helton will be inducted into Cooperstown along with former Pirates, Marlins, Rockies and Tigers manager Jim Leyland on July 21st.