Beltré has look, feel of first-ballot Hall of Famer
Adrián Beltré was set to make the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2024 without breaking a sweat.
The third baseman finished his 21year career with 3,166 hits, 477 home runs and five Gold Glove awards and was tracking at 98.9% support among Hall of Fame voters in his ballot debut at press time. Voting results by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America was set to be announced just after Sports Weekly went to press.
It’s tough to remember now, but Beltré’s career once looked like one of unfulfilled potential. After debuting as a 19-year-old with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1998, Beltré had a pedestrian .779 OPS through his first 12 seasons.
That all changed in 2010, when Beltré turned a one-year deal with the Boston Red Sox into a springboard to greatness, ultimately joining the Texas Rangers for the final eight seasons of his career. With the Rangers, Beltré became one of baseball’s top third basemen, hitting .304 with a .965 OPS, eventually the 31st member of the 3,000-hit club.
The case for
Beltré’s 93.5 career WAR ranks behind only Mike Schmidt and Eddie Matthews
among third basemen in baseball history. His 27 defensive WAR is second all time, trailing just Brooks Robinson, widely considered the best defensive third baseman to ever play the game. That mark is also the 15th highest at any position.
From 2010 to 2018, Beltré’s 48.9 WAR was the fourth highest in baseball. He received MVP votes every year from 2010 to 2016, including five top-10 finishes in those seven seasons.
The case against
Beltré nearly reached 500 home runs, but you might expect him to have put up better counting stats over his 21-year career, especially considering the era. That said, his 162-game average of 25 home runs beats out recent Hall of Fame inductee Scott Rolen.
Despite helping the Rangers get within a strike of a World Series title in 2011, Beltré doesn’t have much of a postseason resume. He hit .261 with 111 career playoff at-bats with a .297 OPS and only once played behind the division series.
Realistic outlook
Beltre was set to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer and it’s going to be nearly unanimous. He was at 99% support in Ryan Thibodaux’s ballot tracker with about half of the estimated votes in.