Carlos Beltran back on Baseball Hall of Fame ballot with strong chance for 2026 induction

Carlos Beltran returns to this year’s Baseball Hall of Fame ballot as a virtual lock for induction next summer and former Met Daniel Murphy is among the dozen new candidates, a group that also includes PED-tainted slugger Ryan Braun.

Beltran narrowly missed making the cut for the Class of 2025 in his third year of eligibility, earning 277 of the necessary 296 votes for election, or 70.3% of the required 75% threshold. While Beltran’s involvement with the 2017 Astros' cheating scandal forced him to resign as Mets manager before making it to spring training, the nine-time All-Star was selected for the franchise’s Hall of Fame last week and should cruise into Cooperstown come January. Andruw Jones has a decent shot to join Beltran as well after pulling in 261 votes, or 66.2% of the electorate.

The other returning candidates face a steep climb, but with voters allowed to choose 10 names, this year’s relatively thin list should help give that group an additional boost. Chase Utley was next on the bubble, at 39.8%, but it’s the trio right below him that has trouble escaping the PED cloud — Alex Rodriguez (37.1), Manny Ramirez (34.3) and Andy Pettitte (27.9%). This also is Ramirez’s 10th and final year of BBWAA consideration.

Braun, a six-time All-Star, won Rookie of the Year (2007) and the NL MVP (2011), but served a 65-game suspension in 2013 for being linked to the Biogenesis investigation. He also later apologized for taking PEDs during his MVP season after vehemently denying such usage — as well as publicly smearing a sample collector to help initially overturn MLB’s first attempts at disciplining him.

Murphy, a career .296 hitter, played seven seasons in Flushing and won the NLCS MVP during the Mets’ World Series run in 2015. The next year, his first with the Nationals, Murphy finished second to Kris Bryant for MVP and his .347 batting average left him just short of DJ LeMahieu (.348) for the NL crown.

The rest of the first-timers include Matt Kemp, Howie Kendrick, Cole Hamels, Rick Porcello, Gio Gonzalez, Edwin Encarnacion, Alex Gordon, Shin-Soo Choo, Nick Markakis and Hunter Pence.

David Wright also returns after he continued to pick up votes last winter, rising to 8.1% in his third try after starting with 6.2% in his first year of eligibility (5% is required to stay on the ballot).

By David Lennon

dave.lennon@newsday.comDPLennon

David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.