Baseball Hall of Fame 2026: Why Beltran, Jones, Kent got in - ESPN

Editor's note: This story originally ran on Jan. 21, 2026. The Class of 2026 is being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 26, 2026.

The Baseball Hall of Fame welcomes three new members this weekend — one of which, with apologies to Shohei Ohtani, is the greatest player I've ever seen.

Playing for the Houston Astros in the 2004 playoffs, Carlos Beltran introduced himself to many baseball fans for the first time with a dazzling display of power, speed and defense. Prior to coming over to Houston in a trade that season, Beltran had played in obscurity for the sad-sack Kansas City Royals, but in 12 wonderful games over two weeks that October, he hit .435, slugged 1.022, smashed 8 home runs, swiped 6 bases, scored 21 runs and ran down everything in center field.

«He was Superman,» Astros teammate Craig Biggio said in 2014. «It was a display of something I'd never seen before.»

While that was the best Beltran would ever play, he went on to a distinguished career that saw him hit 435 home runs while registering more than 1,500 RBIs and 1,500 runs scored — one of just 39 players to achieve both milestones and one of just nine to also steal at least 300 bases.

And now, Beltran can call himself a Hall of Famer.

Andruw Jones also burst onto the scene in the postseason, a 19-year-old prodigy who hit two home runs in Game 1 of the 1996 World Series for the Atlanta Braves. Jones went on to hit 434 home runs, but he made his biggest impact on defense, winning 10 consecutive Gold Gloves and earning accolades as perhaps the best defensive center fielder of all time.

He is also now a Hall of Famer.

Beltran and Jones are just the fourth and fifth primary center fielders to reach Hall of Fame status who began their careers