While David Wright is highly unlikely to hear his name called during the 2024 Hall of Fame announcement on Tuesday night, the former New York Mets third baseman and captain will at least have his name continue to be debated once it’s time to pick next year’s class. Currently, a player needs to have at least 5% of the vote from the BBWAA to stay on the ballot. As of the latest Hall Of Fame tracker, Wright is looking like his name won’t be removed from the ballot (7.3%).
Currently (as of 9:00 a.m. ET on Friday), there are 179 ballots in the tracker, which is 46.6% of all the ballots. Wright needs seven more votes to secure his spot on the 2025 ballot. Former Mets that fell off the ballot after only one year include pitcher Johan Santana, first baseman John Olerud, and lefty Jerry Koosman.
In Wright’s 14-year Mets career, he had a slash line of .296/.376/..491 with 242 home runs, 970 RBIs and an OPS of .867. He had four seasons of 25+ home runs, five seasons of 100+ RBIs, and had a batting average of over .300 seven times (same number as his All-Star appearances).
Unfortunately, Wright’s five seasons of playing in 100 or fewer games is something that is going to deny him a legitimate chance at the Hall of Fame. However, staying on the ballot and being named to the ballot would be an honor for the 2001 1st Round pick (38th overall) that not many players who take the diamond get to have in their careers.
While Wright is on track to stay on the ballot, other ex-Mets such as outfielder José Bautista (1.1%), pitcher Bartolo Colón (0.6%), shortstop José Reyes (0.0%) and outfielder Gary Sheffield (74.3%) might not have that luxury. Sheffield is in his tenth and final year on the ballot.
If Wright were to stay on the ballot, he would be joined by Curtis Granderson, as he’s projected to be on the ballot for the first time in 2025.
As for the other ex-Mets, closer Billy Wagner as of now would get inducted in his ninth year on the ballot (79.3%), while OF Carlos Beltrán still has some catching up to do (67%), but he still has eight years of eligibility remaining.
Wagner signed with the Mets as a free agent in 2005 to a four-year, $43 million deal that included a club option. During those four years, he recorded 101 saves, had a 2.37 ERA, and had 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings (two All-Star appearances). His 40 saves in his inaugural season in Flushing helped the Mets win the NL East and reach the postseason for the first time since 2000.
Beltrán signed a seven-year, $119 million contract with the Mets in January 2005. In his seven seasons in Queens, he made five All-Star teams, hit 149 home runs, drove in 559 runs, stole 100 bases, and had an OPS+ of 129. In 2006, he had a career-high 41 home runs and 116 RBIs en route to finishing fourth in the NL MVP voting.
Should Wagner and Beltran not get inducted this year, both will be on the ballot next year (Wagner will be in his 10th year on the ballot). Like Wright, former Mets closer Francisco Rodríguez is currently at 7.3%, which would keep him on next year’s ballot.
