Alex Rodriguez explains why the Dodgers are a good fit for baseball
USA TODAY’s Ralphie Aversa talks with MLB legend Alex Rodriguez about the dominant nature of the Dodgers’ roster.
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Carlos Beltran, a man of power and elegance who hit 435 home runs and won three Gold Glove Awards over a 20-year career, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on January 20, marking his steady rise toward induction as one of baseball’s best switch-hitting center fielders.
Joining him in Cooperstown will be Andruw Jones, who boasted 434 home runs and excellent center field defense, but was hampered by a rapid decline late in his career. He narrowly passed Cooperstown’s threshold, garnering attention with 78.4% of the ballots cast this time, making it his ninth time on the ballot.
Beltran, 48, was selected with 358 out of 425 votes cast by the Baseball Writers Association of America, receiving 84.2% of the votes, easily exceeding the 75% needed to win. He is headed to Cooperstown on his fourth ballot, starting with his first appearance in 2023, when he received just 46.5% of the vote.
Beltran debuted with the Kansas City Royals in 1998 and finished his career with the Houston Astros in 2017, winning his first World Series championship as a part-time 40-year-old DH. Two years later, it was revealed that he was one of the architects of the Astros’ illegal sign-stealing scheme that year.
Due to this inbroglio, he will lose his managerial job with the New York Mets in 2020, and there is a high possibility that the Hall election will be delayed. However, on the fourth attempt, he was not rejected.
Jones won 10 Gold Gloves and was named to five All-Star teams in a 17-year career that began in style in 1996, when he hit two home runs in Game 1 of the World Series at the age of 19. However, he struggled in his final seven seasons, hitting just .226 from his age 29 to age 35 seasons.
Several players who received additional chances in the election made significant gains. Longtime Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Chase Utley was selected with 59.1% of the votes, up from 39.8% in his second appearance in 2025. And Andy Pettit’s strange case continues. A recognized PED user with a pedestrian 3.85 ERA, he receives up to 48.5% of the votes despite appearing to be hit with two strikes.
Manny Ramirez, the great Red Sox slugger who ultimately violated Major League Baseball’s drug testing program multiple times, received 38.8% of the votes in the 10th and final writers’ poll. Similarly tainted Alex Rodriguez received 40% of the vote in his fifth year of consideration.
(75% needed to vote, 5% to stay on the ballot)
- Carlos Beltran: 84.2% (4th year)
- Andrew Jones: 78.4% (9th place)
- Chase Utley: 59.1% (3rd place)
- Andy Pettit: 48.5% (8th place)
- Felix Hernandez: 46.1% (2nd place)
- Alex Rodriguez: 40% (5th place)
- Manny Ramirez: 38.8% (10th and final year)
- Bobby Abreu: 30.8% (7th place)
- Jimmy Rollins: 25.4% (5th place)
- Cole Hamels: 23.8% (1st place)
- Dustin Pedroia: 20.7% (2nd place)
- Mark Buehrle: 20% (6th place)
- Omar Vizquel: 18.4% (9th place)
- David Wright: 14.8% (3rd place)
- Francisco Rodriguez: 11.8% (4th place)
- Torii Hunter: 8.7% (6th place)
- Ryan Braun: 3.5% (1st place)
- Edwin Encarnacion: 1.4% (1st place)
- Choo Shin Soo: 0.7% (1st place)
- Matt Kemp: 0.5% (1st place)
- Hunter Pence: 0.5% (first time)
- Alex Gordon: 0.2% (1st place)
- Nick Markakis: 0.2% (1st place)
- Gio Gonzalez: 0% (1st place)
- Howie Kendrick: 0% (first)
- Daniel Murphy: 0% (1st place)
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holdover
- Carlos Beltrán (4th year of voting, 70.3% in 2025)
- Andrew Jones (9th year, 66.2%)
- Chase Utley (3 years, 39.8%)
- Alex Rodriguez (5th year, 37.1%)
- Manny Ramirez (Final year 10, 34.3%)
- Andy Pettit (8th year, 27.9%)
- Felix Hernandez (2nd year, 20.6%)
- Bobby Abreu (7th year, 19.5%)
- Jimmy Rollins (5th year, 18.0%)
- Omar Vizquel (9th year, 17.8%)
- Dustin Pedroia (2nd year, 11.9%)
- Mark Buehrle (6th year, 11.4%)
- Francisco Rodriguez (4th year, 10.2%)
- David Wright (3 years, 8.1%)
- Torii Hunter (6th year, 5.1%)
first year of voting
- ryan brown
- it’s chinese
- Edwin Encarnacion
- Gio Gonzalez
- alex gordon
- cole humels
- matt kemp
- howie kendrick
- Nick Markakis
- daniel murphy
- hunter pence
- Rick Porcello
“This guy was the best guy to ever play the game,” Chipper Jones said of his longtime Atlanta teammate. “In my opinion, there’s no arguing with this. There was no one better.”
