Beltre, Mauer, Helton elected to Baseball Hall of Fame by BBWAA

A trio of players are headed to Cooperstown.

Four-time All-Star third baseman Adrian Beltre, 2009 American League Most Valuable Player Joe Mauer, and five-time All-Star first baseman Todd Helton were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday.

The three men will join World Series-winning manager Jim Leyland, who was elected by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee in December, as the Class of 2024 to be inducted this summer.

A native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Beltre was in his first year of eligibility. He spent 21 years in the majors from 1998 to 2018 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers.

In 2,933 career games, Beltre batted .286 with 3,166 hits, 477 home runs, 1,707 runs batted in and an OPS of .819.

Famed for his glove at the hot corner, Beltre was a five-time Gold Glover and two-time Platinum Glover.

His prodigious power numbers made Beltre a four-time Silver Slugger, hitting at least 30 home runs on five occasions and reaching the 40-plus plateau twice including in 2004 when he led the National League in homers with 49.

The 44-year-old Beltre becomes the fifth Dominican player elected to Cooperstown, following in the footsteps of Juan Marichal (1983), Pedro Martinez (2015), Vladimir Guerrero Sr. (2018) and David Ortiz (2022).

Mauer was also in his first year of eligibility.

A native of St. Paul, Minn., Mauer spent the entirety of his 15-year career with his hometown Minnesota Twins.

Making his debut in 2004, Mauer played at catcher for the first 10 seasons of his career and won three Gold Gloves before converting into a first baseman in 2014.

A six-time All-Star, Mauer appeared in 1,858 career games and batted .306 with 2,123 hits, 143 HR, 923 RBI and an .827 OPS.

His MVP award in 2009 came after a season in which he led the league in average (.365), on-base percentage (.444) and slugging (.587), finishing the season with a 1.031 OPS.

The 40-year-old Mauer becomes the 18th catcher elected to Cooperstown.

Helton, 50, was elected in his sixth year of eligibility.

Like Mauer, he spent his entire career with a single franchise, appearing in 2,247 games over 17 seasons for the Colorado Rockies from 1997 to 2013.

Helton finished his career with a .316 average, 2,519 hits, 369 HR, 1,406 RBI and an OPS of .953.

The Knoxville, Tenn. native was a three-time Gold Glover and four-time Silver Slugger.

Helton led the NL in batting average in 2000 when he batted .372.

Famously, Helton started three games at quarterback at Tennessee during the 1994 season before a knee injury saw him replaced by freshman Peyton Manning.

Former Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista, also in his first year of eligibility, was one of eight players to fall off of the ballot after failing to reach the threshold of five per cent of votes.

Nine-time All-Star Gary Sheffield will also come off of the ballot, having failed to be elected after 10 years of eligibility.

The 2024 Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony is set for July 21.