Overview
- The 16-member Contemporary Baseball Era Committee required 12 votes for election, and Kent was the lone honoree and will be inducted on July 26, 2026 in Cooperstown.
- Carlos Delgado received nine votes, Don Mattingly and Dale Murphy got six apiece, while Bonds, Clemens, Sheffield and Valenzuela drew fewer than five.
- Under the Hall’s updated rule, any candidate receiving under five votes is omitted from the next Contemporary Players ballot and cannot return before 2031, with a second sub-five result ending future consideration.
- The Baseball Writers’ Association of America will announce its ballot results on Jan. 20, and any selections will join Kent in the Class of 2026.
- The panel comprised Hall of Famers, team owners and executives, and media/historians who met at the Winter Meetings in Orlando to evaluate eight post-1980 era players.