Pair of former SF Giants MVP's to appear to Contemporary Baseball Era ballot

On Monday, the Hall of Fame released its Contemporary Baseball Era ballot for 2026. A pair of former SF Giants MVP's in Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent will be up for consideration for the Hall of Fame.

Pair of former SF Giants MVP's to appear to Contemporary Baseball Era ballot

Roger Clemens, Carlos Delgado, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, Gary Sheffield, and Fernando Valenzuela will also appear on the ballot.

The 16-person committee will convene on December 7 to discuss the candidates. The committee is often made up of former players and coaches, as well as writers. Any player that receives at least 75 percent of the vote will be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

This committee meets every three years. In its last meeting, Fred McGriff was elected unanimously. Mattingly received eight votes, followed by Murphy with six votes. Bonds and Clemens received less than four votes.

Unfortunately, that will likely be the case again for Bonds and Clemens. Both appeared on the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot, but fell comfortably shy of the 75-percent threshold needed for induction. Many writers left them off the ballot due to their connections to PED use. That said, they have previously made exceptions for players with PED ties.

That could be the same outcome for Gary Sheffield as well. He was lightly tied to PED use while recording 509 home runs during his 22-year playing career. The 500-homer threshold has often served as the benchmark for Hall of Fame induction, but many players with PED ties have been excluded.

While those three players will likely be polarizing figures on the ballot, it could open up the door for Jeff Kent to gain some traction. Kent did not gain much traction in his 10 times on the ballot, never appearing on more than 46.5 percent of the ballots. That came in his final turn on the ballot in 2023.

Second base is a weird position in the Hall of Fame because it feels a bit under-represented. Deserving players like Bobby Grich and Lou Whitaker fell well short of induction.

It is hard to tell the history of the position without mentioning Kent. He was an offensive force during his 17-year career. This includes winning the NL MVP Award with San Francisco in 2000.

Kent finished his career with an .855 OPS, 2,461 hits, including 560 doubles and 377 home runs, 1,518 RBI, and 1,320 runs while playing for the Toronto Blue Jays New York Mets, Cleveland Guardians, Giants, Houston Astros, and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Of course, he is remembered for his six-year run with the Giants where he tallied at least 100 RBI in every season.

Kent retired after the 2008 season, and he is still the leader among second basemen in home runs. Jose Altuve (255 home runs) and Marcus Semien (253 home runs) are the closest active second basemen in that category.

If you look at second basemen over the past 75 years, Kent is among the best offensive players at that position. The defensive numbers were never that strong and that held down his overall value, but teams never lost a game because of his defense.

Kent should merit some consideration on this ballot. However, there are plenty of worthy candidates to consider.