Who will be the next player to wear a NY Mets cap in Cooperstown?

It is Hall of Fame season. Ballots have already begun to roll in, and fans around the world will see who the newest member of Cooperstown will be on January 21st. Only two New York Mets players are wearing a Mets cap in Cooperstown. Those two are Tom Seaver, who was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1992, and Mike Piazza, who entered the Hall in 2016. But who will be the third player to get elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame with a NY Mets cap on their plaque?

Unfortunately, it probably won’t be David Wright. Wright just barely scraped by to receive a second round of balloting with 6.2% of the votes (5% minimum is required to stay on the ballot). It was only his first round of balloting, but he has a very long way to go, and pretty much no player has made the Hall after starting their balloting with such few votes, not including any Veterans’ Committee electees. Former Mets closer Billy Wagner will almost assuredly make it after receiving 73.8% of ballots last year. But he spent nine of his 16 big league seasons with the Houston Astros. He had some great years with the Mets, but Wagner will wear an Astros hat on his plaque.

However, the Mets may not have to wait all that long to see a player with a Mets cap on their plaque. Carlos Beltran has a strong chance of getting elected into the Hall within the next few years. He saw a huge boost in support from his first time on the ballot to the second time, going from 46.5% to 57.1% between his first two ballots, and now only enters his third year. 

Carlos Beltran could be the next player with a Mets cap on their Cooperstown plaque.

Beltran’s best seasons were with the Mets. He appeared in parts of seven seasons, batting .280/.369/.500 with a 129 OPS+ in 839 games across parts of seven different seasons. Beltran wore seven different jerseys, but had the most home runs (149), total bases (1567), games played, highest OPS+, and the most bWAR (+31.1) with the Mets than any other team he suited up for. Plus he has a trophy case full of accolades with the Mets, including five all-star game selections, three Gold Gloves, and two Silver Sluggers.

There is a small chance he opts to go into the Hall with a Kansas City Royals cap. The Royals are the team that drafted Beltran and the team he spent parts of the first seven seasons of his career with. He had nearly as many games played with Kansas City as he did with the Mets, with 795 contests. He won Rookie of the Year in 1999 with the Royals and made his first all-star game with them.

However, it seems unlikely Beltran would opt to wear a Royals cap over a Mets cap on his plaque. In the small chance he does choose a Royals cap, it will be a while until the Mets get another strong contender to make the Hall of Fame, barring a surprise Veterans’ Committee induction. Daniel Murphy is one of the few former Mets who will appear on a ballot within the next five years, and he’d likely wear a Mets cap if he were to make the Hall. However, he is likely a one-and-done than ever to make Cooperstown. So, hopefully, Beltran decides to wear a Mets cap upon his eventual induction.