The Contemporary Baseball Era Committee met on Sunday at the winter meetings in Orlando, trying to decide which players from an eight-person ballot would be elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Only one —Jeff Kent — will be inducted in Cooperstown in July 2026, while Fernando Valenzuela and others fell short.

Kent received 14 votes from the 16-person committee, two more than the 75 percent required for induction. Carlos Delgado received nine votes, while Dale Murphy and Don Mattingly received six votes apiece. Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Gary Sheffield, and Valenzuela all got fewer than five votes, which makes those four ineligible for the 2029 ballot, the next time this committee meets.

Kent played the final four of his 17 major league seasons with the Dodgers, hitting .291/

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