Welcome Jeff Kent to the Hall of Fame Class of 2026! He was chosen by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee.
Kent began his career with the Blue Jays when he was drafted in the 20th round of the 1989 draft out of the University of California, Berkeley. The second baseman made his big league debut with the Jays in 1992 and slashed .240/.342/.443 with eight home runs in 222 at-bats. In late August, he was traded to the New York Mets for David Cone, but still earned a World Series ring.
The Bellflower native played parts of five seasons with the Mets, with slightly below-average results. In 1996, he was traded to Cleveland, finishing the 1996 season with them. This offseason, Kent was traded again, this time to the San Francisco Giants.
He had his best year yet in 1997, hitting 29 home runs for a 104 wRC+ and 4.1 fWAR, but it wasn’t until 1998 that he really broke out, hitting .297/.359/.555 with 31 home runs. Kent followed that up with a 23-home run season in 1999. In his 2000 season, he slashed .334/.424/.596 with 33 home runs, winning the National League MVP.
In the 2002 season, Kent hit a career-high 37 home runs, helping the Giants to the World Series, where they lost to the Los Angeles Angels. Kent signed with the Houston Astros in the offseason, played there for two seasons and earned his fourth All-Star Game nomination.
He finished his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, playing for them in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 and representing the team at the 2005 All-Star Game. Ultimately, Kent finished his career hitting .290/.356/.500 with 377 home runs in 9,537 plate appearances for a 123 wRC+ and 56 fWAR. Kent’s 377 home runs led all second basemen, while he went to five All-Star Games and won four Silver Slugger awards.
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