The Dodgers will see one among their former gamers be enshrined in Cooperstown subsequent summer time. May any others be a part of him?
Jeff Kent, the all-time house run chief at second base who spent the ultimate 4 years of his large league profession with L.A., was elected to the Corridor of Fame by the Up to date Baseball Period Committee on Dec. 7. Whereas it appears possible that he’ll go in as a Big, he nonetheless has fond reminiscences of his time as a Dodger.
“It was an awesome alternative as a result of I used to be going again house. I grew up in Southern California,” Kent mentioned at a press convention on the Winter Conferences. “I purchased front-row tickets for my dad and mom to return to the video games on daily basis and watch me play. Two years led to 4 years in L.A., and it was Southern California, nice climate, good followers. I received to go house the place I grew up just a few occasions. Possibly that is why I performed till I used to be 40.”
Kent is the primary member of the 2026 Corridor of Fame class, and there are a number of others with a connection to the Dodgers on the Baseball Writers’ Affiliation of America poll, which was launched in November.
Of the 12 newcomers to the poll, solely two frolicked within the large leagues with the Dodgers: Matt Kemp and Howie Kendrick. 5 of the 15 holdovers from final yr’s poll performed for L.A.: Bobby Abreu, Andruw Jones, Manny Ramirez, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley.
Gamers who seem on 75% of ballots forged by voters are inducted into the Corridor of Fame. They’ve 10 years of eligibility and should obtain at the very least 5% of the vote every year so as to stay on the poll. Outcomes for the 2026 class might be introduced on Jan. 20 on MLB Community.
Out of the previous Dodgers, Jones would seem to have the perfect probabilities of being inducted on this voting cycle. After a gradual begin in his first couple of years on the poll, Jones obtained 66.2% of the vote in 2025, with two years of eligibility remaining. Jones is much better identified for his tenure with the Braves, however he spent 2008 with the Dodgers, posting a .505 OPS throughout 75 video games.
Utley is an identical case, starring for the Phillies for many of his profession earlier than ending it out with the Dodgers from 2015-18. He’s in a comparatively favorable place, having jumped as much as 39.8% in his second yr on the poll.
Ramirez (34.3%), Abreu (19.5%) and Rollins (18%) did not make substantial progress on the earlier poll. Ramirez is in his tenth and ultimate yr of eligibility, whereas Abreu is on the poll for the seventh time and Rollins for the fifth.
Kemp had a superb profession with the Dodgers, however he could also be questionable to make it previous his first yr on the poll. Drafted by L.A. in 2003, Kemp slashed .292/.348/.494 in 10 seasons as a Dodger (2006-14, ’18). He completed second in NL MVP voting in 2011, accruing 8 bWAR that yr.
Within the years that adopted, accidents started to take their toll on Kemp, and he was finally traded to the Padres after the 2014 season. He discovered his means again to L.A. in 2018, placing collectively a resurgent All-Star season, and he performed his ultimate large league sport for the Rockies in 2020. 4 years later, he formally retired as a Dodger.
Kendrick, too, would face an uphill battle to stay on the poll past this yr. He was stable in his transient tenure with the Dodgers from 2015-16, however he’s higher remembered for a giant hit towards them. In Recreation 5 of the 2019 NLDS, Kendrick hit a go-ahead grand slam that lifted the eventual World Sequence champion Nationals and despatched the Dodgers to a shocking early elimination.
