Royals Hall of Fame voting open to fans

The Royals announced six candidates for the franchise Hall of Fame with fans open to participate in an online vote. Carlos Beltran, Billy Butler, Johnny Damon, Jason Vargas, Yordano Ventura, and Ned Yost are the six candidates to choose from. Vargas and Yost are first-time candidates, the other four were on last year’s ballot.

The online portion of this year’s vote will remain open to fans through Tuesday, January 3rd at just before midnight at www.royals.com/hofvote. You can vote for up to three candidates.

Carlos Beltrán (1998-2003) is one of just four Royals to win Rookie of the Year, taking home honors in 1999 as just the eighth rookie ever with 100 runs scored and 100 runs batted in. In 2003, he finished ninth in MVP voting with a line of .307/.389/.522 with 26 home runs and 41 steals. Beltrán is one of the most successful basestealers in MLB history, with an 87.7 percent success rate with the Royals. In seven seasons with the Royals, the switch-hitter hit .287/.352/.483 with 123 home runs and 164 steals, and his 24.8 rWAR are eighth in club history among position players.

Billy Butler (2007-2014) was a first-round pick by the Royals who was a hitting machine, culminating in a 2012 season in which he hit .313/.373/.510 with 29 home runs, winning a Silver Slugger Award and earning an appearance at the All-Star Game in Kansas City. Butler is one of just six Royals ever to hit .300 in three or more seasons. Overall he hit .295/.359/.449 with 127 home runs with the Royals and his 1,273 career hits are ninth-most in club history.

Johnny Damon (1995-2000) was also a first-round pick, and was one of the more dynamic leadoff hitters in club history. He led the American League with 46 steals and 136 runs scored in 2000, finishing 19th in MVP voting. His 156 steals are tenth-most in club history and he hit .292/.351/.438 in 803 games with the Royals.

Jason Vargas (2014-2017) signed with the Royals as a free agent from the Angels - his four-year, $32 million contract is still the fifth-largest in club history. His best season came in 2018 when he led the American League with 18 wins and earned the only All-Star appearance of his career. Vargas also won the pennant-clinching Game 4 of the 2014 American League Championship Series against Baltimore by allowing just one run over 5 ¹⁄₃ innings, and he started Game 4 of the World Series against San Francisco. He made 74 starts with the Royals with a 3.88 ERA, and was worth 7.8 rWAR in four seasons, despite nearly missing two full seasons due to injury.

Yordano Ventura (2013-2016) was a dynamic flamethrowing pitcher who burst on the scene with 14 wins and a 3.20 ERA that finished tenth in the league in his rookie season, earning him Rookie of the Year votes. He came up huge in the World Series that fall, tossing seven shutout innings in a must-win Game 6 victory, giving him a 1.46 ERA in two starts against the Giants that fall. The next year, he pitched in the pennant-clinching Game 6 of the ALCS against Toronto, allowing just one run in 5 ¹⁄₃ innings. Ventura tragically died in January of 2017 from a motor vehicle crash in the Dominican Republic.

Ned Yost (2010-2019) is one of two managers in Royals history to win a championship, and his two pennants are more than any other Royals manager. Yost’s teams improved in the win total in each of his first four full seasons, culminating in a 95-win season where the Royals finished with the best record in the league and won a title. Yost has the best post-season winning percentage among any manager with at least 10 wins and he has the most wins by any Royals manager in club history with 746.

To be considered for the Royals Hall of Fame, a player must have been active for at least three seasons with at least 1,500 plate appearances or 300 innings pitched, and a manager must have managed at least three seasons.

Here is how the Royals describe how the online fan vote will be incorporated with the overall vote.

Fans will be joined by other voters, including all living members of the Royals Hall of Fame and the members of the Royals Hall of Fame Executive Board, select members of the Kansas City Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America, Kansas City media representatives, and current Royals front office staff with 15 years of service or more, in selecting any Royals Hall of Fame inductees. The online fan ballot will account for three overall votes with a distribution of three full votes for each of the top three vote getters. Any eligible alumni receiving 75 percent of the vote will be elected and scheduled for induction during the 2023 season. Eligible alumni must receive a minimum of ten percent of the ballots cast to remain eligible for inclusion on the ballot for the next Royals Hall of Fame (Regular Phase) voting cycle.

Who will you vote for?