KANSAS CITY -- Carlos Beltr¨¢n is knocking at the door of Cooperstown.

A steady increase in votes for the National Baseball Hall of Fame has the former Royal and longtime center fielder as close as ever to being elected in the coming year or two. He garnered 277 votes out of 394 ballots (70.3%) cast by members of the Baseball Writers¡¯ Association of America. That was only 17 votes shy of the 75% threshold needed for enshrinement.

Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner were elected Tuesday evening, and they will be inducted on July 27 in Cooperstown along with Dick Allen and Dave Parker, who were elected by the Classic Baseball Era Committee in December.

This was Beltr¨¢n¡¯s third year on the ballot. He debuted in 2023 and registered 46.5% of the vote, then spiked to 57.1% last year. Candidates may remain on the BBWAA ballot for up to 10 years provided they are listed on at least 5% of ballots cast.

Beltr¨¢n certainly has a strong case for the Hall of Fame. His 70.1 career bWAR, ranks eighth all-time among center fielders. Of the 64 AL/NL position players to reach 70 career WAR in the Modern Era (since 1900), all but nine -- including Beltr¨¢n -- are Hall of Famers. He was the American League Rookie of the Year in 1999 with the Royals, a nine-time All-Star and a three-time Gold Glove Award winner.

The Royals drafted Beltr¨¢n in the second round of the 1995 MLB Draft from Fernando Callejo High School in Puerto Rico. He made his debut on Sept. 14, 1998, at 21 years old, getting a cup of coffee in the Majors before taking it by storm in 1999, when he had a .791 OPS and 4.7 WAR. Beltr¨¢n was a bright spot during some tough years in Kansas City, posting an .876 OPS and accumulating 16.7 WAR between 2001-03.

The Royals traded him midway through the 2004 season to the Astros, and he went off that October in the postseason, hitting eight homers. He was a postseason legend throughout his career, with a 1.021 OPS and 16 home runs in 65 games.

Beltr¨¢n finished his career with a .279/.350/.486 slash line and a 119 OPS+. He had 2,725 hits, 435 homers, 565 doubles, 1,587 RBIs, 1,582 runs scored and 312 stolen bases. Only 38 players in AL/NL history have reached the 1,500 mark in both runs scored and RBIs; 30 on that list have been elected to the Hall of Fame.

Beltr¨¢n was one of the most dynamic power-speed threats in baseball. Only five players in AL/NL history have hit 500 doubles and 400 homers and stolen 300 bases in their careers: Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Andre Dawson, Willie Mays and Beltr¨¢n.

But Beltr¨¢n¡¯s link to the Astros' sign-stealing controversy in 2017 ¨C the final season of his playing days ¨C complicates matters. When his involvement was made public, Beltr¨¢n was ousted as the Mets' skipper in January 2020 before he even managed a game.

Hall of Fame voters have had to weigh that factor as they decide whether to check Beltr¨¢n¡¯s name, but he¡¯s closer than ever now.

The only other Royal on the ballot this year was Ben Zobrist, a first-timer who fell off after receiving zero votes. Zobrist was a member of the Royals' 2015 World Series title team, a key acquisition at the Trade Deadline that year when Kansas City sent pitchers Sean Manaea and Aaron Brooks to Oakland. A versatile switch-hitter, Zobrist filled a crucial hole for the Royals the rest of that season at second base and in the outfield on his way to slashing .284/.364/.453 with 16 doubles in 59 games. He performed well in the postseason with a .303/.365/.515 slash line and a 1.050 OPS in the AL Championship Series against Toronto.

Zobrist won back-to-back World Series from 2015-16, the latter championship coming with the Cubs, and he was named World Series MVP that year. He finished his 14-year career in Chicago, retiring after the '19 season.