What the Hall of Fame's newest center fielders mean for Mariners' Julio Rodríguez

When the 2026 Baseball Hall of Fame class was announced on Tuesday, the biggest news from a Seattle Mariners' perspective related to Félix Hernández. While he didn't get voted in, his jump from 20.6 percent to 46.1 percent is the biggest increase by a candidate since 1967, and bodes well for his future chances on making it into Cooperstown.

On this matter though, Tuesday's results also bode well for the future Hall of Fame chances of someone who is still actually playing for the Seattle Mariners: Julio Rodríguez. His potential path has been laid out by Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones, the two players who were voted into Cooperstown this year.

Consider some compelling comments by The Athletic's Jayson Stark, who casts a ballot as a member of the Baseball Writers' Association of America and voted for Beltrán and Jones. He said:

"It’s about time the center-field wing of the Hall got some new blood. Before this election, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America had elected only two true center fielders — Ken Griffey Jr. in 2016 and Kirby Puckett in 2001 — in the previous 45 years. Then these two guys arrived in the same year. "

Jayson Stark

When you think about it, it's pretty wild that so few true center fielders have been voted into the Hall of Fame in close to five decades, This also highlights how rare two-way center field superstars have become, and yet here you have the Mariners with their second such player in franchise history.

Don't put Julio Rodríguez in the Hall of Fame yet, but ...

Now yes, we acknowledge that it's still early in Rodríguez's career and he has plenty to do in order to secure a place in Cooperstown, but it can't be denied that the signs are positive so far. In fact, you only have to compare the first four years of his Major League career to that of both Beltrán and Jones, to really get an idea of just how special he's truly been up to this point.

Rodríguez has been more dominant overall and surpasses both of his Hall of Fame peers. You can view a full comparison breakdown courtesy of Stathead Baseball, but a few of the highlights include:

Even allowing for the fact Rodríguez has played more games in comparison, even this alludes to him being more consistent and durable in the early going of his career. However, it doesn't just stop there, with J-Rod earning three All-Star selections and two Silver Slugger Awards, compared to no accolades for Beltrán and two Gold Gloves for Jones. (And for anyone saying he didn't deserve this year's All-Star selection, we'll gladly swap that for the Gold Glove he should have got.)

Julio Rodríguez's success extends to the playoffs

Want more? How about the reality that Rodríguez has also excelled on the playoff stage, although we will make an allowance for Beltrán having no postseason appearances in his first four years. This aside, the M's superstar has four home runs and a .804 OPS in 17 games, compared to the same number of home runs, but a .677 OPS in 45 games by Jones.

So yes, things continue to look up for Rodríguez and M's fans should keep appreciating his greatness, even if the Hall of Fame is no guarantee at this stage. Although we'll sign off with the little nugget that his 22.9 WAR through four seasons is even better than Griffey's 21.4, which should only add to the promise and excitement about him also ending up being enshrined in Cooperstown alongside the Mariners legend.