Blue Jays legend finally starting to earn respect amongst Hall of Fame voters

The Toronto Blue Jays legend appeared on this year's iteration of the Contemporary Ballot for the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The ballot serves as kind of second chance for players who missed election on the writer's ballot.

Jeff Kent was elected, receiving 14 of 16 votes, the only player to cross the 75% threshold. However, Delgado came in 2nd place with 9 votes, receiving roughly 56% support.

It's a far cry and a vast improvement from his time on the BBWAA Ballot, where he received just 3.8% in his first year and was dropped from future ballots.

While 9 votes is not 12 votes and while the contemporary era committee ballot is substantially smaller than the writer's ballot, the fact that Delgado received more votes than players like Dale Murphy, Don Mattingly and FFernando Valenzuela, is indicative of his growing support over the years.

Delgado spent the first 12 years of his career with the Blue Jays. While his detractors might point to his lack of accolades - only two All-Star appearances, and a career WAR of 44.5 - that was due to explosive era in played in, and the fact that the 90s and early 2000's were considered the Blue Jays "lean years".

As he received more than five votes, Delgado will be eligible to be on the next contemporary era ballot. 2026 will look at manager, executives and umpires, while 2027 will focus on classic era players.

This means the earliest Delgado could appear on the ballot would be 2028.

Maybe that will be his year.