Adrián Beltré, Todd Helton and Joe Mauer were elected to baseball's Hall of Fame on Tuesday while Billy Wagner and Gary Sheffield fell short. Beltré was picked on 366 of 385 ballots from the Baseball Writers' Association of America in his first ballot appearance for 95.1%. Helton received 307 votes for 79.7% in his sixth appearance, 18 more than the needed 289 for 75% after falling 11 votes short last year.
Two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani is a finalist for the AL MVP award, along with teammates Corey Seager and Marcus Semien of the World Series champion Texas Rangers. Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. headlines the remaining contenders for the National League prize, joined by Los Angeles Dodgers teammates Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.
Rose agreed to a lifetime ban in 1989 after an investigation for Major League Baseball by lawyer John Dowd found Rose placed numerous bets on the Cincinnati Reds to win from 1985-87 while playing for and managing the team. The Hall of Fame's board decided in 1991 that players on the permanently ineligible list also may not appear on the Hall ballot.
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred will consider increasing time on the pitch clock for the postseason but is reluctant to adjust an innovation the sport considers a great success. In the first season of the clock, the average time of a nine-inning game is 2 hours, 38 minutes, on track to be the fastest since 1984. "We’re going to continue to talk to the players," Manfred told the Baseball Writers' Association of America on Tuesday.