Jeff Kent's Hall of Fame breakthrough changes everything for this Reds icon

The 2026 Hall of Fame ballot doesn't feature any quintessential Cincinnati Reds greats from years past, though fans can at least root for Edwin Encarnacion, whose formative years were spent in the Queen City even if his career exploded elsewhere.

While we await the results of the BBWAA ballot, we already know that former San Francisco Giants great Jeff Kent will be one of the players immortalized in Cooperstown, thanks to his selection by the Contemporary Era Committee.

Kent never made his way to the Reds during his playing days, but in a process that is rooted so much in precedence and baselines, his selection bodes well for a Cincinnati great who will be up for eligibility in 2029, Joey Votto.

Jeff Kent's Hall of Fame selection bodes well for Reds great Joey Votto's chances once he lands on the ballot in 2029

The accolades that support Kent's case are remarkably similar to what Votto has on his résumé. Both players have an MVP trophy to their name, with Kent's coming in 2000 and Votto's coming in 2010. Kent's resume includes five All-Star appearances, a metric in which Votto edges him out with six of his own. Votto's 2011 Gold Glove is something that Kent never earned, setting him apart from the soon-to-be inducted legend.

The big disparity between the two players is the Silver Slugger award. Kent, who also has the distinction of being baseball's all-time home run leader at second base, earned four over his 17-year career. Meanwhile, one of the great baseball travesties has been how Votto was consistently shut out from the prestigious award.

The slugging first baseman put up several Silver Slugger-caliber campaigns, but somehow always drew the short end of the stick, with Adam LaRoche's 2012 nod over Votto sticking out as a particularly egregious robbery.

The final career tallies between Kent and Votto are pretty similar as well. Kent slashed .290/.356/.500 for an .855 OPS, while crushing 377 homers, racking up 2,461 hits, and driving in 1518 runs. Votto posted a .294/.409/.511 line for a .920 OPS, while smashing 356 homers, compiling 2,135 hits, and driving in 1,144 runs. Both players enjoyed 17-year careers, but Votto has a significant lead in bWAR at 63.6 versus 55.4 for Kent.

When it comes down to the Hall of Fame, there are three types of players who get in. There are the truly dominant forces. Those guys are the legends of the game who dominate nearly wire-to-wire. Next, you have the compilers. Those are the guys who are consistently good, but aside from maybe a couple of years, never truly elite. Finally, you have the guys who had stellar primes. They might not have maintained the performance for the duration of their career, but for a large chunk of time, they were among the game's best.

Kent stands out as a compiler. He was consistently very good, but he never led the league in any particular metric. Votto, on the other hand, led the league in OBP seven times, walks five times, OPS twice, and doubles once. For roughly a 10-year period, you can point to Votto as one of the game's best and most complete hitters, a distinction Kent can't claim.

Votto had a few seasons that were outright bad, but as he moved into his mid-30s and injuries took their toll, he never reached the same highs. However, he stands out as one of the ideal candidates as a dominant prime guy to make the Hall.

Kent's inclusion sets a baseline and also provides the voters with motivation to remedy the wrong that kept him on the outside looking in for so long. That should mean that Votto shouldn't have to wait for one of the committees to induct him, and while a first-ballot case might not happen, an argument can be made that he deserves that honor as well. We'll find out in a few short years.