Barry Bonds congratulates ex-Giants teammate Jeff Kent on Hall of Fame selection

The National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., received another San Francisco Giants inductee for the class of 2026, former second baseman Jeff Kent.After receiving no more than 50 percent of the vote in his 10 years on the ballot, Kent was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Contemporary Era committee on Sunday, appearing on 14 of 16 of the ballots. However, one notable name was left off, again, former teammate Barry Bonds.Bonds didn’t have any hard feelings, sending his former teammate a heartfelt congratulations via Instagram. Barry Bonds congratulates Jeff Kent on his Hall of Fame nod [via @BarryBonds’ IG] pic.twitter.com/744yWmA2gs — SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) December 8, 2025 Kent’s six years (1997-2002) with San Francisco as Bonds’ teammate were arguably the best of his career, and he was named NL MVP in 2000. Yet, he declined to comment on whether Bonds should be inducted into Cooperstown.It could be speculated that Kent’s admission subsequently was related to Bonds’ omission. Bonds earned less than five votes on the Contemporary Era ballot and likely has one more chance...