Not to take away from Beltre, but I'm not sure he's in the top 5 3b ever. Mike Schmidt, Brooks Robinson, Wade Boggs, Eddie Mathews, George Brett, Chipper...all I think are a tier above Beltre. I can't think of any others offhand that jump out as better 3b than Beltre. For me, a first ballot guy has to be like Griffey or Mariano Rivera...extended stretches of being one of the very best in baseball. I'm not sure Beltre ever won an MVP, and he really wasn't THAT good a player until his move to hitter friendly Texas in his 30s. Before that he was a upper 700s OPS guy that played an elite 3b. His case for the hall relies on being very good, not great, and healthy for a long time...and really tallying up counting stats. It's still a good case, just not first ballot for me.