Smoltz,Hoffman and Rivera are locks for the HOF....
Smoltz - The only pitcher to have 200+ wins and 150+ saves, 1 Cy Young, 1 Championship, 8x All-Star, 3000+ Strikeouts etc.....
Rivera - 10x All-Star, 5x Champion, World Series MVP, 2nd all-time in saves with 530+ and still going etc.....
Hoffman - 7x All-Star, Individual records, All-Time saves leader with 590+ and still going......
dude whatever the fuck, eckersley also, has like 200 wins and 200 saves.
i think to get into the hall of fame you jsut got to dominate the league or your postion for areound a decade. or you got to transcend the game or make a mark on the game that nobodys done before, ala ozzie smith, not great offensive stats, but his defense was memorable and fresh and new.
i think sandy koufax only played 9 seasons and he entered the hall of fame, cuz he dominted all 9 seasons. his stats werent all-time best great records but he dominted for when he played.
i think if lincecum wins his 3rd straight cy young he wouldnt be locked in, but he would be highly regarded to make it in, just cuz he has been domintaing baseball for the time he was playing. sure, he would have to play a couple more years, but if he wanted to retire in 5 years, and had these 3 straight cy youngs, and then some above average seasons, follwing this season, then i could see writers going yes, he fits the hall of fame.
and with his skinny frame, and non-conditioning routine in the offseason, i can see his body breaking down in the future.
im not sure if saves count as much anymore, cuz of the actual closer only working 2-3 batters to get that save. it is more on how the pitcher got taht save taht counts, like if it was a pressure situation, but the majority of these saves players have been getting nowadays, is when the team is up a ton of runs.
that is why players like lee smith and other volume save closers arent getting in, but you ahve people like mariano rivera getting in because these kind of closers have meaningful memorable saves througout their career.
all in all, it all winds down to if the palyer had a meaningful and memorable career to get intot he hall of fame. the voters ask themselves, what did this guy do for baeball? was it meaningful? was it memorable?
but, rally, what the fuck do i know, i dont care for baseball anymore, but this is jsut based on when i used to be a fan.