Hoffman as good as ever, but is he a Hall-of-Famer?

YES!!!!!!!

That was easy.

They should force him to enter as a Brewer.

I doubt it. Plus let’s not forget he’s part of the Steroid era, where everyone is suspect, fair or unfair as that is. Let’s not forget you had that octogenarian who didn’t vote for Rickey Henderson because “He’s not a Rickey guy.” Thats the type of crap you get with HOF voters. I bet Hunt even has a vote.

It’s a yes/no question, right?

Longevity is the key to a lot of the “HoF stats” that the BBWA likes. 3000 hits? 500 HR? 300 Wins? You’re not going to get to those numbers without some serious longevity.

And hey, I realize you’re shilling for your website, but if you’re going to post this on a Tuesday morning, you should take into account last night’s game and note that he has 570 saves and is 16-16 this season.

The arguments listed against were more of a devil’s advocate type point of view than me trying to argue he’s not HOF material. I suspect there are enough arguments there for enough voters to latch onto that Hoffman won’t get in on the first ballot, but I do think he’ll eventually make it.

The innings are relevant, as he would have the lowest innings total of any pitcher elected, and you have to believe there are some voters out there who will have a tough time with that.

I think the steroids argument works in his favor, as he’s never come under suspicion to my knowledge.

The Rolaids relief award doesn’t seem to do much for anyone, so I think that’s a tough sell as a “major” award.

    * 6-time All-Star (1998-2000, 2002, 2006–2007)
    * 2-time winner of Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award (1998, 2006)
    * Hutch Award for service to the community (2004)
    * Lou Gehrig Memorial Award (2006)
    * 3-time winner of TSN Reliever of the Year Award (1996, 1998, 2006)
    * 2-time National League saves leader (1998, 2006)
    * 2-time NL Pitcher of the month (May, 2005; May, 2009)
    * Holds MLB record for most Pitching Appearances with one team (803)
    * 774 Games finished, most among any active pitcher (tie 2nd All-Time)
    * Holds MLB record with 8 consecutive seasons with 30 or more saves (1995-2002)
    * Holds MLB record with 14 20-Save seasons (1994-2002, 2004-2008)
    * Holds MLB record with 13 30-Save seasons (1995-2002, 2004-2008)
    * Holds MLB record with 9 40-Save seasons (1996, 1998-2001, 2004-2007)
    * Holds MLB record as the only pitcher with 500 MLB career saves (June 6, 2007)
    * 89.53% career save percentage (522 saves in 583 opportunities) is best in MLB History (minimum 190 opportunities) (as of Sept. 20, 2007)
    * 4-time winner of the "DHL Presents the Major League Baseball Delivery Man of the Month Award" (May, 2005; September, 2006; May, 2007; May, 2009)
    * In the January 2008 issue of San Diego Magazine Trevor Hoffman was chosen as one of the “50 People to Watch in 2008”

he’s getting the job done efficiently and has a good save %.

than neither is Mariano Rivera… and there is no way that ESPiN will allow MR to not be a 1st ballot HOF

The fact that he has never led the league in saves but is still the all-time saves leader is exactly why he should be in the Hall of Fame. His longevity is why he should be voted in and Eric Gagne should not (even though the latter had a better stretch than basically any other reliever ever). Similarly, I think Hank Aaron only led the major leagues in HR once, but clearly nobody disputes his skill as a HR hitter.

Granted, Saves are kind of a dumb statistic, but the Hall of Fame voters aren’t going to start analyzing advanced sabermetrics to evaluate players, and without Saves as a metric they would never vote in a reliever ever. And plus, Saves are dumb but they still are a pretty good indication of success at a closer, and Hoffman has clearly had a more successful career as a closer than any other player ever.

This is a serious debate? As was mentioned above, you have virtually no serious “no” arguments, unless you can show that other top relievers were also shut out of the HOF for not throwing 90 IP regularly.

This whole post reads to me like little more than an ad for your blog.

I would say that its not debatable, but apparently it is.

100% first ballot lock.

Its true that closers are viewed with suspicion by HOF writers, but there are two (Hoffman and Rivera) that are guaranteed.

Goose Gossage and Bruce Sutter were voted in to the Hall; they were certainly some of the pioneers of the closing role, but neither were as dominant nor as dominant for as long as Trevor Hoffman (by a long shot). If you acknowledge the closer role, which they did with Sutter in 2006 and Gossage in 2008, then you also acknowledge Hoffman as far better than either.
Furthermore, Rollie Fingers, probably the utmost pioneer for closer HOF recognition, got in on the second ballot. Now, maybe it’s a matter of debate between these two, but I’d lean towards Hoffman being more dominant because of his strikeout-ability. That, I think, suffices to bump him to first ballot.
The more arbitrary conclusion is that, yes, he was dominant in a time where players were juicing and the ball was leaving the park at alarming rates. This is the same kind of argument that should arise in reverence of guys like Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and Randy Johnson, sure-fire (and perhaps, sure-fire first-ballot) Hall-of-Famers.

we are even having this conversation….Hall of Fame, book closed.