Quote:
Originally Posted by bravos4evr
the thing is that relievers just don't provide that much value unless they are the elite of the elite (and even then a guy like Mariano Rivera, with his career, was less productive than an above avg starter with no HOF hopes like say Tim Hudson).
Closer has been a thing for a little under 50 years, and there are 5 guys in the HOF who were mainly relief pitchers. I think that's about right. Hoffman, Rivera and Wagner are all worthy guys, so if that jumps to 8.... yeah that feels right, 1 or 2 a decade give or take.
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Interesting that despite five 20-win seasons, Hunter averaged 16-12 over a 162 game season, and Hudson with one 20-win season, averaged 16-9. I don't consider Hunter to be HOF-worthy either, but their stats have some similarities. Their ERA's are 3.49 for Hudson and 3.26 for Hunter - not that much difference, and higher ERA's are more tolerated these days. Plus, many of you give players a bump for longevity (the Phil Niekro factor), so that would give Hudson an edge over Hunter.