Baseball Hall of Fame: Should closers like Francisco Rodríguez get more support just for saves?

K-Rod sits sixth all-time in saves, but he appeared on just 10.2% of Hall of Fame ballots last cycle

The voting cycle for the Baseball Hall of Fame this year marks the fourth time that former closer Francisco Rodríguez has appeared on the ballot. He hasn't made much of a mark just yet, having gotten 10.8%, 7.8% and 10.2% of the vote in his first three years, respectively. Players get to hang around on the ballot as long as they clear the 5% threshold, but 75% of the vote is needed for induction into the Hall of Fame. As can be seen above in the numbers, the player known as K-Rod doesn't have any momentum toward induction. 

Should he? 

Rodríguez is sixth all-time in saves. The top three (Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman and Lee Smith) are in the Hall. The next two, Kenley Jansen and Craig Kimbrel, are still active. Billy Wagner is eighth in saves and made the Hall of Fame last year. John Franco is seventh, though, and fell off the ballot after getting just 4.6% of the vote in his first cycle.

As always, there's needed context behind the number, especially when we're talking about just one statistic. Saves in K-Rod's era were much easier to come by than in previous eras, where it was much more rare to get to 40 saves in a season and much more common to work multiple innings than just one. Plus, there are many of us voters who believe that closer is a specialization that demands a much higher standard than other positions, given that, while it isn't easy at all, it's easier to be a great closer than a good starting pitcher. 

We need to throw out Rivera because he's head and shoulders above everyone else, but let's compare K-Rod to Wagner, Hoffman, Jansen, Kimbrel and Aroldis Chapman to see how things look on a rate basis after their saves numbers. 

Closer	Saves/chances	ERA	ERA+	WHIP	K/9
K-Rod	437/513 (85%)	2.86	148	1.16	10.5
Wagner	422/491 (86%)	2.31	187	1.00	11.9
Hoffman	601/677 (89%)	2.87	141	1.06	9.4
Jansen	476/537 (89%)	2.57	155	0.96	12.4
Kimbrel	440/499 (88%)	2.58	159	1.02	14.0
Chapman	367/417 (88%)	2.52	165	1.08	14.6

Two things jump out as obvious to me there. First off, Hoffman made the Hall of Fame due to save volume more than anything else. K-Rod doesn't have that. Secondly, Rodríguez's case is not equal to Wagner's on a rate basis. He's noticeably behind. Not only that, but it's fair to say that he's also behind Jansen, Kimbrel and Chapman -- even if it's close, he's behind -- and we aren't even sure any of that trio will make the Hall of Fame.

There are currently nine Hall of Famers who are considered relief pitchers. Using the JAWS system, Rodríguez is well below the average Hall of Fame reliever (the average JAWS is 31.6 and Rodríguez is at 20.9). Rodríguez sits 14th all-time among relievers in JAWS. Rivera is first, obviously, with Dennis Eckersley second, Hoyt Wilhelm third and Goose Gossage fourth. Hoffman is fifth, Jansen sixth and Wagner seventh. Rodríguez is ahead of Smith, Rollie Fingers and Bruce Sutter, but he's behind pitchers like Joe Nathan, Tom Gordon and Jonathan Papelbon. 

Rodríguez does have the single-season save record with 62 in 2008. He has a good playoff resume, having pitched to a 2.95 ERA with 49 strikeouts in 36 ⅔ playoff innings. He won a ring with the Angels at age 20 and was a phenom that postseason.

Is that enough to award bonus points that get him over the line and into "worthy Hall of Famer" territory? 

For me, no. It's my second year as a Hall of Fame voter and he didn't get my vote either time. I noted that closers have a much higher bar than other positions for me. Wagner cleared the bar and K-Rod doesn't. I guess that means my line is in between those two, meaning the Jansen, Kimbrel and Chapman decisions in the coming decade will prove themselves rather difficult. 

Regardless, I don't think the case of Francisco Rodríguez is good enough to get him into the Hall of Fame and it appears the overwhelming majority of the voting body agrees with me.