I’ll need to present a stronger argument myself before I vote, though.

But I’m looking forward to the truck load of arguments coming our way…

I voted yes, but I don’t have a great argument. JAWS, for whatever it’s worth, believes he’s worthy, and some of the metrics on B-R agree.

Pedro, Clemens, Maddux, Randy are all-time greats. If they were the standard by which entry to the HoF is judged, there would be like 10 pitchers in there.

While he was never the best pitcher in baseball, he was always among them.

Also, I believe he should go in as an Oriole. Not only did he come up through their system, he had better numbers with them.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pge9a5vfulJhRARtiZSx8Vg&hl=en

Just in case anyone goes uber-statty on us.

He only gets the nod because he plays for the Yankees

He just was never that good. see rafael palmeiro

Moose wasn’t quite there where, like Sky said, other pitchers in his generations were. He was pretty good, but never dominant.

And a BtB article by Cy Moron from 2006 was listed first.

http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2006/8/4/81713/24146

Using a .400 replacement-level baseline for pitchers (which might even be a bit low), Mussina ranks 54rd in WAR as of two years ago. If we give him three more for 2007 and 2008, he moves up about ten spots.

Personally, I prefer a much higher baseline for things like this to reward short-term greatness more than long-term competency, but it’s a start…

Pretty simple. Behind Maddux, he’s the 2nd best RHP of his generation.

One of the complaints I hear is playoff numbers.
Regular Season FIP: 3.65
Playoff FIP: 3.601

Regular season K/BB: 3.58
Playoff K/BB: 4.39

This leads me to look a little further, and one reason people may think that he wasn’t as good in the playoffs is that his HR/IP went up compared to his regular season stats (thus the higher KK/BB ratio but approximately same FIP).

Players are measured, in part, by their post-season performances. He never dominated in the playoffs, and even though he was very good throughout his career, I don’t think he makes it into the level of “elite” pitchers.

Although, part of the perception comes from the other pitchers around him. Something is to be said about consistency too, and boy was he. last year was the first year he had over an ERA of 5 and he was pretty darned good throughout his career.

But I don’t think he’s elite or a HOF’er

see my sig

I bet he’s better than many of the guys who are already in.

He was remarkably consistent with his best years in his first full season and his last season. 270 wins is a very good number for this day and age. He might be the last person to come close to 300 wins.

I think Sky had it right here:

Pedro, Clemens, Maddux, Randy are all-time greats. If they were the standard by which entry to the HoF is judged, there would be like 10 pitchers in there.

And I think that a lot of people (and I was guilty of this at first myself) will say, “Well, he was never even the best pitcher in any given year, so how could he be HOF worthy?” So I’m not sure if he will actually get in. (For what it’s worth, he might have been the best pitcher in the AL in ‘01. Most people will see Clemens 20-3 record and dismiss the idea, but Mussina’s numbers are pretty ridiculous that year.)

He was significantly above average for 12 consecutive seasons. Between ‘97 and ’01 he was elite. As JI pointed out, his numbers are even more impressive when you look at them in the context of his home park and the era in which he played. I think he deserves to get in, but if he doesn’t I don’t think it would be a tremendous miscarriage of justice.