Omar's Hall of Fame chances

I don't have a whole lot of time this morning, but I wanted to post this link, in which aspiring sportswriters debate the Hall of Fame credentials of Omar Vizquel, who of course had his best years in Cleveland (and is here right now, with the Giants).

My own view? I think Omar will eventually get there. He's no first-balloter, and it might take him a few years, but I think he's in. The closest approximation I can think of is Bill Mazeroski, widely considered the greatest defensive second baseman of all time. Maz was first eligible in 1977, but it took until 2001 before the Veterans Committee finally gave him his Hall pass. Mazeroski was a lifetime .260 hitter with 138 home runs -- plus the only walk-off World Series-winning home run in a Game 7. Omar is a .277 hitter with 77 dingers, so he's got a better average with less power. But he's an obvious parallel with the glove.

Does he deserve to get in? I honestly don't know. The sophisticated defensive metrics that have evolved over the last few years seem to indicate he's no longer a great glove man, and hasn't been for 10 years or so. I don't have time to look them up, because I've got a job, but that's what I've read. I've also read, however, that he was the best in the game in his 20s, by any measure. And he's done things defensively that I've never seen anyone else do. So I think he'd get my vote, were I lucky enough to have one. But I make no pretense of being unbiased.