Well with stats you can say anything they say. My opinion on the Hall Of Fame is were the given players a dominating presence in the game for atleast a decade (give or take a few years). Perhaps the stats achieved the last 10 years or so one with just have to calculate that this was a steroid era. Kinda like the late 60's was a time dominated by pitching so the stats were lower for batters (something that has perhaps hurt Ron Santo's chances). I don't know about Gary Sheffield the steroid stories might be an issue for him. I'm not sure about I-Rod. Maybe they'll get in eventually but it will probably won't for atleast 10 years after retirement.
I can't imagine Derke Jeter not making the HOF unless he just completely goes "steve blass" on everyone. Chipper Jomes might end up with some decent stats and he made a living killing the Mets that for sure and that will help him get in. And as far as we know Chipper did it all on the up and up. I think Smoltz in definetely in the HOF and EDmonds I'm not sure. It depends on his offensive stats. I remember Gary Maddox (phillies) and Cesar Geronimo (reds) back in the 70's. Those guys were super awesome CF's and very strong arms who rarely get much support for the hall of fame.
I agree that some “dead ball” hitters may be getting overlooked. Ron Santo has a good case.
Respectively, I have to disagree on Ivan Rodriguez. Tonight is the fourteenth time he’s playing in an all-star game. Very few players have played in fourteen all-star games, and the ones who did are either in the Hall of Fame or will be. Rodriguez also can make a case for being the best fielding catcher—ever. He will go into the Hall in his first year of eligibility.