I don't disagree with some of the premise of this post, that Santana perhaps isn't HoF caliber... but how you got there is kinda wrong. Cliff Lee didn't have a prime anywhere near that of Santana. Johan had five full seasons of 150 ERA+ ball. Cliff Lee had two. Johan's "mediocre" 2007 season was basically how Lee pitched during his best seasons, minus the two 150 ERA+ outlier seasons. And that's why, despite pitching roughly 100 fewer innings, Santana is worth about 10 rWAR more than Lee in his career. Kaat is an interesting point to bring up, though he kinda screwed himself by sticking around for a VERY long time and not being good. Kaat finished his career with a 45.2 rWAR. Through his first 17 seasons, he had a 48.1 rWAR. Through his final seven (!) seasons, he hung on and posted a -2.9 rWAR. And it's not as if he stunk it up for a year or two, he was roughly replacement level or worse every year out of those seven. I never realized he was so bad for so long, yet kept getting playing time in the era of free agency.