He spent that time as a closer because he was brittle, and it was only 3 full seasons. There was a 1/2 season before that, when he came back from Tommy John surgery.

So what, if he would have started those years, and some how remained healthy, he would have gotten to 250wins, and still been way outside the qualifications for a HOFer.

His only HOF qualification is being the #3 pitcher on TBS. There are a bunch of pitchers of his era that were much better than him, as displayed that he was only top 3 in Cy Young voting 2x.