Hall of Fame Early Baseball Committee

[nat]

Not all 4.04 ERAs are created the same. Ferrell pitched in a very high-offense era. As noted upthread, his ERA was 16% better than league average (once you adjust for the parks he played in). The fancy way of saying this is that he had a 116 ERA+. Here are the hall of famers with a worse ERA relative to their leagues:

Jim Bunning
Steve Carlton
Fergie Jenkins
Phil Niekro
Eppa Rixey
Robin Roberts
Mickey Welch
Chief Bender
Waite Hoyt
Nolan Ryan
Jack Chesbro
Jessie Haines
Red Ruffing
Burleigh Grimes
Don Sutton
Pud Galvin
Early Wynn
Herb Pennock
Jack Morris
Catfish Hunter
Rube Marquard

He wouldn't be inner-circle or anything. And many of the hall of famers who were worse pitchers than he was pitched far more innings, which has value.
But he would be a decent pick; not out of place given the other guys in the hall. He was also a really good hitter. For his career he had a 280 batting average, 351 on base percentage, and 446 slugging percentage. His OPS was exactly league average (once you adjust for the parks he played in). A guy who pitches as well as Jim Bunning but is also a league average batter is really valuable.