Buck O'Neil Makes The Hall Of Fame, Cubs Sign Stephan Gonsalves, and Other Cubs Tidbits

 It's a very blustery winter day today, howbeit there is no snow on the ground yet, which makes me want a nice snowfall soon. Not when I'm driving, but just a nice snowfall to put a little layer of snow on the browning grass.

Anyway, the Hall of Fame results are in, and several have reached the Hall of Fame, including former Cubs scout Buck O'Neil. These were his overall stats: 

• He played in the Negro Leagues for the Kansas City Monarchs and had a career .258/.315/.358 with three All-Star appearances in 10 years of his career.
• He was the founder of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in 1990 and served as chairman until his death. He died in 2006 at the age of 94, so he had a long and lasting life.

So, great for him, and even more exciting because he was involved in the Cubs' organization. Now, there has been some controversy on the steroid-using players in the 20th century, and while I don't want to get too controversial, I just want to share my opinion.

• Sosa, A-Rod, and others will likely never get into the Hall of Fame now because they were known steroid users. Are steroids cheating? Yes. Were they banned when these players were playing? No. That was the era. Players used steroids to max out their potential and weren't banned. Should they not be allowed to get into the Hall of Fame for doing what was not banned at that time?
• Steroids were banned in MLB in 2005, so technically what they were doing was not illegal at that time. Nobody can deny that they put up some great numbers, and my opinion is to judge players based on that alone pre-2005.

Anyway, that's my rant for today, and if you don't agree with me, that's fine. I'm used to it.

Based on the Cubs' roster that we have now, we can surmise what your average lineup would like with no other changes (although Correa would be a nice addition).

1. Nick Madrigal (2B)
2. Frank Schwindel (1B)
3. Willson Contreras (C)
4. Harold Ramirez (RF)
5. Ian Happ (LF)
6. Patrick Wisdom (3B)
7. Rafael Ortega (CF)
8. Nico Hoerner (SS)
9. Clint Frazier (DH)

This is my guess of an average lineup. It's hard to guess who is going to be your starting outfielders, though I think Happ and Ortega are the most likely. I picked Ramirez, but because of Heyward's defense, he might be the next option. Frazier I see as a more DH type role, as I said in the lineup, and Hermosillo might get the outfield bench role. Here is an alternative lineup:

1. Nick Madrigal (2B)
2. Frank Schwindel (1B)
3. Ian Happ (CF)
4. Willson Contreras (C)
5. Michael Hermosillo (LF)
6. David Bote (3B)
7. Jason Heyward (RF)
8. Yan Gomes (DH)
9. Nico Hoerner (SS)

I put Hermosillo and Heyward rather than Ortega and Ramirez, and Bote and Gomes instead of Wisdom and Frazier. Frazier is definitely a good outfield option as well, with Ramirez perhaps getting a shot at DH. But these are the kind of combinations that I see.

Lately, I have heard some rumors about post-lockout targets for the Cubs, and one name caught my attention: Danny Duffy.

• Duffy pitched for the Royals for parts of 11 seasons, before being picked up by the Dodgers at Trade Deadline but never threw a pitch for them. He is now a free agent, and the Cubs are now rumored to be interested in him.
• He has a career 3.95 ERA with a 21.1% K rate and a 36.4% GB rate. He posted a 2.51 ERA in 61 IP for the Royals in 2021 before his injury. It would be a risk for the Cubs, given his injury, but it is a risk I think they can afford to make.
• He throws a FB, slider, sinker, changeup, and curve, averaging 93-94 MPH with his FB and slider. So, again, not a top-velo guy, but a very effective pitcher that does not rely heavily on groundballs.

I like the risk of getting Duffy and having him possibly become a quality innings-eater for the Cubs. That would also give the question of Mills' future, but we'll wait to discuss that after.

The lockout's moving quickly, and we found out teams can sign players to minor league deals, which happened in the Cubs' case. They signed themselves a quality reliver in Stephan Gonsalves.

• He spent 7 years in the Twins' system, and then spent time in both Triple A and MLB in 2021 with the Red Sox. He posted a 4.15 ERA in 4.1 IP in the major leagues this year, but he has a career of getting some really good pitching seasons in. He posted sub-3.00 ERA seasons in 11 different levels (bouncing around in different MiLB levels) and has appeared in the major leagues both in 2018 and 2021.
• So, not a bad pick-up for the Cubs, who can perhaps get some value out of him and see him work his potential.

That's all for today, so have a great week!