Chris Duncan: Should he stay or go?
One of the hottest-button issues surrounding the Cardinals for the last few seasons has been Chris Duncan. Should the Cardinals keep him and play him in left field again or should they try to move him?
Q: Commish, on the Duncan front, shouldn’t the Cards keep him? If healthy, he is the most appealing backup for Albert is case of injury. And he could become a very scary pinch hitter. My question, how long is he under team control and where is he regarding arbgitration? Where do you see Duncan in three years? Happy Holidays. Mr. Hummel.
Roger
A: Thanks, Roger, and happy holidays to you, also. I don’t want to give Duncan away although he might be a tradeable commodity this spring when/if teams see that he is healthy after hernia and neck issues the last two years. He is under control for three more seasons and is arbitration eligible. Three years from now, probably less than that, he’ll be in the American League.
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Q: Rick, what is this love affair with Chris Duncan? He does give occasional power, but. his glove is a huge liability and he short-arms every ball that he throws (after he picks it up behind him). I am 53 years old and I swear I can still track a baseball better than he does. I say trade him, sell him, give him away, just do something with him other than allowing him to wear a Cardinal uniform any longer. Is his sticking around a favor to his dad? I just don’t understand.
Thanks,
Doug
A: If you’ll go back to 2006-07, you’ll find that Duncan hit 43 home runs in 655 at-bats, a particularly good clip. Then he got hurt and hasn’t been the same since. Yes, he is not a very good outfielder. He probably should be playing first base or DHing. Early in his pro career, he probably was kept around a bit longer because of his dad although Chris was a high draft pick and the club thought there was more to see. That he was with the Cardinals the last few seasons was on his merit, not his dad’s. But it appears there is quite a division of opinion about him here and it probably is best if the Cardinals move him.
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Q: Commish, do the Cardinals have any second base prospects in the minors who could help the major league club in 2009 or 2010?? If so, who? I was looking at stats from AAA,AA,A,ball and found no second baseman with any good hitting stats.
Bryan
A: No, this does not seem like a strong position for the Cardinals although perhaps somebody could be moved from shortstop down the line. They’ve had a different second baseman virtually every year since Vina left, so this is nothing new for them.
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(6 votes, average: 4.67 out of 5)
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I think they should trade him, but don’t know if Chris Duncan has any real value. I would definitely hate to see Luddy or Ankiel go and keep Duncan, who is basically and all or nothing player, with shoddy defense. He may be a good guy, but I think he would do better in the AL.
Let’s not forget that Chris Duncan is not an outfielder, he plays first but we got a fairly decent guy at first now so he moved to the outfield ’cause of his bat. he’s maybe a little below average in the OF but that’s not his fault, he’s a 1B and would be good on another team. when healthy he can hit the heck out of the ball, hence his move to the OF to get his bat in the lineup. put albert behind the plate catching and then see how good his defense is there and his arm is there, you can’t put a man out of his normal position and then critize him when his glove is not stellar. and, btw, there are guys in the majors in the OF for their bat that really stink at defense. Chris plays decent defense, much better than some. again, don’t knock him for his glove and arm when he’s out of position there.
I have a herniated disk in the same disk that Duncan had replaced. The guy has tremendous guts just going through what he has so far. People don’t seem to realize that this would normally be a career-ending injury. I think Duncan’s comeback (if it actually happens) will be a lot more remarkable that most people think. The man has an artificial disk in his neck! Has any professional athlete in any sport ever made a successful comeback from an injury in which the fix included a prosthetic substitute for a load-bearing body part?
I recall seeing Bo Jackson attempt a comeback on an artificial hip in spring training with the White Sox 15+ years ago, but other than that, I can’t think of another time when anyone has even tried it.
Rick
Tell me why the Cardinals are not interested in Jake Peavy. Why not offer Rasmus and others to get the former cy young winner. The cardinals starting pitching is weak at best. And if not Peavy, why are we not extending an offer to Ben Sheets. I know what the records state about our starting pitching, to be the reigning champs again, we need need another ace besides Carpernter (who is questionable).
CHRIS DUNCAN IS NOT THE ISSUE! THE CARDINALS HAVE HAD A SECOND BASEMAN FOR QUITE SOMETIME, AND HAVE NEGLECTED TO RESIGN HIM! AARON MILES IS COMING OFF AN AMAZING YEAR, AND SHOULD BE THE TOP CHOICE FOR STARTING 2ND, NO ONE ELSE CURRENTLY ON THE BOOKS OR ANY FA CAN PUT UP THE NUMBERS HE DID LAST YEAR, WHY ISNT HE GETTING WHAT HE DESERVES?!?!?!?!?!??!
The Cardinals do have one second baseman that I was intrigued by last year. He is an 08 draft pick and he only got to batavia, but what he showed was good offensively. He is already 22 so hell have to move quick, but I think he is promising.
Team AVG AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS OBP SLG OPS
JCY .298 181 42 54 14 4 7 31 8 45 20 2 .354 .536 .889
BAT .269 26 6 7 2 2 0 4 2 7 0 1 .345 .500 .845
tot .295 207 48 61 16 6 7 35 10 52 20 3 .352 .531 .884
He was injured shortly after promotion, I think that affected production at Batavia. But if you look at his first line, he had 25 extra base hits and a 536 slugging in 181 ab, this as well as 20 stolen bases. NO other middle infielder let alone 2b produces at a clip like that. His only knock is defense and his walk-stikeout rate. BUt both should improve with more playing time. To early to call but I think he could sneak up to be a big producer. Or he just had a really good first 180 abs
Also this is what his line translates to across 600 ab.
2B 3B HR SB
47 13 23 67
Pretty good
Forgotto put this in, his name is Alex Castellanos.
For the Cardinals to have any great success in 2009, they need a quality left handed starter like a number 3 pitcher (Randy Wolfe would be pretty good) and a closer. I don’t understand what is going on in the Fuentes deal??
Why in the world would we keep Duncan? I would just release him, just so he doesnt take anymore AB’s away from our good outfielders. He has the worst glove I have seen the cardinals use in the outfield, and a limp arm. Just think how many games this guy started over ludwick early this season. How many more homers would ludwick have? Maybe we would have a few more wins in 08 without that hack on the field. Get rid of him. The only reason I can figure he is still here is that his daddy must have some dirt on Tony.