The Nationals signed outfielder Chris Duncan on January 19th, according to the team's official transactions page.
Duncan, 29 in May, hit .227/.329/.358 in 304 plate appearances for the Cardinals last year before being traded in July to the Red Sox for Julio Lugo. He was released from the Triple A Pawtucket club about a month later.
Talking to Rob Rains of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat in December, Duncan's agent Barry Meister suggested his client's neck injury and surgery caused his poor performance in 2008-09. Duncan hit .273/.358/.527 in his first two seasons with the Cards. It's been a busy offseason for the Duncans, as Dave re-upped as Cardinals pitching coach and Shelley landed with the Indians.
Looks like he is a non-roster invitee. mlb.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=408219
If it’s been a week since he signed, that’s kind of a sad reflection on the Nationals’ beat writers!
Wow, Duncan? I thought he of the LV3 (Craptacular Former Cardinal FAs Looper, Wellemeyer and Duncan) would not find a team. Ah well, good luck to him.
Nationals website lists Duncan as a non-roster spring training invitee. I posted a link to it, but that comment is in moderation
Is this a guaranteed contract or a minor league deal?
If it’s guaranteed then kudos to his agent.
That doesnt even make sense??
He of the LV3 helped the Cardinals win a WS in 2006. Show respect.
Uh huh and in 2009 he was more trouble than he was worth his weight in gold. Daddy Duncan kept him in the lineup and threw his toys out of the pram when the FO finally made a move to shift the dead weight.
You’re right, he wasn’t worth his weight in gold. Considering gold is about $1100/ounce, he would have needed to be worth about $3.6 million dollars. All kidding aside, try not to be a jerk. He raked when he came up, hitting 42 homers in his first 550 ABs (through around late July 2007), with a .585 slugging %. Unfortunately, he then had some bad injuries that he couldn’t play through (sports hernia, the bulla on his knee, and herniated disk). For cripes sake, the man had a titanium disk put in his neck just so that he could play ball! For a guy that always played hard, I wish him good luck.
I have more respect than anyone for the Cardinals, but he was just plain awful. He hit a few timely HR’s in ’06, but besides that, if he would have lost us another game with his awful LF play, we wouldn’t have made the playoffs that year in the first place. They won DESPITE of him, not because of him. He’s been hurt and yet Daddy and TLR kept playing favorites for too long. I’m glad they finally cut him loose. Don’t get me wrong, I hope he succeeds, but his ’06 numbers were a fluke and they have done nothing but tailspin since.
Good luck Baby Dunc!
I’m mixed on this. I was hoping the Pirates would sign him to make the lineup including Duncan Doumit. You can’t buy that in a grocery store.
You read the names he lost and you think of a team beyond belief…wow thay couldve been good.
hmm decent pick up if he returns to form. depends on the kind of deal he signed but if its minor league deal its a low risk high reward situation but i wonder if this is a sign that Willingham is involed in a trade for that pitcher? The front office might expect mr.duncan to replace him?
I highly doubt that Duncan is the first back-up plan, the Nationals have Justin Maxwell and possibly Adam Dunn in line ahead of him to say the least, i like to think that Willie Harris is probably third on that list as well.
i guess it depends on who performs the best in spring training 🙂 will be a interesting spring i must say
Loving the moves that the Nats have made this offseason.Hopefully everything works out
It is a good deal….but don’t the Nationals have enuf offense…yea add another big guy who cant play defense?
Duncan was completely worthless on the Cards. He was forced down our throats as a “hitter” time and time again. He’s a first baseman that was forced into the outfield. He couldn’t even play outfield, looked like a scared little kid. He always tried, I’ll give him that, but someone that strikes out 8 out of 10 times should not be in the majors. I’m sure his neck gave him problems, was the first player to come back from that type of surgery.
I just never had any respect for him. He always look like he thought he was getting cheated in at-bats. If you swings for the fence every time, pitchers will catch on and your average will plummet (i.e. .227). He needs to learn how to hit in the majors. He needs to stop dippin, he looks retarded. And he needs to play a position that can actually field.
Besides, the only reason he came up in the first place was because daddy was the pitching coach. Anyone else that put up those numbers an had no experience playing a position would still be in AAA. Just like the guys now, they are playing 3rd and outfield, or starting and relieving to provide versatility. Duncan was put in the outfield only because there was an opening, regardless if he had any experience there or not.
National fans, good luck. Chris Duncan, I hope you get everything figured out and play up to your own expectations.
the daddy as the pitching coach thing gets real old. i doubt you were complaining in 2006, or were you even a fan then?
I was absolutely a fan in ’06. Watch video of duncan “catching” a flyball. He runs with both hand extended up to the sky hoping the ball finds his glove, just like little league. Granted he did run as hard as he could and try as hard as he could. The only reason that Duncan was given a chance was because he was able to hit. He absolutely could not field and that was “ok” as long as he hit. Your absolutely right I was complaining in ’06. How many dropped balls did he have in the outfield in ’06? 6 errors and 2 assists. Whenever fielding does not improve to a major level and hitting is at .227, how is a player invited back to the majors? Even after an injury, he was invited right back. Right now we have Joe Mather in the minors following an impressive stint with the club in the outfield. That wasn’t his normal position, but he was able to adapt. He too had some success in the majors batting. He got hurt, lost his swing and is now in the minors trying to make it back to the majors. What is the difference in these two?
Both had good at-bats after being brought up to the majors. Duncan had more power. Mather less stirkeouts. Both got hurt and were out for a while. Mather could actually contribute in the field. Mather was sent back to the minors and Duncan was kept on the ML roster. Now Mather is becoming more of a utility player in the minors to make it back to the majors. You didn’t see Duncan trying out 3rd base to make it back. He made no noticable improvement to his fielding or to the versatility of the club.
Let me ask you this. Why was Duncan brought up in the first place? He was a first baseman. It wasn’t for him to play first base. It was because he was hitting the ball. But what happens when he can’t hit the ball anymore? You should send him back down to figure it out. He stayed in the majors for one reason.
I love this . Chris Duncan has been a very good player when he has been healthy. I have no memory of a baseball player treated more unfairly than Chris Duncan. There were plenty of times when he and Pujols carried the Cards for periods of time, but when he got hurt, it seems like the fans(not All)turned on him like he was a criminal. Glad to see him out of St. Louis. They are the worst fans I can imagine.
It’s a decent signing for the Nats. A team that has struggled like they have should take risks on guys like this. If he doesn’t work out then no harm done, but if he does then you got him and Willingham and Dunn in the middle of the order which is pretty legit.
i agree, and wat makes this deal even better is your signing a guy to a minor league deal who “when Healthy” has the possibility to hit 30 hr’s. Low-risk/High-reward. and the risk is well worth it.