Well, are you a Cardinal fan that rejoices at this news or one that laments the treatment Chris Duncan received in St Louis?
Do you think Duncan never got a fair shake, or that he never had to actually make the team?
Will Lil’ Dunc ever become the hitter his potential showed in 2006 and the first-half of 2007, or have the injuries and exposure to Major League pitching relegated him to play out his days trying to get back to the show?
To fans, Chris Duncan has been one of the more polarizing Cardinals in recent memory. Today, he became a former Cardinal.
John Mozeliak swapped Duncan and a player to be named later (apparently the Cards don’t like to name their players earlier) to the Boston Red Sox for Julio Lugo and cash. The cash is reportedly in an amount to cover Lugo’s remaining salary this season and his $9 million salary in 2010.
We’ll save the opinions for another post, but there’s more to this story than just the trade.
There was the reported dust-up within the organization with Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan versus John Mozeliak and who knows who else in the front office. TLR/Dunc that Duncan didn’t deserve the treatment he has received and the front office had apparently seen enough of Tony’s trotting Chris out to fail again.
There were reports that Duncan had been traded. Then he wasn’t traded, but he was being optioned to Memphis. Then the trade was on again and the only delay had been settling up dollars and cents, because the Cardinals will not pay for Lugo’s services this year or next.
Certainly more news will come of this story in the coming days. Word around the Cardinals organization is that manager and pitching coach are not exactly pleased, but “are coming around” to the idea that Chris may be better off with a fresh start. Read that how you will, I read toeing the company line, while seething beneath.
At any rate, Lugo will report to the team tomorrow. Duncan will report to Boston’s AAA affiliate in Pawtucket. It will be interesting to see how this one pans out for all involved parties.
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Perfectly written my friend. I’m just going to tell people on RR just to check out your article.
Thanks as always, my friend. Appreciate the linkage.
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