Offseason Target #1: Duncan

if he doesn’t want to coach in St. Louis because of the media there, why would he want to coach in Chicago?

and they are all terrified of him. Something tells me the Chicago media wouldn’t be scared of him and wouldn’t enjoy the threats.

Tony wouldn’t last one season under the pressure of Chicago.

I should have used Todd Wellemeyer or Joel Pinero.

Duncan isn’t coaching forever. Lilly and Dempster aren’t exactly 2-seam guys. If Harden were back he isn’t either.

That is my concern, a new voice for these veterans might not be the best thing when they are already set in their ways and for the most part successful doing it.

1. Chris, recovering from radical neck surgery, was not 100% physically. (Many Cards followers think that he was playing in a lot of pain.) He tried to “gut it out”, and refused to be examined by a doctor;

or

2. Chris was not in pain, and was not playing “hurt” any more than any other player.

One other fact is known: Chris posted a .687 OPS, with only 5 HR and 32 RBI in 260 AB this season, and he played LF — a position that demands offensive production.

If case #1 is true, the organization could not have protected him, because they could not put him on the DL without him being examined by a doctor. Certainly LaRussa could have benched him, but that would effectively leave him with a 24 man roster. Without Duncan consenting to a physician’s exam, the Cards’ medical staff was helpless to protect him. If Chris says “I’m not hurt”, the organization has no choice but to believe him. It doesn’t matter what Dave, the father, believes. Their other choices were to option him down (which required his consent due to service time) or release him outright.

If case #2 is true, then perhaps Chris is one of a long line of hitters who come up and do well until the pitchers find the holes in their swings. (Chris can talk with his brother Shelley about that.)

Now, it’s very possible that Dave knew that Chris was playing injured because Chris told him, son-to-father. I’m sure that Dave, feeling both a father’s love and a responsibility to the team, encouraged Chris to see a doctor. However, Chris — a grown man — refused. That is entirely Chris’ fault.

While I can certainly understand Dave’s anguish at watching his son flounder, he must separate his personal anguish from his professional responsibilities. It is extremely unprofessional to blame the medical staff (Barry Weinberg and the doctors) and the “organization” (which would include his “best friend” Tony LaRussa) for something that was Chris’ fault.

I do understand that Dave feels the media didn’t give Chris a fair shake, and that’s possible. (I can’t comment because I don’t read the Post-Dispatch very regularly.) But the major leagues are all about production — if you don’t produce, you don’t play. (See Soto, Geovanny or Fontenot, Mike.) Dave Duncan, more than anyone else, must realize that. If he is upset at the media, I understand. But he has absolutely no right to throw the Cards’ medical staff under a bus publicly for something that was not their fault.

I’m talking about from the past 5 years minimum. He has been successful in taking crappy pitchers and able to make them worthwhile. Without him, LaRussa’s pitching staff will plummet

and mike maroth. see above.