• The Yanks Duncan Donut

    Posted by on September 5th, 2009 · Comments (11)

    The Yankees selected Eric Duncan in the 1st round of the 2003 June Draft – with the 27th overall pick in the draft. And, here are his minor league numbers as of the close of business on September 5, 2009:

    Year Age Tm Lg Lev Aff G PA R HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG
    2003 18 Yankees GULF Rook NYY 47 201 24 2 28 18 33 .278 .348 .400
    2003 18 Staten Island NYPL A_ss NYY 14 63 11 2 13 2 11 .373 .413 .695
    2004 19 Battle Creek MIDW A NYY 78 333 52 12 57 38 84 .260 .351 .479
    2004 19 Tampa FLOR A_adv NYY 51 205 23 4 26 31 47 .254 .366 .462
    2005 20 Trenton EL AA NYY 126 520 60 19 61 59 136 .235 .326 .408
    2006 21 Trenton EL AA NYY 57 242 32 10 29 32 38 .248 .355 .485
    2006 21 Columbus IL AAA NYY 31 122 7 0 6 9 24 .209 .279 .255
    2007 22 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre IL AAA NYY 113 467 46 11 61 48 81 .241 .323 .389
    2008 23 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre IL AAA NYY 120 481 47 11 60 37 113 .233 .295 .366
    2009 24 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre IL AAA NYY 94 341 35 4 24 16 66 .204 .242 .285
    7 Seasons 731 2975 337 75 365 290 633 .242 .320 .400
    Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
    Generated 9/5/2009.

    The Yankees passed on Carlos Quentin, Adam Jones, and Andre Ethier to select Duncan. But, of course, hindsight is always 20-20.

    In any event, if he were not a first round pick, Eric Duncan probably would have been sent packing by now. Teams have a tendency to give first round picks forever before they get their release…it’s sort of a C.Y.A. thing that a thin-skinned G.M. does…you know…not wanting to admit a mistake.

    This all said, Eric Duncan should be playing for the Somerset Patriots, Long Island Ducks, or Newark Bears right now – rather than taking up a spot in the Yankees minor league system. Don’t you agree?

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    Comments on The Yanks Duncan Donut

    1. Raf
      September 5th, 2009 | 10:38 pm

      Eric Duncan should be playing for the Somerset Patriots, Long Island Ducks, or Newark Bears right now – rather than taking up a spot in the Yankees minor league system. Don’t you agree?

      Doesn’t really matter. Some guys stick around with a team longer than others for whatever reason. Royal Clayton stuck around for a while. Doesn’t mean that it’s a “C.Y.A. thing that a thin-skinned G.M. does.”
    2. TurnTwo
      September 5th, 2009 | 10:40 pm

      @ Raf:

      exactly. and who’s spot is he taking in the grand scheme of things? last i saw, the yankees have a 3rd baseman who’s gonna be around for a while, so the 3B prospect pipeline isnt exactly hot down below, right?
    3. sanair
      September 6th, 2009 | 12:43 am

      Unless he is blocking someone, no sense in jettisoning him.
    4. Bapak
      September 6th, 2009 | 2:14 am

      This is sufficiently banal, puerile and misinformed that I’ll never visit this site again.
    5. ken
      September 6th, 2009 | 7:29 am

      But, of course, hindsight is always 20-20.

      That says it all. 2003 is also before Cash got ‘total control’ of baseball operations. Would be interested to know whether the teams who got the other guys you mentioned would have picked Duncan if they could have.
    6. Steve Lombardi
      September 6th, 2009 | 9:25 am

      In 1,411 Triple-A PA, Duncan has a BA/OBA/SLG line of .226/.290/.344

      A pitcher could probably match those stats if you let him DH when he wasn’t pitching.

      Why anyone would defend the call to keep him in the organization escapes me.
    7. MJ
      September 6th, 2009 | 10:24 am

      Why anyone would defend the call to keep him in the organization escapes me.
      ———
      But what difference does it make? Would you rather have a young-ish player like Duncan wasting the roster spot or some old veteran organizational player that plays 3B taking up that spot? Remember when the Yanks signed Terrence Long back in ’06 how up in arms you and everyone else was? Would you rather that someone like HIM be Duncan’s replacement? I doubt that. So just ignore his presence because he makes no difference, either positive or negative.

      Having said that, I do hope that one day soon the Yanks have enough positional prospects that keeping Duncan (or someone like him) can’t be done because he’s taking up valuable roster space.
    8. Steve Lombardi
      September 6th, 2009 | 10:49 am

      At AAA, in terms of a player getting decent PA, I want a player who is either a good prospect – or – a vet, who, if called upon, can help the big league team. Duncan is neither. Therefore, having him on the team, and getting PA, is a waste, IMHO.
    9. Raf
      September 6th, 2009 | 10:38 pm

      Steve Lombardi wrote:

      At AAA, in terms of a player getting decent PA, I want a player who is either a good prospect – or – a vet, who, if called upon, can help the big league team. Duncan is neither. Therefore, having him on the team, and getting PA, is a waste, IMHO.

      A waste for what, or whom? Eric Duncan isn’t on the 40-man roster, so I’m not even sure of the point behind all this. He is one of hundreds, thousands who are career MiL’ers.
    10. Scout
      September 7th, 2009 | 7:20 am

      Raf and the others have it on this one, Steve. Duncan is minor league filler. I would rather have a hot prospect at his position, if only for the high trade value, but the plain truth is the Yankees have no such player. The organization has retained Duncan as an expedient move; he’s long since lost his “prospect” status.
    11. Braves Sign Eric Duncan
      December 13th, 2009 | 10:07 am

      [...] What the Braves see here…well…I dunno? [...]

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