Yardbarker: Justin Duchscherer

Justin Duchscherer and Jamey Wright

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 01:30:00 -0500

In the past 24 hours or so, Dejan at the Post-Gazette has reported that the Pirates are interested in Justin Duchscherer, while the Kansas City Star is reporting that the Pirates are interested in Jamey Wright. Duchscherer would be a great pickup for the Pirates if he's physically healthy and all of his lingering injury and depression issues coupled with the potentially slow market could mean that he's a little more realistic than some of our past offseason targets. That will be dicta...

Ten Moves I Wouldn't MInd the Cubs Pursuing

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 04:05:41 -0500

Before the first "the Cubs can't afford that "comment, let me preface all this by saying I wouldn't mind the Cubs making any of these moves, not necessarily all of them. And it's just a bunch conjecture and speculation and "damn, I'm bored, let's make up some stuff". I did attempt to be reasonable at least.

1. Sign Kelly Johnson if he's non-tendered and non-tender Mike Fontenot. There's probably not a big difference between the two, but I like Johnson better. I'm also not opposed to a trade for Johnson for some marginal low-level minor league talent.

2. If the Tigers decide to move Granderson for prospects only - as opposed to major league pre-arbitration talent - something along the lines of Josh Vitters, Darwin Barney or Hak-Ju Lee and Chris Carpenter (although you have to think Rafael Dolis, Andrew Cashner or Jay Jackson would need to be included). Welington Castillo, Sam Fuld, Tyler Colvin or Ryan Flaherty I imagine could also be of some interest to the Tigers.

Although I still think the Tigers wll only move Granderson if they can attach one of their bad contracts with him or get some early arbitration or auto-renewal players.

3. While they're talking to the Tigers about Granderson, see if adding Randy Wells and one more pitching prospect would get Edwin Jackson. Hell, let's propose a blockbuster: Vitters, Lee, Jackson, Colvin and Wells for Granderson and Jackson. Mix and match at your discretion.

Tampa Bay Rays vs Detroit Tigers." width="166" />

4. Trade Milton Bradley for Pat Burrell, suck up the 2nd year of the deal or see if adding Jake Fox into the trade could get the Rays to take some of the salary. I'm under the assumption that this is the only reasonable offer the Cubs have and it's just a matter of how much the Cubs are willing to pay at this point. I have doubts the Cubs can do any better and Hendry should learn from his Sammy Sosa mistake about waiting too long on a deal. While the Cubs would probably then have to pay someone to take Burrell off their hands, Burrell wouldn't be a terrible bench/platoon/"when Soriano gets injured" option.

5. Bring back Reed Johnson to platoon for Fukudome and possibly Granderson if the Cubs can get him. One year deal max though.

6. Offer Rich Harden arbitration. On the off chance he accepts it -which he wouldn't - there are worse things that could happen then having a guy with an ERA barely over 3 the last two seasons and 51 starts around.

7. When Harden goes somewhere else, see how Ben Sheets is doing.

8. Kick the tires on the following starting pitchers assuming no Harden and Ben Sheets arm isn't working: Justin Duchscherer, Randy Johnson, Brad Penny, John Smoltz, Erik Bedard and Mike Hampton. See what a one year deal with incentives would cost.

9. Sign one of these relievers, Billy Wagner, Takashi Saito, Kiko Calero, Kelvim Escobar or J.J. Putz with the caveat that Escobar and Putz medical records and rehab give them a clean bill of health. Wagner's the only one I would go past a year deal on.

10. Give Mark Prior a tryout. I'm only half-joking, but I would love to see him make a comeback, even as a reliever. And if it means I could unretire my Prior jersey, all the better.

In the comments yesterday I suggested the following potential roster for the Cubs.

Starters: Granderson, Theriot, Lee, Ramirez, Soriano, Fukudome, Soto, K. Johnson/Baker

Bench: Burrell, K. Johnson/Baker, Hill, R. Johnson and Miles (or Blanco if they can move Miles)

Rotation: Z, Dempster, Wells, Lilly, Gorzelanny

Bullpen: Marmol, Guzman, Grabow, Saito, Marshall, bullpen musical chairs for the last 2 spots

That's a team I could live with next year. Johnson and Burell can platoon for Fukudome and Granderson on most days. Oh sure, the outfield defense will suck on those days, but there's no such thing as a perfect baseball world. Plus, you're probably not gonna do a strict platoon with Granderson anyway. Replacing Fontentot for Kelly Johnson isn't gonna make much of a difference if that falls through. Of course, it unravels like a house of cards if the Cubs can't swing a trade for Granderson.

And now your turn to mock me in the comments...

11/26 - Happy Thanksgiving! Now to Talk About Canadian Stuff...

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 05:00:12 -0500

Enjoy your cooked birdies today folks, even if it's not a celebration native to your country. I mean, why not be thankful? Links: Poll Results: Fans say Bay isn’t worth more than $60M - The Bottom Line Hmm. What's the max you'd offer? Holliday-Bay: Visual Scouting Reports 1.0 - The Baseball Analysts Less about the debate than the visuals, but still cool. Pause the Maple Leaf Flag stuff for now though. Interviewing Alex Wilson: 2009 draft pick closest to the bigs&n...

Wednesday's Late and Brief Frosty Mug

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:15:03 -0500

More photos » by Eric Risberg - AP Justin Duchscherer is a potential 2010 Brewer. That means I probably need to learn to spell his name...or assign him a clever nickname that catches on. Suggestions? Browse more photos » Some things to read while finding eternal life. Thanks for bearing with me this week. The Mug will return to its normal format and schedule on Friday. In the meantime, here's the cras...

Pitcher Justin Duchscherer has learned a lot about himself since undergoing treatment for clinical depression

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:19:53 -0500

Clinical depression had sent pitcher Justin Duchscherer's life, career into a tailspin

Rumor Mongering: Payroll to drop in 2010- Astros linked to two free agent pitchers

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:05:16 -0500

More photos » by Eric Risberg - AP Justin Duchscherer would look much better with a star on his hat. Browse more photos » Hat tip to OremLK for breaking this in the fan posts section, but Brian McTaggart has a blog post up in which Ed Wade confirms what we've all been led to believe, the Astros payroll will decrease in 2010. Wade had a pow wow with Drayton McLane and a number was tossed around, apparen...

Odds & Ends: Bucs, Duchscherer, Astros

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 15:03:35 -0500

A fresh batch of links for Saturday afternoon... Perry Hill left his post as Pirates first base coach Saturday and, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, expressed unhappiness with the team's aggressive trading this season on his way out. The Pirates got rid of three-fourths of their infield during the year. According to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, the A's have not touched base with soon-to-be free agent Justin Duchscherer since the end of the seas...

An Homage To The Duke Of Scherer

Sat, 22 Aug 2009 11:31:51 -0500

More photos » by Eric Risberg - AP The Duke. Browse more photos » Yesterday it became official that Justin Duchscherer will not throw another pitch before his contract expires at the end of the season, and neither the A's nor Duchscherer has given any indication that they wish their future to include the other. Duchscherer, whose agent revealed yesterday that the pitcher is battling clinical depression...

A's Pitcher Is Latest Member Of The Sadness Bridge

Sat, 22 Aug 2009 11:30:00 -0500

Justin Duchscherer has been on rehab since March with a hip injury. Now, he's shut down for the rest of the year with "a very treatable form of clinical depression." The treatment is "not playing for the A's." [SF Chronicle]

A's Pitcher Is Latest Member Of The Sadness Brigade

Sat, 22 Aug 2009 11:30:00 -0500

Should the Athletics Trade Justin Duchscherer?

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Yesterday, ESPN baseball writer Buster Olney outlined why Justin Duchscherer should be an attractive alternate for teams looking for a top flight starting pitcher."Pitcher B is Justin Duchscherer. Those are his numbers from 2008. He has not pitched in 2009 after undergoing an elbow cleanup, but he is set to begin his minor league rehabilitation assignment and could be ready to pitch in the big leagues within a couple of weeks. The right-hander will be eligible for free agency this fall, ...

Ailing Right Arms

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 18:11:51 -0500

Angles ace John Lackey is not likely to make his Opening Day start. He has currently been shut down due to tightness and inflammation in his right forearm. According to MLB.com, Lackey experienced the tightness during a 90-pitch outing on Sunday against the Royals. It was also reported that he was a little tight after playing catch on Thursday and this was what made the team decide to shut him down for the time being. The team’s Orthopedist is supposed to be at camp n Saturday to examin...

Justin, Mickey and "colorful plastic buttons"

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:15:34 -0500

Athlete-musician hybrids are generally a terrible idea. I won't name names, but there are quite a few great examples out there of why sports stars need to stay on the field and never pick up a microphone. What they should apparently be doing, though, is entering video game competitions. The other day at our RazorGator Fan Junket (a.k.a. the Hooters party) and our BBQ that followed, a couple of the athletes wowed us with their superhuman abilities