DBacks acquire Zach Duke

[Eminor3rd]

EJax or Floyd trades might make a lot more sense if we had Zach Duke at the back. I know Duke isn't awesome, but he's a serviceable back-end guy for sure, and he's two years removed from an all-star appearance. What do you think? Trade a pitcher for a Granderson or even a Fielder if we had Duke?

 

EDIT: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/11/pira...oche-young.html

Edited November 20, 2010 by Eminor3rd

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

I believe they also DFA'd Andy LaRoche and Dewlyn Young. All 3 are pretty interesting names for them to dump. I'd take a flier on Duke I guess if we do trade a starter.

[Jordan4life_2007]

Zach Duke? C'mon, guys. I know it's November and s*** is slow. But Zach Duke? NO.THANK.YOU.

[witesoxfan]

Yeah, Zach Duke is really not that good. The Sox would be better off going with Tony Pena as the 5th starter.

[Dick Allen]

There's a reason you get DFA'd by the Pittsburgh Pirates. The reason is you suck more than the rest of their roster which still has plenty of suck to go around. Zach Duke sucks, and really has sucked for about 5 years now.

Edited November 20, 2010 by Dick Allen

[kjshoe04]

I hate the offseason.

[knightni]

I know Duke isn't awesome, but he's a serviceable back-end guy for sure, and he's two years removed from an all-star appearance.

The Pirates are required to have at least one All-Star a year.

[Texsox]

There's a reason you get DFA'd by the Pittsburgh Pirates. The reason is you suck more than the rest of their roster which still has plenty of suck to go around. Zach Duke sucks, and really has sucked for about 5 years now.

/thread

[ThunderBolt]

I'd be all over this as a "Coop can fix 'em" type deal. However, in no way shape or form should we clear any kind of space in the rotation for him outside of leaving the 5 spot open for guys to grab till Peavy gets back this spring.

[Eminor3rd]

The reason he got DFA'd isn't because he's terrible, it's because he won't be worth his arbitration raise. If no one claims him we could get him on a minor league deal, or really cheap major league deal. Again, not ideal, but we have nothing but pure garbage in our AAA system, so a guy with not terrible MLB stats that can eat innings can be tremendously valuable at #5. Remember, we haven't resigned Freddy Garcia and we don't even know for sure if Peavy will pitch next season. We can move Pena or Sale in but we're already going to lose Jenks and we haven't resigned Putz. Can we even afford to lose the bullpen arms?

 

Look, all I'm saying is that we're used to trying to put a good pitcher in all 5 starter slots, but you don't have to do that to win. And as badly as we need offense right now, I think putting someone who is reliable and has the ceiling of a decent #4 at the back of the rotation would open up our trade possibilities. All of a sudden we could trade Floyd or Jackson and not literally have a nameless scrub from AAA move in. Remember, we're not talking about trading for him, we're talking about bringing him in on a peanuts-salary for no cost in talent.

[Balta1701]

The big selling point the Sox have here is actually Cooper. A guy with a reputation of occasionally fixing people. If you're Duke, and you think you have some talent, you're looking for a guy like Cooper or Duncan who can potentially help you turn things around.

 

The Sox probably need to sign a 6th starter guy if they're going to move a starter, this isn't a terrible candidate, and even still, they need some bullpen help as well.

[ThunderBolt]

I remember hearing that coming off his good year, Duke was told by his pitching coach to rework everything and just cracked. It seems like a similiar case to what happened to Gavin in Philly.

[southsider2k5]

The big selling point the Sox have here is actually Cooper. A guy with a reputation of occasionally fixing people. If you're Duke, and you think you have some talent, you're looking for a guy like Cooper or Duncan who can potentially help you turn things around.

 

The Sox probably need to sign a 6th starter guy if they're going to move a starter, this isn't a terrible candidate, and even still, they need some bullpen help as well.

 

This is the exact reason I love to see the Sox accumulate these kind of guys and bring them to AZ with us. If you fix one here and there, it helps the team out tons.

[elrockinMT]

There's a reason you get DFA'd by the Pittsburgh Pirates. The reason is you suck more than the rest of their roster which still has plenty of suck to go around. Zach Duke sucks, and really has sucked for about 5 years now.

 

 

Kind of what I was going to say

[chunk23]

I hate the offseason.

 

I hate that no matter how bad a player is, inevitably there will be a thread about the Sox going after him. It's always the same thing too. "But what if Cooper can fix him/He just needs a change of scenery". It's like being a kid and my parents telling me the store brand cereal is just as good. No it isn't and the Sox aren't going to get better if our targets are Zach Duke and Delwyn Young.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

I hate that no matter how bad a player is, inevitably there will be a thread about the Sox going after him. It's always the same thing too. "But what if Cooper can fix him/He just needs a change of scenery". It's like being a kid and my parents telling me the store brand cereal is just as good. No it isn't and the Sox aren't going to get better if our targets are Zach Duke and Delwyn Young.

 

Actually, it usually is because a lot of times it's manufactured by companies like Quaker Oats and General Mills who just give them a cheap name and low price to target both spectrums of the market. Kids Krunch is the EXACT SAME thing as Cap'n Crunch.

[Jerksticks]

I hate that no matter how bad a player is, inevitably there will be a thread about the Sox going after him. It's always the same thing too. "But what if Cooper can fix him/He just needs a change of scenery". It's like being a kid and my parents telling me the store brand cereal is just as good. No it isn't and the Sox aren't going to get better if our targets are Zach Duke and Delwyn Young.

 

There's no reason to take it personally. It takes all kinds of people to make this world go round. I mean if new threads bother you so much, what happens when your wife wants to go to the ballet? Clearly that seems like a horrible time to most of us, but not to her; so do you teach her a lesson by embarrassing her, condescending her, and finally convincing her that the ballet is for morons?

 

I wish there were more threads.

[witesoxfan]

The reason he got DFA'd isn't because he's terrible, it's because he won't be worth his arbitration raise. If no one claims him we could get him on a minor league deal, or really cheap major league deal. Again, not ideal, but we have nothing but pure garbage in our AAA system, so a guy with not terrible MLB stats that can eat innings can be tremendously valuable at #5. Remember, we haven't resigned Freddy Garcia and we don't even know for sure if Peavy will pitch next season. We can move Pena or Sale in but we're already going to lose Jenks and we haven't resigned Putz. Can we even afford to lose the bullpen arms?

 

Look, all I'm saying is that we're used to trying to put a good pitcher in all 5 starter slots, but you don't have to do that to win. And as badly as we need offense right now, I think putting someone who is reliable and has the ceiling of a decent #4 at the back of the rotation would open up our trade possibilities. All of a sudden we could trade Floyd or Jackson and not literally have a nameless scrub from AAA move in. Remember, we're not talking about trading for him, we're talking about bringing him in on a peanuts-salary for no cost in talent.

 

No, the reasons Zach Duke got non-tendered were because he's terrible and because he's due an arbitration raise. He's a bad version of Mark Buehrle - his best years resemble Buehrle's mediocre seasons, and his worst years represent something that a player from AAA could offer. Outside of an 84 inning stint his rookie year, he's pretty much been garbage his entire career and I really doubt that any remaining Pirates fans will miss him.

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

Actually, it usually is because a lot of times it's manufactured by companies like Quaker Oats and General Mills who just give them a cheap name and low price to target both spectrums of the market. Kids Krunch is the EXACT SAME thing as Cap'n Crunch.

I usually like the cheaper cereals anyway because they don't have as much sugar in them. Aside from that it seems they're the same stuff. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I'd rather have Oats 'N s*** for breakfast instead of like Sugar Rockets or whatever. And JMO, but I think it's all part of a wider conspiracy where the drug companies and cereal companies get together and find ways to get kids all f***ing batty in the morning so they can't sit still in class and later on end up all doped up on downers. I think Post gets kickbacks from like Pfizer and stuff. Not really. But maybe...

 

Nothing beats the difference between DayQuil/NyQuil and the Walgreens brand though. It's completely the same thing except the Walgreens brand is so much cheaper, and that's good for me because I love that stuff. I mean, you don't really have to be sick to drink it. You just shouldn't drink a lot of it. And you can't buy a lot of it either because then they think you're going to go cook up some meth. But you can even use it to make Flaming Homers apparently, although I've never tried that personally.

[Balta1701]

No, the reasons Zach Duke got non-tendered were because he's terrible and because he's due an arbitration raise. He's a bad version of Mark Buehrle - his best years resemble Buehrle's mediocre seasons, and his worst years represent something that a player from AAA could offer. Outside of an 84 inning stint his rookie year, he's pretty much been garbage his entire career and I really doubt that any remaining Pirates fans will miss him.

He's not due an arbitration raise if you sign him as a free agent though.

[witesoxfan]

He's not due an arbitration raise if you sign him as a free agent though.

 

Which just leaves him as terrible, which the Sox shouldn't invest in either.

[Eminor3rd]

Which just leaves him as terrible, which the Sox shouldn't invest in either.

 

Would you prefer Brandon Hynick? Garrett Johnson? Those are our AAA pitchers. How is Zach Duke on a minor league contract not 30 times better than some replacement level scrub from Charlotte?

 

Do you think we should just run the same team out as last year?

[witesoxfan]

Would you prefer Brandon Hynick? Garrett Johnson? Those are our AAA pitchers. How is Zach Duke on a minor league contract not 30 times better than some replacement level scrub from Charlotte?

 

Do you think we should just run the same team out as last year?

 

Absolutely not and I've never implied that, but I don't think Zach Duke is going to have to settle for a minor league deal, and, quite frankly, he shouldn't have to with the abundance of organizations that lack starting pitching. I also really don't think that he'd come here even on a minor league deal because he's not likely to get a chance to pitch in the rotation, and he could very well not get a chance to pitch out of the bullpen either.

 

I will say, without considering any of the current Sox minor leaguers nor any potential minor league free agent signings (and that could include Duke too if he signed here), the Sox currently have 7 players players on the major league roster that I would rather have start a game than Zach Duke. He's going to be expensive, relatively speaking, and I don't think that he really offers any upside whatsoever.

[Eminor3rd]

Absolutely not and I've never implied that, but I don't think Zach Duke is going to have to settle for a minor league deal, and, quite frankly, he shouldn't have to with the abundance of organizations that lack starting pitching. I also really don't think that he'd come here even on a minor league deal because he's not likely to get a chance to pitch in the rotation, and he could very well not get a chance to pitch out of the bullpen either.

 

I will say, without considering any of the current Sox minor leaguers nor any potential minor league free agent signings (and that could include Duke too if he signed here), the Sox currently have 7 players players on the major league roster that I would rather have start a game than Zach Duke. He's going to be expensive, relatively speaking, and I don't think that he really offers any upside whatsoever.

 

Well, I agree with you, that he shouldn't be paid much and that he shouldn't pitch if we have all of the guys we have now. But what I was implying is that if we took him as a downgrade in the 5 slot, we might be able to trade a pitcher for a big bat, and end up better making the sacrifice.

 

But, yeah someone like AZ or Milwaukee might sign him for $2.5m.

[witesoxfan]

Well, I agree with you, that he shouldn't be paid much and that he shouldn't pitch if we have all of the guys we have now. But what I was implying is that if we took him as a downgrade in the 5 slot, we might be able to trade a pitcher for a big bat, and end up better making the sacrifice.

 

But, yeah someone like AZ or Milwaukee might sign him for $2.5m.

 

I think there are pitchers with higher upside that you can look to acquire, be it through trade or signing, that are going to cost less than Duke. Resigning Garcia, while definitely not sexy, would be OK too simply because you know what you're going to get, and I think Tony Pena could be actually be a solid starter too.