Chris Duncan (OF), STL - Optioned to Minors
March 30, 2006
News: According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals, as expected, sent Spring Training star Chris Duncan to Triple-A Memphis among other moves in preparation for Opening Day.
Views: Duncan had an eye-popping spring, hitting .273/.329/.506 with six 2B, four HR and 11 RBI in 77 AB. He just needs more time in the minors, but the Cards are very pleased that they finally nearly have a major-league-ready home-grown offensive player in the minors.
St. Louis also optioned John Gall for a fourth season at Memphis and released Deivi Cruz. Gall hit .207 with a HR and 10 RBI, while Cruz hit just .146 with a HR and two RBI. The move narrows the final offensive roster spot down to Hector Luna and Scott Spiezio. Luna has struggled this spring, hitting just .185 with six errors made. However, Luna holds an advantage in speed over Spiezio and the Cards would like to keep him as the only true backup to David Eckstein at SS. Spiezio is a switch-hitting CI that can play 2B in an emergency, but he's only hit .207 with two HR and 11 RBI this spring.
And the optioning of Duncan and Gall means that Skip Schumacher will most likely stay with the club when they go north and will see time in the OF until Larry Bigbie recovers from the stress fracture in his foot.
Fantasy Baseball 
