Walt on Bernie's show today

[clevername]

are the other outfielders on the team having trouble with the high sun and wind?

It is harder for all players to catch fly balls in Florida this time of year, than it would be at, say, Busch at 8:00 PM in June.

My point is, I guess, that the conditions out there are equal for all the players. Making excuses for Duncan due to the weather seems pretty weak unless Chris is the only one affected by those conditions.

I honestly haven't seen an inning of spring ball this year, so I can't really comment on how he looks out there. It seems odd that Jocketty would be so willing to excuse what sounds like has been an ok performance due to weather conditions ALL players are playing in.

[ghostrunner]

the Duncan quote is interesting.

Walt and LaRussa have almost fallen over themselves to make excuses for Dunc. I've always kinda brushed it off...but this one sounds a bit silly.

Yeah, that's sort of strange excuse. Those are the conditions he will have to deal with on a daily basis.

Yes. High sun. Unlike the low sun so common in the Midwest.

Seriously, that goes up there with the Joe Morgan explanation of what causes a shadow.

Usually the conditions are much much worse in Spring Training than they are during the season. This is not an outlandish excuse. The games are played at atypical times, there are no stands to block the wind, or shield the sun. Plus the fields are not aligned to prevent sun problems as well as the fields not being kept up as well the major league fields.

I don't know. There's 1:00 games in the summer when the sun doesn't set until 8. How different is it? I don't blame Walt for saying it necessarily, but it seems flimsy to me too.

[haltz]

are the other outfielders on the team having trouble with the high sun and wind?

It is harder for all players to catch fly balls in Florida this time of year, than it would be at, say, Busch at 8:00 PM in June.

My point is, I guess, that the conditions out there are equal for all the players. Making excuses for Duncan due to the weather seems pretty weak unless Chris is the only one affected by those conditions.

I think that it's a proper disclaimer in terms of Chris Duncan trying to learn the outfield. It's harder for all those guys, but it makes judging Chris over his Spring performance especially tenuous.

It's worth mentioning on the radio when Bernie asks the question, in my opinion, because it's a fact. Playing OF in Florida, during early games is just harder than it is going to be at Busch at night. Same would go for a afternoon game at Wrigley when the wind is blowing in off the lake.

I just don't think it's an excuse, and it's not like most of the outfielders in ST are trying to learn how to play the outfield. For those that are, like Chris, it's especially hard. And FWIW he is looking better out there, to the naked eye anyway. But, defensive analysis has shown that eye-balling these things isn't always very reliable, so who knows.

I don't know. There's 1:00 games in the summer when the sun doesn't set until 8. How different is it? I don't blame Walt for saying it necessarily, but it seems flimsy to me too.

It's plenty different. For one, the sun being directly overhead is the part that makes it a little trickier to judge, not just being daylight, and two, the winds are going to be much different then he will find in his home park. Much tougher.

I'm not trying to make excuses either, probably sounds like I am. Also, like I said, he's looked somewhat improved out there. But it's all probably worth mentioning when talking about Duncan trying to play LF right now. It's valid, and it's not like Walt or Tony are going to come out and say that he is doing terrible. They are going to point to the notorious conditions and also say that he looks like he is getting more comfortable. Not too surprising.

[JohnnyJay]

My point should be, that he is a professional baseball player. And for that, the excuse is silly.

[IlliniAmy]

My point should be, that he is a professional baseball player. And for that, the excuse is silly.

It's not an excuse for Chris, it was explanation for how it's hard to judge at this point.

[Phyrkrakr]

Jorge Julio = stay far far away. I like nothing from this guy that makes him better than some of the other options we have at AAA, like Dove. If we're going to trade Narveson, talk to Washington about Ryan Church. They have extra outfielders (apparently some guy from Seattle is in the running for Church's job) and will make boneheaded trades that don't benefit them at all. It might not be one for one, but a young bat with 850 OPS potential is something you don't find on every street corner. He's 25 and has had some injury problems, but as a potential replacement for Juan, you could probably do worse (and better, but not for just Narveson)

At the very least, find a package of low minor talent in the infield, like possibly a second baseman/shortstop combo and deal it that way. We have plenty of outfield/pitching talent it seems (although how good any of it is remains to be determined) but we're lacking in quality middle infielders at several levels. Brendan Ryan and Travis Hanson are the only two I'm coming up with off the top of my head, but if there are more, feel free to enlighten me. Learning about prospects is one reason I read this board a ton.

[Popeye_Card]

My point should be, that he is a professional baseball player. And for that, the excuse is silly.

It's not an excuse for Chris, it was explanation for how it's hard to judge at this point.

Bingo.

Bernie apparently asked if Duncan's defense has improved, and Walt stated it was too early to judge.

And yes, most MLB OF's struggle a bit in ST with the wind and sun down there. You see even good OF's like Edmonds and Taguchi make a decent amount of errors and misplayed balls down there. Just on Sunday, the Mets catcher (Castro, I believe) misplayed an easy pop-up at home plate because of the wind.

As for Walt's other comments, I'm a bit surprised that they don't have at least luke-warm interest in Bernie Williams. He can still hit fairly well, though his defense is really poor now. I have a hunch that for him, it's the Yankees or no one though. There's enough teams in ST needing an OF bat on the bench that he would at least be getting invites.

--P--

[Cronos]

Just on Sunday, the Mets catcher (Castro, I believe) misplayed an easy pop-up at home plate because of the wind.

Exactly, and in the same game just a couple of innings earlier, David Wright let a pop up drop right in front of him next to the Mets dugout.

A lot of fielders have trouble with the swirling winds and the sun in Spring Training. Considering how well Duncan's done, I certainly don't think it bodes ill for the regular season that he's had one error and maybe a fly-ball or two total misjudged(I saw one in the March 11 game against the Braves where he thought it was going to be a double off of the wall and instead it was a long gone home run, but that's not really a harmful error, is it?)

I agree that it's too early to judge. But he's done nothing that indicates he'll only be the same or even worse at defense in the outfield.

[Popeye_Card]

I'm one of Duncan's harshest defensive critics (IMO, he's the worst defensive player in baseball). But I'm with Walt on this one--it's too early to judge if his work with Walker has improved his play or not. I think we'll have a better idea about 1 month into the season.

--P--

[PHILLYCARD]

Jorge Julio = stay far far away. I like nothing from this guy that makes him better than some of the other options we have at AAA, like Dove. If we're going to trade Narveson, talk to Washington about Ryan Church. They have extra outfielders (apparently some guy from Seattle is in the running for Church's job) and will make boneheaded trades that don't benefit them at all. It might not be one for one, but a young bat with 850 OPS potential is something you don't find on every street corner. He's 25 and has had some injury problems, but as a potential replacement for Juan, you could probably do worse (and better, but not for just Narveson)

At the very least, find a package of low minor talent in the infield, like possibly a second baseman/shortstop combo and deal it that way. We have plenty of outfield/pitching talent it seems (although how good any of it is remains to be determined) but we're lacking in quality middle infielders at several levels. Brendan Ryan and Travis Hanson are the only two I'm coming up with off the top of my head, but if there are more, feel free to enlighten me. Learning about prospects is one reason I read this board a ton.

There is a few in the system but none that will be ready for at least 2-3 years. Here are a few.

SS Tommy Pham (load of potential defensivly, should start the season at Quad Cities)

SS Tyler Greene ( Might be ready for the Majors right now defensivly but his bat and his plate disipline are another story, should start the season at Palm Beach/ Sprinfield)

3B Donovan Solano ( Very raw but has great potential. Has shown flashes at the plate but needs to work on defense, should start season at Quad Cities)