Duke's Next Target: The Rotation

by louismg on Dec 4, 2007 8:58 PM PST

Despite the fact Justin Duchscherer missed most of the 2007 (as did most of the A's, as you recall), the current plan has Duke looking to follow in Chad Gaudin's footsteps and join the A's rotation.

As a quick Yahoo! Sports piece notes, Duke is currently slotted to be the 5th starter in a rotation set to include Dan Haren, Joe Blanton, Rich Harden and the aforementioned Gaudin.

Duchscherer, as you recall, was the A's All-Star representative in 2005, and suffered a hip injury that limited him to 17 games and 16.1 innings this last season, after logging 65 games and 53 games in 2005 and 2006 respectively.

Duke last started games for the A's in 2003. Oddly enough, he logged the same 16.1 innings in 4 games that year. Hopefully, should he make the rotation out of Spring Training, he'll get to 16.1 innings midway through April.

Of course... this just could be a set-up to make it appear the A's rotation is well-stocked enough to see Haren or Blanton move on via trade... who knows?

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Hell, the way they're dangling Haren & Blanton

Duke may be the staff ace and set for opening night.

"We get two outs, and I was sure, and I had a plan, and I shook Tek off," Schilling said. "And I get a big 'What if?' for the rest of my life."

by Imaseasonticketholder on Dec 4, 2007 9:42 PM PST reply actions

The development

of Guadin may go a long way to determining whether or not Haren/Blanton are dealt at the deadline next season or the following offseason. Chad definitely showed great progress in the first half last year so who knows, we may have an ace in the making here.

"Their batters are patient to the point that it's annoying." -Ryan Franklin

by Helloooo 1st on Dec 5, 2007 11:58 AM PST reply actions