Giambino
02-09-2006, 12:17 PM
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Duncan has nice upside
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/story/389827p-330733c.html
</TD></TD><TR><TD>New hope for Yank kids
</TD></TR><TR><TD>BY ANTHONY McCARRON
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- Component: NYDailyNews : component/story/picture.comp --><TABLE cellSpacing=10 cellPadding=0 width=50 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>http://www.nydailynews.com/ips_rich_content/860-duncan_yanks.JPG</TD></TR><TR><TD>Eric Duncan </TD></TR><TR><TD width=10 height=10><!-- http://www.baseballfans.net/images/shim.gif --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- Component: NYDailyNews : component/story/picture.comp -->TAMPA - Like every other prospect in the Yankees' organization, Eric Duncan closely followed the success that Robinson Cano and Chien-Ming Wang had last year in the majors. Part of being a Yankee hopeful is dealing with the idea that you're only trade fodder, but Cano and Wang showed that there is room in pinstripes for youngsters.
"We were all watching - a lot of us have played with them at one time or another," Duncan said. "The Yankee minor-league system has taken a beating in the last couple of years, with people saying we don't have much. They showed we do have something down here and we have a lot more to offer than people think."
Duncan, 21, is one of the Yanks' prized prospects, so they invited him to big-league camp this spring. The infielder will report Feb. 21 with the rest of the position players for his first taste of big-league life. "This is his first chance to be around championship-caliber players on a daily basis," said Mark Newman, the Yankees' vice president of baseball operations. "He's always prepared well, but he'll learn some of the subtle things that separate guys from ordinary major-leaguers. The next time he's in that big-league environment, it won't seem so strange. He'll have a comfort level.
"We don't know whether he'll be there (the majors) this year, but we wanted to do this in case something happened and he was," Newman added. "It's also a reward for the Arizona Fall League season he had. He kept working after his regular season. These guys play every day for a long time and sometimes that's not easy to do."
Duncan had what he described as a difficult season at Double-A Trenton last year, which included a late-season beaning. He batted .235 with 19 homers and 61 RBI in 126 games and was especially disappointed with his average.
"There were a lot of things I was not happy with, but I learned a lot, especially the mental side, how to deal with failure," said Duncan, who is from Florham Park, N.J. "Looking back on it, I learned a lot more with the failure than I think I might've if I had nothing but success. This game, there's so much failure, that it was, to a certain degree, a good thing. Everybody goes through slumps, but you learn the mind-set to get through it as quickly as possible."
"He was more concerned with his batting average than we were," Newman said. "We liked the plate discipline he showed (59 walks) and the power numbers. For a 20-year-old in that league, the walks and power numbers are great predictors for good things."
The Yankees sent Duncan to play in the AFL, where he played first base for the first time, and he responded by winning the league's MVP award. He led the league in slugging percentage (.734), and 18 of his 34 hits were for extra-bases. He had eight homers (third), 27 RBI (fourth) and a .362 average (eighth) in 23 games.
"It was a great boost of confidence for me," Duncan said.
Duncan primarily will play first base this season, though he took some grounders at third yesterday at the Yanks' minor-league complex. "They told me to stay fresh over there, but the emphasis will be on first this year," Duncan said. "It's exciting. Obviously, they're a little blocked at third. Whatever they want me to do, if it'll help the team, I'll do it gladly."
Originally published on February 9, 2006
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http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/story/389827p-330733c.html
</TD></TD><TR><TD>New hope for Yank kids
</TD></TR><TR><TD>BY ANTHONY McCARRON
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- Component: NYDailyNews : component/story/picture.comp --><TABLE cellSpacing=10 cellPadding=0 width=50 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>http://www.nydailynews.com/ips_rich_content/860-duncan_yanks.JPG</TD></TR><TR><TD>Eric Duncan </TD></TR><TR><TD width=10 height=10><!-- http://www.baseballfans.net/images/shim.gif --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- Component: NYDailyNews : component/story/picture.comp -->TAMPA - Like every other prospect in the Yankees' organization, Eric Duncan closely followed the success that Robinson Cano and Chien-Ming Wang had last year in the majors. Part of being a Yankee hopeful is dealing with the idea that you're only trade fodder, but Cano and Wang showed that there is room in pinstripes for youngsters.
"We were all watching - a lot of us have played with them at one time or another," Duncan said. "The Yankee minor-league system has taken a beating in the last couple of years, with people saying we don't have much. They showed we do have something down here and we have a lot more to offer than people think."
Duncan, 21, is one of the Yanks' prized prospects, so they invited him to big-league camp this spring. The infielder will report Feb. 21 with the rest of the position players for his first taste of big-league life. "This is his first chance to be around championship-caliber players on a daily basis," said Mark Newman, the Yankees' vice president of baseball operations. "He's always prepared well, but he'll learn some of the subtle things that separate guys from ordinary major-leaguers. The next time he's in that big-league environment, it won't seem so strange. He'll have a comfort level.
"We don't know whether he'll be there (the majors) this year, but we wanted to do this in case something happened and he was," Newman added. "It's also a reward for the Arizona Fall League season he had. He kept working after his regular season. These guys play every day for a long time and sometimes that's not easy to do."
Duncan had what he described as a difficult season at Double-A Trenton last year, which included a late-season beaning. He batted .235 with 19 homers and 61 RBI in 126 games and was especially disappointed with his average.
"There were a lot of things I was not happy with, but I learned a lot, especially the mental side, how to deal with failure," said Duncan, who is from Florham Park, N.J. "Looking back on it, I learned a lot more with the failure than I think I might've if I had nothing but success. This game, there's so much failure, that it was, to a certain degree, a good thing. Everybody goes through slumps, but you learn the mind-set to get through it as quickly as possible."
"He was more concerned with his batting average than we were," Newman said. "We liked the plate discipline he showed (59 walks) and the power numbers. For a 20-year-old in that league, the walks and power numbers are great predictors for good things."
The Yankees sent Duncan to play in the AFL, where he played first base for the first time, and he responded by winning the league's MVP award. He led the league in slugging percentage (.734), and 18 of his 34 hits were for extra-bases. He had eight homers (third), 27 RBI (fourth) and a .362 average (eighth) in 23 games.
"It was a great boost of confidence for me," Duncan said.
Duncan primarily will play first base this season, though he took some grounders at third yesterday at the Yanks' minor-league complex. "They told me to stay fresh over there, but the emphasis will be on first this year," Duncan said. "It's exciting. Obviously, they're a little blocked at third. Whatever they want me to do, if it'll help the team, I'll do it gladly."
Originally published on February 9, 2006
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