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As much as we all like to harp on Chris Duncan for being a horrible baseball player, is Julio Lugo really that much better???

I just don't see the point of this deal. Sure, you get a backup SS. But Lugo isn't exactly a defensive whiz (7E in 37Gms), and he's not exactly an offensive upgrade over Ryan either.

The only way this deal even remotely makes sense, is if LaRussa plans on moving Schumaker back to LF and using the tandem of Ryan and Lugo up the middle. You might be able to stomach Lugo's bat a little bit better at 2B. But even then, I'm not sure the Cardinals needed to make this deal.

For one, Boston was going to release Lugo anyways. Why not wait a week and get him for free? I realize that then the Cardinals would've had to enter a "bidding war" in order to get him. But c'mon...it's not like there were too many teams out there marking their calenders for his release.

I think we all would agree that Duncan did not belong on a major league roster this year. At the same time, I'm not sure it was necessary to give up on him completely. The neck injury that he experienced left him with nerve damage and extreme weakness in his right arm and shoulder...of course it was going to take some time for him to get back to being the Duncan that knocked out 22HRs in 2006.

Add in the fact that he was cheap and under club control until 2012, and I just don't see why we couldn't have afforded to just wait it out? I mean, does Julio Lugo really make us that much better off? Is this the trade that is going to put us over the top?

Just saying...