The Diamondbacks avoided arbitration with Zach Duke by signing the left-hander to a one-year contract with a mutual option for 2012, reports MLB.com's Steve Gilbert. Duke will earn $3.5MM next season (via Gilbert on Twitter), and Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic tweets that the mutual option is worth $5.5MM with a $750K buyout. Piecoro adds that if Duke pitches a certain number of innings, the mutual option for 2012 could be worth $7MM. Duke is represented by SFX.
Duke and the team finalized the deal just before yesterday's non-tender deadline, and the left-hander would've in fact been non-tendered had the two sides not come to terms. Arizona acquired Duke in a trade from the Pirates on November 24. As D'Backs GM Kevin Towers tells Gilbert, the club sees Duke as their fifth starter.
yes.
Kennedy, Saunders, Hudson, Enright and Duke. That way they go R-L-R-R-L. Plus Parker could take the 4th spot in ST and move Enright to long relief.
no.. parker as long relief
forget that why would a pitcher with ace potential be a reliever? put parker in the fifth spot and maybe just maybe he can replicate what hudson did last year.
Nah – save parkers clock for when AZ actually has some potential. You want to call him up in June (i think it is) when his time this year doesnt count – fine. Realistically, there is no reason for anyone to think AZ is going to compete this year, so save him for later down the road.
If the Dbacks are gonna go R-L-R-R-L, they might as well go for U-U-D-D-L-R-L-R-B-A
Duke sucks anyways… no big deal here.
Both Duke and Saunders….look for both to give up high number of HRs next season.
Its not a bad sign considering how much he will be getting paid.