Walker is probably the biggest immediate news for Nats fans. He's a 33-year old right hander that that was used as a righty specialist last season by the Phils. He went 2-1 with a 3.06 ERA and 1.132 WHIP, striking out 6.9 per nine while walking just 2.3 per nine. His K/BB rate of 3.0 was the highest of his seven-year big league career.
He'll imediately slide into a similar role for the Nationals, providing another useful major league arm in the bullpen.
James is a big of a stash-and-watch deal. Just 26, he only managed seven starts in 2008 before succumbing to the shoulder injury that would shelve him for the rest of that season and all of 2009. In his first two big league seasons (2006-07), he showed real talent, going 22-14 in 48 starts with a 4.05 ERA nad 1.320 WHIP, striking out 6.6 per nine innings.
James underwent rotator cuff AND labrum surgery in September 2008 and missed all of last season. If, and that's a very big if, he can regain any of the stuff he had pre-surgery, James could be a very interesting reclamation project. New Assistant GM Roy Clark--late of Atlanta--must have liked something he's seen in James' rehab.
Duncan, a lefty-hitting, righty-throwing outfielder, has played in the majors exclusively for the St. Louis Cardinals. He hit 22 and 21 home runs in 2006 and 2007, but had only 11 combined homers in 2008-09, leading to a very public separation last July, when he was traded to Boston for Julio Lugo. Duncan never appeared for Boston and was subsequently released in August.
Duncan is a son of Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan, and pere Duncan
was very vocal about what he percieved as poor treatment from the organization's handling of the situation last season.
There has been no press release or official word from the team on any of these deals as of this posting.
