Current Contract
Signed a one-year contract with the St. Louis Cardinals on March 4, 2008. On the club's 40-Man Roster.

2007: $400,000

Became a Cardinal
Selected in the supplemental first round (46th overall) of the June, 1999 First-Year Player Draft as compensation for the Orioles' signing of free agent Delino DeShields. Received a $900,000 signing bonus.

2007 Season
Duncan hit 21 homers and drove in 70 runs in his first full season with the Cardinals. Coming out of spring training, his defense in left-field improved significantly over the previous season. A sports hernia slowed him down for nearly two months before he finally elected to have season-ending surgery in September.

He finished 2nd on the team in HR’s (21) and RBI (70) during injury-shortened sophomore campaign. The Cardinals were 16-5 in games that he HRed in and of his 70 RBI, 25 came with 2-outs (36%)

Duncan joined Albert Pujols as the only Cardinals to begin their careers with consecutive 20-homer seasons.

What will come to a surprise to many fans is that Duncan made just two errors, had five OF assists and nine defensive gems in 105 games in the outfield

2006 Season
Duncan began the season at Triple-A Memphis and was called up twice and sent back down before finally being called up for good on July 3. He finished the season hitting .293/.363/.589. His 22 home runs, 19 of which came after the All-Star break, ranked fourth among National League rookies. He was voted NL Rookie of the Month in August when he hit .361 with nine home runs and 14 RBIs. He was also named Cardinals Hamilton Jewelers Rookie of the Year in balloting by local media and broadcasters. He hit .236 with one home run in 10 post-season games, including a start in the first game of the World Series.

Career Notes
Duncan had just 25 at-bats above Class A through 2003, but finally broke out in 2004, hitting .289/.393/.473 with 16 home runs and 65 RBI in 120 games for Double-A Tennessee.

In 2005, Duncan hit .265 with 21 home runs and 73 RBI in 128 games for Triple-A Memphis. He got his first taste of the big leagues with a September call-up to St. Louis. He hit .200 with a home run in 10 at-bats, including the last regular season home run hit at the old Busch Stadium on October 2.

MISC
Chris is the son of Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan. His brother Shelly is a first baseman in the New York Yankees organization.

Contract Info: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Photo: MLB Photos