Dave Duncan Returns

Hitting coach Mark McGwire will return for a second season with the Cardinals, the club announced Monday afternoon.
McGwire was thought to be leaning towards not returning after spending time with his family, which includes triplet girls that were born during the season.  But the Cardinals offered McGwire the chance to return and the former home run king eventually decided to accept their one-year offer.
The club also announced that pitching coach Dave Duncan signed a two-year deal with a vesting option for a third year and will return as well.  General manager John Mozeliak initially said the Cardinals would only offer one-year contracts to their coaches, which caused some uncertainty over his return when manager Tony La Russa confirmed that Duncan was looking for a multi-year contract.
La Russa announced last week that he had agreed to a one-year contract with an option for 2012.
McGwire was a source of criticism for a Cardinals offense that was inconsistent for much of the season.  Second baseman Skip Schumaker followed three straight .300 seasons with a .265 average and shortstop Brendan Ryan saw his average drop from .292 in 2009 to .223 this season.
Catcher Yadier Molina had his worst offensive season in five years as well, hitting .262 with a career-high 51 strikeouts.
But despite some of the individual struggles, the Cardinals finished the year with the second best batting average in the National League at .263. After strikeouts plagued the Cardinals early in the season, they ended up striking out the second-fewest times in the league.
After concerns of a media circus following McGwire around the country and providing a distraction for the club this year, the reaction to McGwire was fairly small outside of a few days during spring training.
The 65-year-old Duncan will enter his 16th season as the Cardinals pitching coach and his 32nd season overall. Duncan, who said he wanted to coach three more years before retiring, led the Cardinals pitching staff to the fourth best ERA in 2010 and the second lowest totals in walks and home runs allowed.
Three other members of the Cardinals coaching staff - first base coach Dave McKay, third base coach Jose Oquendo and bench coach Joe Pettini - also signed one-year contracts to return.
The Cardinals are still searching for a bench coach after the dismissal of Marty Mason, but the club has said that hire will come from within. 

BJ Rains