Florida Marlins’ Lo Duca looks to revive career in 2009

Ugh...Just :wumpscut the wad before he even starts in with his eevil young flesh routine.

Signed to a $5 million, one-year contract, Lo Duca spent time on the Nationals’ disabled list with a fractured right hand and ultimately lost his starting job. He totaled 170 at-bats for the Nationals and hit .241.

“I tried to come back and wasn’t healthy, so I never had a chance to show anybody there I could still play,” said Lo Duca, adding he didn’t anticipate much, if any, crowd reaction. “I apologized to the fans before I left.”

...At 36, Lo Duca still feels he has plenty of baseball, specifically catching, left in him. Chances are his next contract will be an incentive-laden, minor-league deal.

“I’m going to go home for a couple of weeks and get in great shape, get ready to play for somebody next year, whoever wants to give me a shot,” Lo Duca said. “I’m out to prove a lot of people wrong. I want to still catch and play every day.

“If somebody wants me off the bench, I think I could get a guaranteed deal. I’d rather not take a guaranteed deal if somebody says, ‘Hey, you’re going to spring training with a chance to win the starting job.’ I’d rather take that.”