In an article this morning in the Enquirer, Dunn says:
Dunn usually says what he says with his straight-faced, sarcastic style.
But he says people shouldn’t get the impression that he wants out or anything like that.
“I wouldn’t call it popping off,” he said. “It’s just that I don’t handle losing well. A lot of it is frustration.”
snip…
And despite his occasional moaning, he says he’s not looking to leave Cincinnati.
“I like it here,” he said. “I like everyone here. Like I said, a lot of it is frustration with losing.”
John Fay seems to be begining to understand that Dunn is the team’s best offensive player.
Dunn has not let his frustration affect his play to any great degree. He went into Saturday’s game with the Atlanta Braves among the National League leaders in home runs (17, third), walks (50, first), runs (43, eighth), on-base percentage (.404, 10th) and slugging percentage (.565, sixth).
He’s sixth in the NL in on-base-plus-slugging (OPS) at .969, the best indicator of offensive excellence.
This is the second time in recent weeks that Fay has mentioned Dunn’s OPS and not mentioned his batting average.
Really, I’m so tired of hearing about his K’s and BA. If you get on, you’re helping your team, if you’re not, you’re hurting it. Getting on 40% of the time is great.
A surprising moment of clarity in the Enquirer. Later in the episode, Fay ponders the Reds’ payroll and considers that perhaps the Reds have overpaid for Milton and Ortiz.
What should we expect tomorrow, Professor Fay?
No! The Reds overpayed for Milton. Ground breaking journalism. How does he come up with these things.
About three years ago, someone uttered these words: “If he doesn’t want to be on our team, to hell with him.”
Can anyone name the person who said this?
It was Adam Dunn, when asked how he felt about Kenny Rogers invoking his no trade clause, preventing Cincinnati from aquiring the lefty.
Oh, the irony is too rich!
Dunn has to be traded, and since he and Kearns can’t stand to be away from each other, Kearns needs to go as well. I love that when Kearns asked to be traded he was told, “That might not be easy.” Oh baby, what an ego buster!
Trade them and the team will be better off, because they’ll be able to score runs, as well as pitch. It really is that simple.
And another thing, that Dunn, Kearns, and Casey are still upset about Graves being released is as clear an indication as any that they are less concerned about baseball than whether they get to hang out with their buddies. And we want to keep these guys on our team? Maybe we can trade them and they can start the greatest beer league in the country. (Maybe Graves could toss underhanded and improve upon his 2005 ERA.)
Dunn’s complaints about Kearns’ demotion makes him the worst culprit.
Danny Graves – ERA: 7.36
Austin Kearns – BA: .224 (and for you OPS geeks out there, .700 OPS, and yes, that is lower than Rich Aurilia.)
Obviously Dunn is a qualified commentator on who should be on 25 man rosters. And thus, we should send him to another team, perhaps one where he can be in the company of players with numbers similar to the ones he so passionately wants to be on the Reds roster.