Will Dunn be traded?

There are numerous trade rumor mills being published today. Adam Dunn’s name continues to surface in many of them. Depending on who you believe and how you feel about Adam Dunn, it still appears to be a tossup as to whether or not the big man will continue to be a red.

Based on what Reds general manager Dan O’Brien said Saturday, its unlikely any of the Reds’ young outfielders will be traded. Veteran center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. might not be traded, either.

“Everyone in here is aware that he is a 10-and-5,” said O’Brien of Griffey, who has at least 10 years in the big leagues and at least five with the same team and thus must give permission for a trade.

“And he and I haven’t visited one time (about a trade),” O’Brien said.

What about outfielders Adam Dunn, Austin Kearns and Wily Mo Peña?

“We’re continuing to be consistent,” O’Brien said. “The young players are the nucleus of our team. We want to retain them. The only thing that would cause us to have a change of direction is if we got overwhelmed (with value in return). We intend to keep the core intact.”

Does O’Brien expect to make another deal before the deadline?

“Anything is possible, but I don’t know that I can handicap it at this point,” O’Brien said. “There is still a long way to go between now and July 31.”

There was mention of a possibility of the Reds trading Casey but his “salary and lack of power are impediments.”

Mr. McCoy was also faced with the possibility of Dunn being traded in this morning’s Q&A. To keep it short, McCoy agrees with most of us in feeling that Dunn’s upside is too great to trade.

Those are a little more optimistic on keeping Dunn. However, today’s NY Post brings up a possible trade with the Dodgers. I’m pretty certain this is just a hypothetical situation but here is what it says.

Why Reds should trade him: He makes $4.6 million this season, is about to become very expensive and is a free agent in two years. The Reds have outfield depth to replace him. They have a ballpark that will make it easy to attract hitters, not pitchers, so they should use him to score young pitching. He strikes out too much, slugs nearly 175 points better at home than on the road and has trouble against lefties, so before he potentially hurts his value with diminished performance compared to inflated salary, act now.

Who might want him: Mets, Astros, Dodgers, Indians.

Suggested trade: To the Dodgers for Chad Billingsley, Edwin Jackson and Yhency Brazoban. The Dodgers are one of the majors’ deepest organizations, their GM Paul DePodesta has a track record that he will trade, Los Angeles badly needs a bat and Dunn is a classic Moneyball player, and DePodesta’s DNA is filled with Moneyball, which also means he is not afraid to trade a closer and create another from within the system. Billingsley is one of the minors’ top pitching prospects. Jackson was, but has faded badly. Brazoban becomes the Reds’ closer or can easily be flipped to a bullpen-hungry contender for another starting prospect.

Obviously the NY Media doesn’t buy into the MoneyBall philosophy. Also, at last check, Dunn was only 25. What evidence is there that his performance will diminish? If anything, one would think Dunn could and would only get better!