Article from John Fay on Adam Dunn:
Dunn was one of two regulars who played in the game (Sunday, despite being told he’d get the day off). You can question a lot of things about Dunn – and fans do so constantly – but you can’t question his durability or his willingness to play hurt.
There’s the possibility that Sunday’s season finale could have been Dunn’s last game as a Red.
If general manager Wayne Krivsky wants to continue to remake the club — and indications are he does — Dunn is the biggest chip to trade.
Krivsky has traded three players like Dunn — big swingers with a tendency to strike out — for pitching.
“I don’t worry about it,†he said. “I’ve said it every time I’ve heard my name mentioned about a trade. I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.â€Â
I freely admit to being a big Adam Dunn fan, and agree that Dunn is the Reds biggest chip the Reds have to offer…but trading him would be a serious blow to an offense that’s much worse than it was a year ago at this time.
Dunn, 26, had his worst year since 2003. He hit .234 with 40 home runs and 92 RBI and struck out 194 times. In 2005, he hit .247 with 40 home runs and 101 RBI and struck out 166 times.
Dunn’s season was ruined by an awful September. He hit .157 for the month. He had 87 RBI through 126 games. He had five in the last 36 games.
Narron was asked if there was anything Dunn could do different to avoid such a bad September.
“I think I can help,†Narron said. “I think I can give him some time off during the year better than I have. I think if plays maybe 145 or 150 games instead of 160, there’s a possibility that his September will be better.
After 2 or 3 bad Septembers in a row, you would think that someone in the Reds management might have figured out that this might be a problem and tried to do something about it. But with the other outfielders either brittle (Griffey, Freel) or traded (Kearns, Pena)…you have to play who you have available…and Dunn is always available.
Dunn never makes excuses for himself. He is as self-deprecating as they come.
When the scoreboard picture at Dolphins Stadium showed him with a handlebar mustache, Dunn threatened to grow one.
“If you play like an ass, you might as well look like an ass,†he said.
Ken Griffey Jr. overheard the remark and said: “Don’t say that. You’re hurting my feelings.â€Â
Griffey thinks Dunn should ease up on Dunn a bit.
“He’s too hard on himself only because he wants to do well,†Griffey said. “If he wasn’t that hard on himself, it would mean he didn’t care. That is the furthest thing from the truth. Adam cares about the way he hits, the way he fields, the way he runs the bases. He cares.â€Â
But Dunn is the guy fans love to hate.
“He takes a lot of abuse out in the outfield,†Griffey said. “He goes out there and gives it a solid effort. No one can say he’s not out there trying.â€Â
Dunn will occasionally fire back at critics, but mostly he just takes it.
“You always want to fire back,†he said. “I don’t care. I don’t play for them. They expect a lot of me. That’s fine.â€Â
But Dunn bristles at the notion that he doesn’t give it his best effort or doesn’t work hard.
“I wouldn’t play 160 games if I wasn’t trying,†he said. “You have work hard to play 160 games and do it every year you’ve got to be doing something to keep your body right. I work to keep my body in shape to keep me in there for 160 games. That’s pretty good.â€Â
Narron says he’s been satisfied with Dunn’s effort.
“People want him to run out on the field like Ryan Freel,†Narron said. “He’s not going to do that. Even if he does that, he’s not going to look like Ryan Freel. The guy’s 6-6, 270 pounds.â€Â
This was Dunn’s first foray into meaningful September baseball. He’s learned something from it.
“I think a lot of it had to do with me trying to do much, maybe trying to hard,†he said. “Other than that, I don’t know. Physically, I’m fine. I’ve got no excuse there.â€Â
There he goes again.
“He is so hard on himself, harder than anyone else,†Griffey said. “But that’s the way you have to be to play this game.â€Â
I think this pretty much says it all. He makes no excuses, he’s been terrible in September, and I’d bet no one feels worse about it than he does.
I do not understand why you take a team that can’t stop anyone from scoring but scores enough to win, and then make trades where you flip it so that you can’t score enough to win consistently. Both parts of the game need a critical mass of productivity. I just don’t think we can afford to trade any more hitters.
Let’s not forget that much of the productivity we did get was from Hatteberg and Aurilia–not exactly guys on the upside of their careers
Hey, maybe they can find some other 35+ position players to fill in for Dunn when he gets traded for Scott Linebrink.
Luis Gonzalez in right field with Steve Finley in center?
I used to be a Dunn fan, but seeing (especially this season) how he hustles for NOTHING I have changed my mind.
Dunn has become a cancer to the team. How many stikes/catching errors/throwing errors can you let him get before enough is enough? I say the time is now & they made a big mistake trading Kearns instead of Dunn. Kearns will not get you 40 home runs, but he’ll get you 25-30 & can field with a cannon for an arm.
I disagree about Soriano for many reasons. 1) He’s not a better hitter than Dunn. In 2006, yes, but Dunn has a much better career OBP and slightly better SLG (even in ’06 Dunn’s OBP was higher). Soriano has never had enough patience at the plate, and he’s four years older than Dunn. 2) He’s going to be very expensive. He’ll cost at least a few million more than Dunn will be making, for more years, and wants a contract that will bring him into his mid-30s. “Soriano is looking for something in the range of five years for $80 million.” No thanks. 3) He’s not *that* fast. Sure, Soriano stole 41 bases this year but he was caught 17 times. He should concentrate more on stealing at the right time rather than trying to climb into the 40/40 club. 4) Is he that good defensively (only talking about left – it was widely acknowledged that he stunk at 2nd)? I only saw those games where the Nats played us, but he seems to take some curious routes to fly balls. I wonder if he’s any better than Dunn.
Quote:
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“Trading your best player for a couple of lesser players isn’t going to make a 10 game difference.”
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😆 😆 😆 😆
Dunn is not the best player on the team!?!?! ha ha ha, I can think of many other players I wouldn’t want to lose before him.
If anyone can produce stories written about Dunn where he is trying to improve his game (fielding &/or hitting), let’s see em’ because I sure can’t find em’!
Dunn’s fielding is atrocious. He breaks late quite often and it seems like he always finds a way to make an error whether it be with the glove or the throw.
Trading Dunn, Kearns and Wily Month in a 12 month span, factoring in a declining (when healthy) Junior, is a major hit to the O. Factor in moving Felo, and having no MLB ready replacements equals a recipe for disaster. If Kriv is overwhelmed he’ll move anyone on the roster. Count on it.
Just like stocks, buy low…sell high. No one is gonna offer a big package for Dunn this offseason. He’ll be back, and the Reds are better off for it. LF is a place to hide a defensive deficiency. The big issue is having a heavy, 37 year old, fragile CF who rakes twenty percent of the payroll.
It is what it is. I don’t expect major changes.
I think Narron’s comments about resting Dunn ocassionally were interesting, because back in the day when we had four OF’s (Dunn, Griff, Kearns, Pena), I thought the answer was to play ’em all roughly equally. In a 162-game season, there are 486 starting OF positions. That’s about 120 OF starts per guy. That sounds achievable. Not by strictly platooning, but by playing the hot hand, sitting the cold one, nursing injuries, etc. No burnout, no hard feelings, a live pinch-hitter at all times; what’s the downside? Plus, by using Dunn at first once in a while you get more flexibility. Now, I don’t see that being played out with Denorfia, Wise, and the usual assortment of bums-of-the-month, but it made sense to me then. Dunn, Griff, Freel, and Hollandsworth, maybe, might get you thru an entire season with decent productivity.
If I were Reds’ managment I’d listen to what was offered for Dunn. You’re always looking to improve the team. However, describing him as a “cancer” on this team is a little extreme. He just strikes out too much. He’s not a cancer.
I guess my use of the metaphor “cancer” is different. When I think of a player who is a “cancer” to the team, I’m thinking more of an attitude problem, someone who thinks more about himself than the welfare of the team. In football, Terrell Owens is the posterboy of what I’m talking about. A guy who can’t get the job done on the field just falls under the catagory of “not very good” or “stinks up the joint”.