Dunn Meets the Press

Adam Dunn was announced to the Wsahignton media today at Nationals Park. I'll have a lot more to detail to report very soon, but for now I'll leave you with the press release and a family photo.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS SIGN FREE-AGENT SLUGGER ADAM DUNN TO TWO-YEAR DEAL

The Washington Nationals today signed first baseman/outfielder Adam Dunn to a two-year contact. Nationals Senior Vice President and General Manager Jim Bowden made the announcement.

With Dunn—who stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 275 lbs.—the Nationals add a rare combination of imposing physical stature and offensive output.

“With the multi-year signing of Adam Dunn, the middle of our lineup is significantly bolstered by his bat, which has traditionally rendered a high on-base percentage, 40 homers and 100-plus RBI,” said Bowden.

Thanks largely to five consecutive 40-homer, 100-walk seasons, Dunn has posted a .381 career on-base percentage en route to 201 doubles, 278 home runs, 672 RBI, 797 walks and a .518 slugging percentage in 1131 games spanning eight big league seasons with Cincinnati and Arizona.

Last season, Dunn tallied 23 doubles, 40 home runs, 100 RBI and a .386 on-base percentage for the Reds and Diamondbacks. Despite being dealt to Arizona for the final six weeks of last season, Dunn paced the Reds with 32 homers last year, the sixth consecutive season he accomplished the feat.

Dunn’s 278 career long balls capped the season ranked 27th among active players, but among those yet to reach their 30th birthday, Dunn ranks second behind only Albert Pujols (319). With 249, Aramis Ramirez ranks a distant third among current twenty-somethings.

Dunn led baseball with 122 walks last season and has ranked among the NL’s top six each of the last four campaigns. Dunn has never averaged fewer than 4.00 pitches per plate appearance in a single season.

His career average of 4.25 pitches per plate appearance ranks second in baseball among active players who have played 1000 or more games. Only Bobby Abreu (4.30) has been more selective.

Dunn was a National League All-Star in 2002, his first complete big league campaign. In addition to his 26 home runs that season, he posted 128 walks, which were the most in big league history recorded by a player under the age of 23.

Originally selected in the second round of the 1998 First-Year Player Draft out of New Caney (TX) High, Dunn was a prized high-school quarterback who accepted an athletic scholarship from the University of Texas before announcing his intentions to play professional baseball on a full-time basis.