According to a report in Nationals Journal, and seen elsewhere on the internets, your Washington Nationals have a preliminary agreement with "middle of the order left-handed bat" Adam Dunn, formerly of the Cincinnati Bowd-oops-Reds.
Dunn was a 1998 second round pick of the Reds, also run by Jim Bowden.
Dunn, a career .247/.381/.518 hitter with 278 home runs, adds a presence to this line-up that it hasn't seen since Alfonso Soriano turned into two draft picks after the 2006 season. Dunn has hit over 40 home runs in each of his last five season. In four of the five, he's also knocked in over 100 runs.
No terms have been announced as of yet.
Putting aside purely baseball aspect of this deal, the numbers will be extremely interesting once they are announced. Is it a multi-year deal? How much, if anything, did the Nats have to overpay? How much did the pull of Austin Kearns and Ryan Zimmerman have to do with negotiations?
As for the baseball side of it? Wow, where to start?
IF Nick Johnson is healthy, this team just got A LOT better. It still doesn't have a legitimate lead-off guy, but it now has a legit 3-4-5-6 in Johnson, Dunn, Zimm and Dukes. And the battle for playing time in the OF just got a lot more crowded.
If Johnson cannot revive his career, then expect Dunn at first, with an OF of Willingham-Milledge-Dukes.
It's not outside the realm of possibility that Bowden still moves an outfielder, regardless of Johnson's health. But having Dunn on the roster makes all of these scenarios easier to imagine.
Kudos to the front office once this contract gets signed. Whether it's one year or several, it was the right thing to do on so many levels.
Dunn was a 1998 second round pick of the Reds, also run by Jim Bowden.
Dunn, a career .247/.381/.518 hitter with 278 home runs, adds a presence to this line-up that it hasn't seen since Alfonso Soriano turned into two draft picks after the 2006 season. Dunn has hit over 40 home runs in each of his last five season. In four of the five, he's also knocked in over 100 runs.
No terms have been announced as of yet.
Putting aside purely baseball aspect of this deal, the numbers will be extremely interesting once they are announced. Is it a multi-year deal? How much, if anything, did the Nats have to overpay? How much did the pull of Austin Kearns and Ryan Zimmerman have to do with negotiations?
As for the baseball side of it? Wow, where to start?
IF Nick Johnson is healthy, this team just got A LOT better. It still doesn't have a legitimate lead-off guy, but it now has a legit 3-4-5-6 in Johnson, Dunn, Zimm and Dukes. And the battle for playing time in the OF just got a lot more crowded.
If Johnson cannot revive his career, then expect Dunn at first, with an OF of Willingham-Milledge-Dukes.
It's not outside the realm of possibility that Bowden still moves an outfielder, regardless of Johnson's health. But having Dunn on the roster makes all of these scenarios easier to imagine.
Kudos to the front office once this contract gets signed. Whether it's one year or several, it was the right thing to do on so many levels.
2-years, $20M. Think of it. We could have a lineup with Kearns, Pena, Patterson, Valentin, Dunn. Ugh.
Also, Willingham was going to play 1st when Nick and Dmitri go down because he stinks as a left fielder. Willingham rides the pine now with Dunn in town and Johnson healthy. Not too many talking about that.
P.S.S. Dunn plays 110 games max . . . I'm not happy about this move.