Amazingly it’s February 1st and the one 40 home run bat on the free agent market, Adam Dunn, remains unsigned. We learned from Bobby Abreu’s agent that his client is willing to consider a one-year deal, but Dunn’s rep Greg Genske is not as talkative (we saw that with C.C. Sabathia). Jerry Crasnick suggested way back on January 13th that Dunn sought a four-year, $56MM deal. On January 19th, Chico Harlan talked to one agent who will be surprised if Dunn gets more than one year, $5MM.
Let’s review the recent Dunn rumors.
- David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution guesses Dunn might be the Braves’ fourth choice, after Abreu, Nick Swisher, and Xavier Nady.
- ESPN’s Jayson Stark heard that Dunn is "waiting to see what happens with Manny Ramirez because the Dodgers are his preferred destination." Stark says it’s clear the Nationals aren’t Dunn’s top choice, and MLB.com’s Bill Ladson says the slugger is currently out of their price range anyway. Stark characterized the Orioles’ attitude toward Dunn as "back-burner interest."
- Dunn’s friend and Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman had this to say, according to Pete McElroy of MASN: "He’s told me he’d like to play here, but I’m sure he’s told people in Milwaukee or whoever else is going after him that he’d like to play there too."
- Could Dunn return to the Reds? Not going to happen, says John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer. We learned that the Brewers will pass, based on Adam McCalvy’s conversation with Doug Melvin.
- Ken Rosenthal wrote on January 14th that the Red Sox have shown interest in Dunn, but admitted "they touch base with virtually every top free agent" and the match is probably a longshot.
