Nationals Rumors: Dunn, Votto, Greinke

sure it will go through, if Strasburg acts like Crow did, he would atleast have some proof as to why hes asking for the world..

But i just want some improvement to this team none the less

I blame the Nationals front office over Crow. How can you not sign him over 200-300k? (not sure on the exact amount)

Dunn to the Nationals has been a done deal since the season ended.

Bowden was dreaming (or blowing smoke up Nationals fans' behinds) if he thought he could get Texieria or any other big name Free Agent.

Dunn said he wanted to go to a winning team but after the winning teams have signed guys like Sabathia, Texieria, Manny R, Burnett, Lowe, Sheets, K Rod and a few other guys and after Jake Peavy ahs been tradedto the Cubs, no winning team is going to want or have a place for Dunn.

That leaves Washington and Leatherpants Bowden for Dunn.
Of course, that would be a match made in Heaven.

Bowden loves to collect ex-Reds players and Dunn would be reunited with his buddy Austin Kearns.

Bravesred,

Where is Dunn going to get more elsewhere from?

Anybody who wants a Left Fielder are going to go after Manny R or Burrell first. Bobby Abreu is also out there.

If they are looking for a First Baseman, there is Texieria.

With a sagging economy and a glut of corner Outfielders on the market, Dunn will be lucky to get 3/$36.

The ONLY way he gets more is if Washington has to offer him more to come to their organization.

However, with Austin Kearns on the team, they might not have to offer more money....

What do the Nationals have in the minors to get one of those players?

The only way they could trade for those players is if they are ready to give up zimmerman, which wont happen.

"Personally, i think he'd be a solid first basemen who has power and everyone forgets that despite his low average, his OBP is always very good."

I don't think anyone forgets Dunn's strengths and weaknesses. The issue is that as sparkling as his strengths are, so glaring are his weaknesses. He makes outs in the least efficient way, by striking out, and can't play defense to save his life.

AA - strikeouts are not the least efficient way to make outs. They are better than double plays and the last time I checked they count for 1 out the same way that a lineout does. Outs are precious. There are 27 of them and Dunn makes the most use of those outs. Hitters have 2 jobs - get on base and drive in runs - and Dunn does both of these exceptionally well. If you don't buy into this analysis I am sure the Dodgers would love to have you take Juan Pierre off their hands. He has a terrible OBP, zero power and never walks...but he does have a nifty batting average, makes oodles of contact and steals bases at a 65% success rate.

Dunn is a GREAT pick-up and I do agree that 3 years at $36-42 million makes a lot of sense.

CMM,

AA is a Dodgers fan, sadly. If the Nationals are really interested in Loney, I'd be happy if Ned traded Loney for Zimmerman, then turned around and signed Dunn to play 1B. If by some miracle they also signed Manny, that would be a pretty impressive off season. Even though it looks like the McCourts are dead set on running the franchise into the ground...

I'm also with ctownboy. Dunn will land in Washington. The Nats would have the outfield of Leather Pants wet dreams if he signed Dunn. He would finally have his three headed "monster" in Dunn,Pena, and Kearns. Tho there would be a platoon there unless Pena plays center, which he has before with the Reds.

AA is a Dodgers fan, sadly. If the Nationals are really interested in Loney, I'd be happy if Ned traded Loney for Zimmerman, then turned around and signed Dunn to play 1B. If by some miracle they also signed Manny, that would be a pretty impressive off season. Even though it looks like the McCourts are dead set on running the franchise into the ground...

if the dodgers trade loney to the nats, it would be zimmerman and a prospect. if you think about it, with almost 55m coming off the books, manny at 20, dunn at 14(for 1st), and cc for 22 would be an amzing offseason, espically only giving up one pick. yes, i know this equals more than 54m, but i could see the chi-sox trading dye and then asking about pierre. i don't know about anyone else, but how i read the updates on peavy, it sounds like he could very well become a dodger. SD is making rumors up and the cubs dont have $$.

something like this
C-martin
1B-Dunn
2b-dewitt
3B-zimmerman
SS-hu/berroa/dejesus(midseason)
RF-either
CF-Kemp
LF-manny

rotation
cc
bills
kuroda
kershaw
mcdonald/schmidt*
(if we are lucky, peavy in the 2, mcdonald in the pen)

Bulpen
kuo
mcdonald*
broxton
saito
elbert
wade
schmidt

bench
nomar(2.5m)
hu
young
jones
ozuna

pretty good team, comments?

CNM,

Yes, a Double play is worse than a Strike Out, however, Dunn is a Fly Ball hitter and rarely hits into a Double Play.

For his career, Dunn has Struck Out in over 30% of his At Bats. Since he also Walks a lot, then almost, if not more than, half of his palte appearances end up in either a Strike Out or a Walk.

Combine that with his low Batting Average and even lower BA with Runners In Scoring Position and you can see why Dunn struggles to reach 100 RBI's in a season even though he hits 40 Home Runs.

So, imagine your team coming down the stretch and needing wins to either be in the Play Offs or stay in contention and Dunn is NOT driving in Runs because he is Striking Out or Walking so much.

Face it, look what Ryan Howard did for the Phillies in September. He took them on his back and carried them when they needed it. Dunn can NOT do that. If you dont believe me, just go and look at Dunn's stats for September throughout his career.

In September, Dunn would rather be watching college football than playing baseball or working on his Game.

oh and dunn will be booed something nasty by the fans. they will love the monster homeruns but will get his ass after multiple 4 strike out games.

TheNatural,

You are WRONG!!!

If YOU were a Reds fan you would remember 2006, specifically September of that year.

On September 4, 2006, King Griffey Junior hurt his toe and could only Pinch Hit twice the rest of the season. The Reds were in Play Off contention and NEEDED Dunn to step up. He didn't. He choked.

In 83 At Bats that September, Dunn batted .157 with two Home Runs and five RBI's while Striking Out 36 times.

Rich Aurilia, on the other hand, in 90 September At Bats, hit .344 with four Home Runs and 17 RBI's.

During that month, the Cardinals were trying to GIVE the pennant away and the Reds failed to take advantage of it. The reason the Reds failed to win that year was NOT the Pitching but the Offense.

Pre 2006 All Star break, the Reds Pitching staff ranked 11th in the NL in ERA at 4.78. Post All Star break, the staff ranked 6th at 4.19.

Pre All Star break 2006, the Reds Offense ranked 3rd in the NL with 448 Runs scored or 5.03 Runs per Game. Post All Star break, the Reds Offense ranked 15th with 301 Runs scored or 4.12 Runs per Game.

After the All Star break and specifically in September, the Reds Offense NEEDED Dunn, the Home Run hitter and Run producer to stand up and be "the man". But he didn't.

During that time when he was struggling Offensively, a reporter saw Dunn leaving the Club House with a golf bag over his shoulder and asked him why, if he was struggling, he was going golfing instead of staying and taking extra batting practice. Dunn's reply was someting like, why take batting practice that late in the season? What good would it do?

His team was in the pennant race, KGJ was out of the line up, the Offense was scuffling along, Dunn himself was struggling and he gives that type of answer.

Flash forward to 2008.

For the month of July, Dunn batted .310 (26 for 84) with 16 Runs scored, 12 Home Runs and 26 RBI's. With those stats, he barely missed being voted NL Player of the Month.

On July 31, KGJ was traded to the White Sox. During the 10 Games that spanned KGJ's trade and his own trade to the Diamondbacks, Dunn went 5 for 36 (a .139 Batting Average) with 0 Runs scored, 0 Home Runs and 0 RBI's. The Reds record during those 10 Games was 1 and 9.

During that time, the Reds went from being fourth in the NL Central with a 51 and 58 record and 14 Games out of First Place to last in the NL Central with a 52 and 67 record and 19.5 Games out of First Place.

Furthermore, go back and look at each year around the trade deadline and see if Dunn is being talked about as a trade candidate. If he is, then you will see his Offense suffers until the trade deadline passes. If he isn't, his Offense doesn't go in the tank.

Every time Dunn faces pressure, adversity or is counted on to come through, he either takes the easy way out or he fails.

Want soem more, here are Dunn's September stats for his career.

For his career, Dunn has gone 129 for 585 in September, a .221 Batting Average. He has hit 26 Home Runs and driven in 75 RBI's.

For his career, Dunn has averaged hitting 1 HR in every 13.92 At Bats. During September, for his career, that average drops to 1 HR every 17.21 At Bats.

Walk Off Home Runs are nice but I don't really care about them, in the overall picture, because they are few and far between.

I actually care more about Walk Off Singles to the opposite field. Why? Because they are more likely to happen over the course of a season and they show that the hitter is eihter a) good or b) is taking what the Pitcher is giving him in that At Bat and going with the Pitch.

Dunn doesn't do that. Dunn can only hit a Fast Ball or Change Up that is located between the upper thigh and the belt and from the middle of the plate in.

Dunn rarely swings at a Pitch over the outer third of the plate and he tries to pull every Pitch for a Home Run.

If you don't think so, go and look at his Hit Chart and look at how opposing teams put the Infield Shift on for him.

As far as Go Ahead Home Runs, those stats are misleading.

What does it really matter if Dunn hits a solo Home Run in the second Inning of a 0 - 0 Game and the Reds lose? Sure he hit a "go ahead" Home Run but what did he do after that?
Did he come up to bat in the eighth Inning of the same Game with the Reds down a Run and a runner on Second Base and Strike Out?

With a career .247 Batting Average, a career BA with Runners In Scoring Position of .223 and a career where he has Struck Out in 32.45% of his At Bats (1256 K's in 3871 At Bats), I REALLY think he has failed MANY more times with the Game on the line than he has succeeded.