FRIDAY, 5:30pm: Dunn denied changing his mind about staying with the Nationals according to The Washington Post's Adam Kilgore, though he did acknowledge being frustrated by not having an extension already in place. He said he has no animosity towards the team, but will stay out of any contract talks and let his representatives handle things.
MONDAY, 7:29pm: Adam Dunn is losing interest in signing a long-term deal with the Nationals, according to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (Twitter links found here). The powerful first baseman perceives a lack of urgency from the Nationals, who began preliminary discussions with Dunn and his representatives months ago.
GM Mike Rizzo has made it clear that he would part with Dunn only for an extraordinary package. Olney reports that the Nationals have discussed possible deals involving Dunn, so they are clearly considering trades. As we heard last week, the White Sox are among the interested teams.
Dunn leads the National League with 22 home runs and appears headed for a seventh consecutive season with 38 or more homers. The 30-year-old has a .959 OPS, which would be a career-high. Dunn and Jayson Werth are two of the most productive hitters rumored to be available as the trade deadline nears.
Good luck with that extraordinary package. If that’s what you are waiting for assume that you will be holding onto Dunn for the rest of the year.
Trading him now gets you salary relief of about $6m, some talent (probably not much) in return.
Holding onto him costs you $6m. The team will still not contend. And then you have to decide whether you want to risk offering him arb. Last time around arbitration was not risked. Would the Nats really want Dunn back on a 1 year $15m deal?
Something tells me Brian Sabean’s phone answering habits won’t improve when his secretary says Mike Rizzo wants to see his extraordinary package.
I’ll tell you what though… I’ll take Dunn’s hack job at 1B to stick him right in the heart of the order.
Torres
Sanchez
Posey
Dunn
Huff
Sandoval
Uribe
Shierholtz
Bench:
Renteria, Rowand, Burrell, Whiteside, Ishikawa
That would be assuming 12 pitchers until they can expand the roster
Something tells me Brian Sabean’s phone answering habits won’t improve when his secretary says Mike Rizzo wants to see his extraordinary package.
Dunn is not going to accept arb if they offer. He’s got to feel that at worst his season has earned him 3yr $40M from someone in the American League looking to DH. Why would he want a one year deal?
I agree it’s kind of dangerous for the Nats to play chicken at this point. The ChiSox don’t have the powder in the system or the foolishness to trade someone off the current roster. Buy low on Beckham would probably make sense to the Nats but the ChiSox aren’t going to do that. I’m not the believer in Quentin that Rizzo is, but that would make sense as well for the Nats I suppose.
Rizzo’s posturing and Dunn’s frustration probably just means that both sides are blowing smoke and the Nats will have to offer fair value or slightly above to bring him back next year. I don’t expect him to be traded because of Rizzo’s stubborness, and I don’t expect him to move because there are no Soriano contracts waiting for Mr. Dunn.
I tend to agree with this, but also consider the fact that he’s going to be a Type A FA and thus the Nats will get two first round picks if they lose him. Whatever package a team offers them has to at least be better than that.
I think offering arb is a no-brainer because I doubt Dunn is going to be willing to accept a 1 year deal, and even if he does, he’ll almost certainly be productive again and valuable enough to get something interesting in return at next years deadline.
Pierre
Rios
Dunn
Konerko
Quentin
Viciedo
Pierzynski
Ramirez
Beckham
game, set, match. buh bye twinkies.
Not necessarily better than the Tigers, but it makes us a whole lot more dangerous. Miguel Cabrera is on a mission this season. Although I expect a slight decline in Boesch.
I expect Beckham and Boesch to switch roles (and stats) in the 2nd half. Regression to the mean is a bitch.
Don’t kid your-self , Boesch may regress but he is still going to be a force. Pitchers have to pitch to him in that lineup. Sox need another Bat , but The Tigers need another arm and Twinkees aren’t done yet. Should be close all the way to the gate.
That looks oh so sweet, I’d have Dunn at 4 though…
nice name btw
Then our farm system would drop from 30th to 31st. Yes, that is possible, it would become THAT bad.
so we agree, the Sox have little to lose and much to gain with Dunn…
I agree we don’t have the most exciting farm system, but too many people on this site WAY over-hype minor leaguers. How many actually make it to the majors and are even CLOSE to their potential or ceiling? 1%?
That’s not what I mean…our future will be horrible if we don’t have anyone waiting in the wings. Let’s take a look at who we have under contract for next year:
1B- ?
2B- Beckham
SS- Ramirez
3B- Teahen (ugh)
C- Flowers? Maybe, just maybe, he’s ready offensively, but definitely not defensively
LF- Pierre (ugh)
CF- Rios
RF- Quentin (arb raise)
Bench- Viciedo……………and that’s all
SP1- Buehrle
SP2- Peavy (but will he be ready on opening day?)
SP3- Danks
SP4- Floyd
SP5- Hudson? He hasn’t proven himself
This is all I’ll get into for now, but you see where I’m getting
Actually Viciedo will probably switch to 1st, but that leaves us without a bench
Agreed. Kenny will do his typical signing of random free agents and trading for less than amazing players. Unless we trade for Dunn and can get him to sign a 3 yr deal, he won’t be a White Sox. Kenny / Jerry RARELY sign anyone for those long term deals and that’s what every player wants now-a-day, it seems.
I did NOT like this. I accidentally hit the “like” button instead of the “reply” button.
I did NOT like this. I accidentally hit the “like” button instead of the “reply” button.
The closer it gets to September (the start of football season) the less Dunn is interested in baseball.
Mr. Ricciardi, get off the internet. You’re on camera in five.
Mr. Ricciardi, get off the internet. You’re on camera in five.
Personally I’d prefer Prince Fielder. He’s a better hitter, more athletic, better first baseman, etc. But his agent is Scott Boras, and we know Kenny doesn’t want to deal with Bore-a##.
Personally I’d prefer Prince Fielder. He’s a better hitter, more athletic, better first baseman, etc. But his agent is Scott Boras, and we know Kenny doesn’t want to deal with Bore-a##.
Man, I want Donkey in Detroit next year. He’d be my favorite Tiger since Mickey Tettleton. This team would rule:
CF A. Jackson
RF Ordonez
DH Dunn
1B Cabrera
LF Boesch
2B Guillen/Sizemore
3B Inge (re-sign for a year)
C Avila
SS ANYONE OTHER THAN WHO THEY CURRENTLY HAVE
A little slow and old-ish, but after 2011, Guillen and Ordonez and Inge would be gone, hopefully replaced from within. I mostly would like to sign Dunn to keep him away from the White Sox. That guy would be the new Thome — a Tiger killer. But obviously the most logical choice for the Tigers this offseason is Carl Crawford. Make it so, Dumbo.
I’m sorry but Dunn is not going to be a salary dump in any way shape of form. For one thing his contract isn’t bad, about $6 million more, which is less than what the Cardinals had to pay for the Holliday rental last year (yes they resigned him but that isn’t part of the trade value) and less than what the Angels had to pay Tex two years ago. Maybe they are better players, but this year not by much. Dunn’s average is way up as is his slugging percentage, his OBP is down a little but still very good. And while you always question how numbers will translate to the American League, Dunn’s power and plate discipline are legit in any league. Also, Dunn is no longer the liability on defense that he once was. He used to post a UZR rating in the outfield in the -20.0 to -40.0 range, this year at first base he is at -0.6, which is average among 1b men. Since Dunn’s numbers are up and defense has improved he isn’t a risk for offering arbitration meaning Dunn needs to bring back more than the equivalent of two top 50 picks.
For you White Sox fans if guys like Beckham or Hudson aren’t included it will probably be pretty hard to work out a deal…is it possible sure guys like Jordan Danks, Morel and one or two others could maybe get it done, but that is assuming other teams won’t offer better deals. Dunn or Werth is going to be the best hitter on the market and just about every contender is looking for a hitter.
I know people think that rental’s can’t bring back top prospects, but look at what Lee and Holliday brought back. Smoak and Wallace are big time prospects and there were other guys involved. Sure Dunn might not be at that high a level but his value isn’t that far off. Now for other teams they might be able to acquire Dunn for 2 or 3 of their 2nd tier prospects, but that is because most team’s 2nd tier is better than the White Sox top guys. If the Sox acquire him I think it will end up costing them someone they truly wanted to keep.
UZR is pretty skewed when assessing first basemen, but Dunn is definitely a better defender at 1B than he ever was in the OF. And as for getting 2 top 50 picks, well that isn’t a guarantee either, since teams can sign multiple Type A’s and only have one 1st round pick to give.
No it’s true the pick could be a 2nd or even a 3rd rounder, either due to signing multiple Type A guys or if it is a bottom 15 team this year, but for what ever contender who trades for him they have to view it as getting two top 50 picks, sure maybe one of those picks is in the 60’s but it is also plausible that they get 16th and 35th overall. Either way it is value for the the contender trading for Dunn, they won’t walk away empty handed unless they decline to offer Arb. (I don’t see that happening, barring some major injury).
And while I agree UZR is tough to judge first basemen on, it is noteworthy that Dunn has a .993 fielding percentage, which is a pretty valid stat for first basemen since so many balls are thrown to him. It’s not perfect, but its nice to see since before this year Dunn was just a part time first baseman. He has handled the switch very well, and digs out his share of balls. He might not be great defensively, but he won’t kill you is the point. No longer does his glove mitigate his bat.
I agree that Dunn’s a much better defender at 1B than I ever expected him to be.
As for whichever team trading for Dunn having “to view it as getting two top 50 picks” well that’s just not true. You admitted it yourself that there is no guarantee that both picks are in the top 50, and I’m pretty sure that whatever GM trades for Dunn (if he gets traded) will be able to make that counterargument pretty easily since we’re less than 2 years removed from the Brewers receiving a 2nd rounder for C.C., and the Blue Jays getting a 3rd for A.J.
I keep thinking perfect fit is the Rays.
My money is on the rays to land Dunn
The Nats have really hurt themselves by not getting these talks going better. Dunn has improved immensely the last two years, and UZR may be skewed towards 1b but its skewed towards all of them, and Dunn is right in the middle of the pack. Not only has he improved he has stated publicly that he would like to stay…Now washington is showing they don’t want him, which will make other teams offer less for him than originally thought. I hope he gets to FA and I hope the Cubs seriously look at signing him to a 3 or 4 yr deal He would absolutely crush in Wrigley and a LH power bat is something we Desperately need…too bad hendry didn’t want him two years ago
Of course, you are assuming that what Buster Olney is reporting is absolute fact. The same guy that claims that the Yankees lose games because they lack “mystique and aura.” As Fire Joe Morgan puts it, “You know, Baseball’s Occam’s Razor: when you’re bad, the explanation is always magical.”