Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune tossed out an interesting Adam Dunn tidbit in his weekend column: Dunn, who has hit 40-plus homers in five consecutive seasons, is trying to convince the Cubs to sign him for the right-field vacancy, instead of the equally defensively challenged Bradley. Dunn's high strikeout totals and career .247 batting average argue against him being the guy to break up the right-handed bats in the middle of the Cubs' lineup.There are very few big-league lineups that wouldn't be improved with the addition of 40 home runs and a .380 on-base percentage, and the Cubs are no exception. And yet, for whatever reason, sportswriters (and team announcers) can't talk about Dunn without getting stuck on strikeouts and batting average.
It's short-sighted and not just a little ignorant: if you hit the ball a mile and get on base at an above-average clip, who cares how you make your outs the rest of the time? You're either driving in runs or creating opportunities for other players to do the same. But I digress -- this argument has been made dozens thousands of times.
If the Cubs need help warming up to Dunn, here are some other numbers to chew on: .286 /.419/.664. That's Dunn's AVG/OBP/SLG in 60 career games at Wrigley Field, where he's been an absolute monster with 23 home runs in just 267 at-bats.
If the Cubs want him, they better act quick; with Mark Teixeira off the market and Manny Ramirez priced out of many team's budgets, Dunn is turning into a hot commodity. ESPN's Jayson Stark reports that the Dodgers have made him a priority, and the Nationals, Mariners and Orioles have expressed interest, as well. Don't be surprised if he's the next free agent to be plucked off the market.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-30-2008 @ 12:34AM
Joel said...
I would like Dunn and Peavy, isn't it nice having players want to play for u that they actually give u a discount. Hendry lets get both and trade a few of our over priced stars for anything.
Add Dunn and Peavy this will cost $30 million and lets trade Marquis and Fukodome and this will reduce our salary by $23 million. Add $7 million plus maybe a few more million for a good reliever. This extra $10 million will make the Cubs the strongest team by far.
Peavy, Z, Dempster, Lilly and Harden
Theriot, Lee, Ramirez, Dunn, Soriano, DeRosa, Soto, Johnson as a line up
and a pretty good rp core.
Please lets get rid of players like Marquis who do not want to be here and get players like Dunn and Peavy who want to be here.Both players do well vs he Cubs especially at Wrigley.
Reply
2-12-2009 @ 3:04PM
John Ferris said...
Adam Dunn would tear up Wrigley Field! His HRs, RBIs, Walks, OBP, and Slugging % cannot be overlooked! Yeah, he has a bunch of Ks -- so did the Babe, Harmon Killebrew, Tony Perez, and dozens of great sluggers. The man is 6' 7" and 275! He's not paid to bunt or become a "banjo hitter!" Wrigley and Adam Dunn would make baseball history! Wake up, Chicago!
Reply
12-30-2008 @ 5:15PM
Harry Chiti said...
Adam Dunn lets in about half the runs he drives in....his fielding and lack of speed are bad enough to be legendary. The Cubs don't need Dunn...unless he can become a middle reliever.
Reply