Open Thread: Adam Dunn

1. Should he be traded? Yes.
   
2. Is his defense acceptable in left field? No. He should be a designated hitter in the AL. He's hopeless on defense, whether Griffy's in center or not.
   
3. Dunn's strikeouts? He'd have less K's if he were on an AL team with a huge offense.

So let's dangle Dunn out there and see what we can get. We're on the path to better pitching and better defense.

Dunn is going to bring 40 HRs and he's going to get on base a lot.  If the Reds would add some bats around him, we'd be in a good position to contend.  That being said, it's going to be awfully hard to win anything w/out some upgrades and who knows if the Reds are going to commit to the necessary pay raises to make this happen.

I really think Dunn has taken way too much abuse from Reds fans.  No he's not a 5 tool player, but how many guys are?  The Reds failures in the past few years have nothing to do w/ Dunn and everything to do w/ the front office.  If the Reds don't keep a competitive payroll, I don't see them ever contending on a consistent basis.  It's depressing to see the other teams in the division upgrading themselves and all we see from the Reds is minor signings and continuous talk that they are going to trade one of the most prolific power hitters in the league.  Ughh.

Many Reds fans don't like how Dunn produces Runs. But in the grand scheme, he does produce them. There aren't many players like him...ever. Because of that, his value tends to be misunderstood. And to the questions:

1. Dunn should be traded only if it will change the fortunes of the franchise. That means it needs to be a huge win for the Reds.
2. Dunn isn't a good defensive Left Fielder. Not by a long shot. A better defensive Center Fielder would help, but a move to First Base would help more.
3. Unless Dunn cut down on his K's by improving his two-strike hitting (which is his main weakness), the behavior that would most likely lead to a reduction in K's would also most likely reduce his Isolated Power (SLG minus BA) and Secondary Average. That's not a tradeoff I'd like to see in any situation other than two-strike hitting. And we need to realize that fewer K's don't necessarily result in fewer Hits. The real tradeoff is K's for Walks- not K's for Hits. The latter really never happens for a player like Dunn.

Take more/swing less and the result will be an increase in BA and a decrease in K's. Not because he'd get more Hits from a volume perspective, but because he'd reduce his AB due to the additional Walks he'd receive.

And the funny thing is that Dunn's most productive season (124.9 Runs Created) is also the year in which he set the MLB Strikeout record. If K's actually mattered, that couldn't have happened.

1.  I used to think Dunner should be traded; however, I agree with most of what has been said above.  Don't see us getting any great return on him for what we could pay long term.  Plus, look at what our team would look like without him.  He helped carry this team quite a ways this year, even with his strike outs (Slyde, I'd appreciate some stats to back this up!).  What I find interesting is that people talk about other prospects coming up or other players who are here now and none of them come close to Dunn's abilities, offensively.  I certainly don't see Deno as an acceptable replacement in any way, shape or form.
   
2.  His defense is not acceptable.  But it won't get any better.  He's been here 6 years and I don't see any sea change coming soon.  As said above, it is what it is.  If he stays with us long term, I think after Hatteberg is gone, we try "The Experiment" again.  He sure as hell doesn't look like he enjoys running around out there.
   
3.  I can't imagine anyone believing his strikeout numbers are acceptable.  To be at nearly 1,000 strikeouts with only 6 years of service is downright embarrassing - except it's tempered with monster homers.  I can't believe that a cut down in strikeouts would result in a considerable loss of power.  He's a big boy.  He knows what to do.  But he really needs to cut 'em down.  Enter Mr. Jacoby.  Show us you're worth it, coach.    

1. No. They do not have the resources to fill the hole that would put in the offense.
3. While it would be nice to see Adam take a more situational approach at the plate. He's frustrated three managers and two hitting coaches and crashed and burned every time he's tried to change his approach to hitting. Let him be Adam and adjust the rest of the lineup around him. Batting him 6th or 7th with a light hitting infielder behing him just makes things worse. He needs to be up in the order where the pitcher has to pitch to him.
2. For all of Dunn's vaunted athleticism, you don't see any of it on the baseball field. I don't know what to make of Adam's D. It isn't a matter of him not getting to balls. He gets to them and then turns on the iron glove. I would think it was just concentration related, but the only successfull outfielder larger than Dunn was Dave Winfield who was much quicker than Dunn. I have to think that the dude is just so big that he gets in his own way. Willie McCovey, Frank Howard all those type of guys ended up at first.