Yes, I exist. I drink at the Siesta Key Dacquiri deck (on occasion).

I was there in sarasota to watch EE's first spring training and I immediately evaluated "hmmm.... doesn't look that exceptional to me in any facet?"....."I think he is being overrated..?".....

In today's game a pitching ERA of 4.00 isn't all that different from a 3.00 ERA of previous eras. This is a run scoring era and Dunn requires a full 160+ games/yr of playing time to get his bare minimum benchmarks.

Yes, 40/100 is an achievement.... grandiose? all important?? nah............

Dunn tossing out c notes to the occasional peddler, posing for photos, kissing hotties in T-Backs and signing private parts.

Young Jay thinking this is even better than Friday nights back at the old resevoir dump site.

Tell me how Adam. Take me under your wing.

and yes, the bullpen blows and if one single culprit needs to be held accountable then yes the bullpen is the number one cause of this year's record.

However, look to the past 7 years young zach. Look to the recurrent problems.  Look to what hasn't changed. Look to this team's style of play even through the brief periods where Danny Graves (mystery of the universe) was a shutdown reliever.

Think large young zach. Look beyond the box score.

I never liked the "reply to this" ??.. Or maybe I have my "options" set wrong?.. How do you know where/when a reply to a given comment has been made? you have to scroll up and search?....

seems more readable to just post everything in linear fashion? We who can discern the relative importance of solo homeruns, two out bases empty walks, dead red dead pull right handed hitters etc..can also piece together which comments apply to which posts.

The idea that some American League team will ultimately end up with Adam Dunn at which point he will begin a hall of fame career as a DH is MYTH. And I will tell you why.

As a GM, the first things you will look at as you sort through the Adam Dunn fact sheet are:

-~195 Ks per year
-~.219 lifetime BA with RISP
-~.250 lifetime BA
-salary somewhere in the 10-15 million/yr

You won't go any futher as a GM. You will say "Next". You won't even make it to the ~40 HRs/year or what .380 OBP?? you won't even get that far.

As a GM, you'll know intuitively that you can do better for your TEAM with a platoon or by giving some young player opportunity. You won't want to get married to having to play him every night as a DH with that type of production.

Oakland and Boston have already effectively "passed" on Dunn (guillen trade and WMP trade)... other A.L. teams will as well.

-You can't hit him at top of order to take advantage of OBP because of his Ks, lack of bat control/situational skills, steadily decreasing speed/agility....

-You can't hit him in 3/4/5 power slots because of Ks, ~.219 BA with RISP, ~.250 BA

-if you hit him 6th, 7th it's tough to justify 10-15M/year especially if you're not a top salary budget team and a guy who can't field (or even harder to justify your DH).....
- - - - - -

It's not dumb luck that Dunn hasn't been traded to Oakland, LA, Boston etc... in recent years. The moneyballers would no doubt view Dunn as an "interesting" player and a "wow....too bad..." kind of player...but when push comes to shove they no doubt pass.

Only in Cincinnati has this donkey been able to survive and even flourish (relatively speaking). It is a little sad, pathetic.... discouraging....and baffling.

Alas, noone can hide forever from natural selection not even the donkey Dunn. It is Dunn who resisted evolution, was unwilling or unable to adjust to survive. Don't blame me.

You can tell immediately watching Dunn the natural leadership abilities he has within the context of an athletic team. Remember Dunn played quarterback in his gridiron days not defensive end, not guard, not tight end etc.....

Dunn is clearly likable, personable, talented athlete, confident, comes from successful family...etc..etc.. all these things lead to natural leadership abilities.

The problem is you can have quality/effective/winning leadership or lousy/losing/just get by leadership. In a baseball context Dunn's influence is the latter. It's painfully obvious to see and you don't even need a boxscore/stat sheet.

If your leaders are strongly focused, committed, smart, do the things "the right way", are fundamentally sound well then you have the makings for a great situation for your team.

If your leaders on the other hand (in a broad sense) just rely on their natural abilities and just do what is necessary to get by and make their millions then........... you have the present day reds.

It is a good day. Let me hit the FM dial and crank up some tunes. Brain cells love loud music.

howard does have better stats, but i think the comparison is not far off.  i just wonder what michael's cutoff line is for suckitude.

So, no.  I would not mind Adam Dunn mentoring Jay Bruce.

3. Adam Dunn, 1B/OF, Reds

The Reds focus too much on what Dunn can't do -- hit for average and make consistent contact -- and fail to recognize what he can do -- get on base and hit home runs. Savvier organizations know this, and that's why Dunn's a good bet to be moved. He's a bit like Teixeira without the defense, and he'd help out teams like the Angels, Twins and Mariners, who all need more pop from their DHs