From the Dayton Daily News (but not Hal McCoy):
The Reds hot stove league will be buzzing over the next couple of months about trading either Ken Griffey Jr. or Adam Dunn. Here's my solution: trade both.It's not that these guys aren't prolific. This year alone, they've combined for more than 70 home runs and 195 RBIs. But in the seven years they've been playing together, they've not produced a single winning season. In fact, during those seven years, the team lost 100 games more than it won.
So what are the Reds preserving? Trade these guys while they still have value. You might get a hot pitching prospect or two, as well as a speedy outfielder. Trading Griffey and Dunn would create a huge hole in the lineup, but it would also usher in a style of small ball that might lead to more wins. Want proof? In 2001, the Oakland As won 102 games with MVP Jason Giambi at first base. The next year, after the Yankees bought him, they won 103.
The best organizations are the ones that adapt and change. Look at the Atlanta Braves. They won the first of 14 consecutive division titles in 1991. When the streak ended in 2006, just one player remained from the beginning of the streak: John Smoltz. They turned over their entire roster -- and kept winning.
Trade Griffey and Dunn. You never know, you might just find the next John Smoltz.
There are so many things obviously wrong with this article, and I'm not even going to bother pointing them all out, but I think my favorite is that he brings up the 2001-2002 Oakland A's as an example of why getting rid of sluggers and moving to a smallball approach is a good idea. An entire book written about that team completely disproves the above, and the DDN reporter has absolutely no clue.
I'd love to see more articles in the Cincinnati/Dayton papers about how bad the pitching is, but maybe it doesn't sell as many papers pointing out how bad Mike Stanton and Co. are at their jobs.
It's amazing how much contempt the Dayton Daily News must have for it's readers to print crap like this.