Loading ...Lots of links today…
–GM Walt Jocketty doesn’t sound very confident that the Reds will be able to sign first-round draft pick Yonder Alonso. Frankly, if reports are true that Alonso and his agent haven’t budged one cent from their initial demand, I’d tell the kid to have fun playing elsewhere.
–PTBNL #3 has been named: catcher Wilkin Castillo. He’s 24 years old, and has never been very good or very bad in the minors. He does have only 91 walks in his entire professional career, spanning 5 seasons and 1712 ABs. No plate discipline whatsoever.
As a comparison, Adam Dunn has 83 walks in 385 ABs against Major League pitching this season alone.
–Over at ESPN, Jayson Stark had this:
“He’s a better player than people give him credit for,” one scout said of (Adam) Dunn. “People think he’s just some lazy guy who can’t do anything but hit the ball out of the park. He’s better than that. He’s a force. You have to make pitches on him. If you don’t, he’ll go long on you or he’ll walk.”
–Here’s a nice look at the other PTBNL in the Dunn trade, Micah Owings, by John Sickels prior to this season. Sickels likes Owings. He’s still in trade limbo, though.
–If you haven’t read John Erardi’s article on Adam Dunn yet, what are you waiting for?
–On to the quarters! (Yes, that’s tongue-in-cheek.)
Chad-Funny you pulled that quote out of the Jayson Stark article but left out the previous paragraph:
• Dunn deal: Did Arizona give up too much (three players, presumably including Micah Owings) for Adam Dunn? The Reds based their asking price on the premise that Dunn will be a Type A free agent, so they needed to do better than two draft picks. But officials of two other teams say there’s “no way” they would’ve offered Dunn arbitration. “There’s a guy who, if you offer him arbitration, there’s too good a chance he’s going to take you up on it,” one said.
You leave out information like CNN.
And yet, you got the rest of it by clicking on the link I provided. I can’t quote the entire article, as that is not fair use of other’s intellectual property.
Forgive me if I only quote what I deem to be the most interesting part of the article. If you want other parts highlighted, go get your own blog and leave us alone here.
I’m not a news service and I’m not a reporter. I will highlight whatever interests me. If you don’t like it, good bye.
More like Fox News.
The game last night was actually enjoyable to watch. Actually descent defense and fundamental offense. CP actually hitting.363 since the trade.
Methinks Walt J. blew it by not dealing the Donkey before July 31. I can’t believe they got so little for someone who has the type of power to lead the league in homers. Why did he wait?? After 7/31, the Reds had to deal with whomever put in a waiver claim and this turned out to be a NL squad. Does anyone believe that the Reds really wanted to deal with the Diamondbacks for these three shakey, at best, players? The short Reds run of victories before the interleague trading deadline perhaps gave some false hope but their inevitable slide to oblivion shortly thereafter took that away. Dunn should be a DH and the Reds should have some definite prospects instead of these three stooges.
What’s your point, anyways, AnnapolisRed? The paragraph that you quoted doesn’t really seem to conflict with what Chad quoted, as far as I’m concerned. The press (specifically Daugherty) and a lot of commenters on this blog starting bashing Dunn pretty unreasonably after he left, and I think what some of us are trying to point out is that he deserves respect and was a really great player.
That’s not saying anything about the trade, the trade is another issue, which is what the paragraph before is talking about. Chad wasn’t trying to talk about the trade, so how was he “leaving information out” like Fox News?
In terms of the trade, I personally think that because of the money he was asking for, he had to go, but I also think we could’ve played our hand better with all the FA-bound players and gotten something more out of Dunn before the deadline, like World is saying.
He doesn’t have a point, he’s an asshole.
Better than he’s given credit for? No, he’s not.
But we don’t have any idea what he was going to ask for…unless you’re willing to accept Bronson Arroyo’s version.
AND, for all the talk about Dunn’s homerun power, look at the standing folks aside RS and RA…winning often boils down to good (or great) pitching and the ability to bat for avg, top to bottom. The Rays are a perfect example of this as are many of the past WS champs. As P-DOC says time and again, the HR is WAY overrated. Who would seriously prefer Dunn’s performances, over what we saw last night from Dickerson!? Who?! Anyone?!
Why would Arroyo just make that up, though? I mean, I suppose some guys are just jerks, but what sense would anyone have to just make that up. Of course Dunn is going to deny it because, as he said, it makes him look like a jackass.
I think Dunner was unsignable and frankly I’m glad we were able to get what we did. I don’t think these guys will be lights out, but Buck could still be good. Owings is still only 25 with experience. We got a young catcher that probably can’t be any worse.
I can’t believe the Reds would really WANT the draft picks. They don’t want to sign the guy they did (Alonso), why in the world would they want to add more potential to have to pay out big bonus dollars on 3 top draft picks next year?
I hate to see Dunn go; I love watching him and hearing his quotes, but I think that for the spot they were in, the Reds did what they could. Time to move on.
How bout that Dickerson!
often boils down to good (or great) pitching and the ability to bat for avg, top to bottom.
That’s just false. Batting Average has a much lower correlation with run scoring than about 15 other offensive stats.
As for your reliance on Paul Daugherty as a source that HR are overrated . . . well, that says it all.
I suspect Bronson mis-heard something Dunn said (or someone else said about Dunn). I honestly don’t see Dunn getting much more than $75-80M. I don’t see a team paying him for more than 5 years, at the most. I see something like 4/$70M as a reasonable ceiling.
That Mike Ricketts article is the most confusing thing I’ve ever read. It (I think) starts out interviewing a fan, then shifts to Dusty Baker, the author’s personal commentary, back to the fan, back to Baker, and back to opinion — all without ever using a person’s name.
Man, talk radio is driving the baseball IQ of this town right into the gutter.
4 Years $70 Million? $17.5 Million a year? We could sign 2 outfielders to platoon in left and another to platoon with Dickerson in center for less and exceed the teams average offensive production at those 2 spots over this year. Sure it might not be 40 home runs but last night proved there is more to offensive production than just home runs.
It looks like it is starting to click in place for Drew Stubbs, he might even be the platoon player in center next year and it would be even cheaper freeing up money for another spot.
Thanks for making some sense, Mark. What you’re suggesting is exactly what the ChiSox did in ‘05 when they flipped Carlos Lee for Podsednick, a relief pitcher, and used the freed up salary to sign a third player. 3 for 1. Yes, it’s absurd to think you can replace Dunn’s production with a single guy, but it IS possible to replace it in other ways. The Cardinals seem quite adept at doing it year after year.
Chad-Yes I did get the rest of the article by clicking on it. I just think it is funny where you guys only post quotes that are pro-Dunn or anti-trade when in the same article (at least twice now) there have been quotes that don’t agree with you. I guess I don’t expect you to post stuff you disagree with, I was just pulling your chain.
Hey Kurt-Nice language. Why don’t you grow up. There might be kids reading this. We can disagree without calling people names. You and mhopp must be related.
You avoided attacking my opinion with any substantive details…and I never said BA was above all (or 15) other stats, but it is sure as hell above HRs and HRs are sure as hell less important than a good pitching rotation/bullpen.
Chad-Funny you pulled that quote out of the Jayson Stark article but left out the previous paragraph:
• Dunn deal: Did Arizona give up too much (three players, presumably including Micah Owings) for Adam Dunn? The Reds based their asking price on the premise that Dunn will be a Type A free agent, so they needed to do better than two draft picks. But officials of two other teams say there’s “no way” they would’ve offered Dunn arbitration. “There’s a guy who, if you offer him arbitration, there’s too good a chance he’s going to take you up on it,” one said.
You leave out information like CNN.
I have seen stories questioning if the Reds really got anything of value in return.
They saved $ 2 million at least.
Why would Arroyo just make that up, though?
Good question but then again why would Dunn confide in Arroyo? If it was because they were friends then why would a friend blab it to the media? Is there some motive for Arroyo “releasing” this information? I find it very odd.
How bout that Dickerson!
He has been pretty sensational and if he can make the adjustments he will need to be making in the next couple of weeks he will be amazing!
Maybe Bronson was sitting in the Grassy Knoll at the time. Just another conspiracy theory.
Yes, it’s absurd to think you can replace Dunn’s production with a single guy, but it IS possible to replace it in other ways. The Cardinals seem quite adept at doing it year after year.
Key ingredients for the Cardinals ability to do this is the coaching staff. I think the Reds are lacking ingredients that potent, to put it politely.
often boils down to good (or great) pitching and the ability to bat for avg, top to bottom.
Actually, team plate appearances might be the top indicator. The more plate appearances per game the less outs you are making so you ought to be plating some runs. I guess a lot of extra inning games might skew that though.
In the Dayton Daily News
http://www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/pro/reds/2008/08/15/ddn081508spredsnotesweb.html
Adam Dunn denied that he wants that much money.
Adam Dunn was not pleased when he heard Bronson Arroyo told the media Dunn would seek a $110 million to $125 million contract as a free agent.
And he denied it.
“I don’t know where that number would come from,” Dunn said. “False information, that’s all I can say. That makes me look like a jackass. You never hear players talking about money. I don’t think about the offseason. Me and my agent don’t even talk about numbers.”
It came, of course, from Arroyo, and Dunn is correct. Players don’t often talk money issues in the clubhouse.
p.s. I would always, ALWAYS, take Adam Dunn’s performances over Chris Dickerson’s (no offense to him). In response to I think comment #9. It seems you’re implying that the Reds are better playing Chris Dickerson over Adam Dunn which would imply that you think Dickerson is a better player, which is absolutely incorrect
I had said that in a different post, but it seemed more relevant here