Adam Dunn Is Good For The Nationals - Yeah, I Said It

How Much More Does This Guy Have To Do?

One thing’s for sure, if you’re looking for someone to pin the blame for the Nationals’ awful season, you really can’t look at Adam Dunn.

Dunn’s numbers this year indicate he is having his finest year as professional baseball player. I lifted the following examples from baseball-reference.com to indicate just how effective Dunn has been:

Starting with the basics, his batting average is the best it’s ever been for a single season. "The Big Donkey" carries a lifetime .249 average and in his best season (2004) he hit .266 for Cincinnati. Right now, he’s hitting .275 and that was after an awful May (.243) and June (.241). He’s on fire this month hitting .325 for the month of July.

His homeruns have dropped off since early in the season. He looked like a sure lock for the All-Star game with 16 homers through May, but he’s hit only 9 since. Still, he’s tied for third in the National League with 25 so far and he’s on pace for 43 homers this year which would be his second best output of his career (behind 2004 when he hit 46).

In the other “triple crown” category – RBI – he sits at 71 through 98 games which puts him on pace for around 108 which would also eclipse his highest total to date (106 in 2007).

His OBP of .402 would also be a career best, his OPS of .952 would be second best in his career (.956 in 2004) and he’s hitting lefties (.261 in 2009) better than he ever has in his career.

Plus, in the 11 games since the All-Star break he’s hitting a blistering .351 with 2 homers, 3 doubles, 6 walks and 9 RBI.

But enough about the offense, let’s focus on what it was that bugged me about Dunn’s signing in the off-season – his poor defensive play in the outfield.

I don’t necessarily agree with the defensive metrics out there, typically. I find it difficult to quantify a player’s defensive abilities with numbers and standards. When judging a player’s defensive abilities, I believe the best way to evaluate them is simply to watch them play.

Admittedly, I hadn’t seen much of Dunn before purchasing the MLB.tv package back in June, but I like what I’ve seen – for the most part – and Dunn, in my opinion, hasn’t been as bad as advertised.

Speaking with fellow Nats fans on WNFF.net, I have heard that Dunn’s defensive play has been less than stellar this season, but recently it has picked up. In one of the games this weekend, Bob Carpenter and Rob Dibble (the Nats television broadcast team) made mention of Dunn working hard with Nationals coach Marquis Grissom on his play in the outfield.

Dunn’s nickname isn’t “The Big Donkey” for no reason. He’s still a lumbering oaf in LF, but at least he’s not the train-wreck I thought he’d be. I’ve seen him play fundamentally sound outfield, mostly, and his defense certainly hasn’t cost the Nationals much of anything; plus, his offense certainly more than makes up for any defensive deficiencies he may have.

Lately, there’s been talk of what to do with some of the players since the trade deadline is rapidly approaching. It was mentioned that Dunn may be shopped and that some initial offers have come through; XM-175 reported last week that an inquiry was made by the Tigers for Dunn to become a DH and another quip came across from Nats beat writer Chico Harlan: “The Nationals are said to be demanding excessively high returns for Dunn. One source called the Nationals' asking price ‘painful.’”

I’d be in favor of trading a bunch of guys: Nick Johnson makes sense since he’s a free-agent at the end of the year, Cristian Guzman seems like he’s not interested in Washington any more, Josh Willingham may be able to fetch something decent and Ron Villone and Joe Beimel provide some veteran experience out of a bullpen, plus they’re lefties.

I don’t see how trading Dunn who’s having the best year of his life and is still under contract for another year and is in the prime of his career and is apparently committed to improving his defense is such a great idea. Seems to me the Nationals benefit from having his bat in the lineup and with Nyjer Morgan playing CF next to him, Dunn’s defense won’t be nearly the hindrance we initially thought it would be.

Seems to me that if the Nationals are serious about fielding a major league lineup to score runs for this young staff, a guy like Dunn would be valuable; at least more-so than a handful of marginal prospects. Let Dunn play out this year and see where we are as an organization next year. If we really have turned a corner, perhaps Dunn will stay beyond his two-year contract and the Nats can win with him here.

Hard to believe it, but I used to hate this guy.