Sunday, July 15, 2007

Run at Dunn?

This kid is only 27 or so, and has massive power (the type that doesn't diminish just 'cause you play at Shea), and should have, conservatively another 4 good years in him. I figure him to have a short shelf life for a player, given his lumbering body type and long swing. The numbers are what they are. 40 HR's a possibility in any given year, but don't expect an average much above .250.

If Alou's not coming back this year (or is still a big question mark) at the time of the deadline, do you give this kid a look? I understand that the Reds might want to deal him for some younger talent, especially since it's a walk year for Dunn. If he fits in well here, you could extend him with an eye towards replacing Delgado. He's played 1b before.

5 comments:

Fredo said...

Just as if to prove my point, I just watched Dunn hit a Strawberry-esque shot off the scoreboard in right center. Half way up the scoreboard in right center. Had to be about a 475 ft poke.

We're still up 3-1.

SheaHeyKid said...

Interesting question Fredo.. My answer is no, I don't think he'd be worth what we'd have to give up. While dunn has a respectable career OBP of .377, I just have a tough time adding a career .246 average to the lineup. He strikes out way too much.

You raise an interesting point though, which is that we are going to need to add some power to this lineup in the next year or so, to replace what we lose from beltran and delgado. I'd much rather have taken a run at soriano.

Or what about a-rod or cabrera? Wright has already said he'd change positions for a-rod, what about for cabrera? I can't imagine florida will pony up for the enormous $$ miguel will be worth after his one-year arbitration contract is over at the end of the season. If we signed him, we wouldn't need to trady any players. I would love to see the Mets take a run at cabrera..

Fredo said...

Cabrera's a great, great hitter. Lousy clubhouse guy though. And I'm really uncomfortable with having a franchise player change positions. It was stupid when we had Jose Jose Jose do it for Kaz Matsui (did that really happen?), and creates a lot of weird ripple effects. When Miguel's struggling at 3rd (not a great fielder), it will be like, why did we move Wright? If Wright is struggling in the new position, it could carry over to the plate or create unspoken tension.

It's all good that Wright says he's willing to move, but in reality, A-Rod's probably the only player worth doing it for. Now if Cabrera wants to play first base, well...

Fredo said...

Of course, Dunn's .256/25/59 (on pace for about 44 HR's and 102 RBI's if he gets 550 AB's) looks pretty good compared to what we've been getting from Shawn Green since April ended:

.240/4/13 in 187 AB's. That's abysmal. That pace equates to about .240/12/39 over a full season, for a guy who's getting paid like a thumper (11.8 M vs. 10.5 M for Dunn), is 7 years older than Dunn, and fields his position horribly.

I could see Dunn/Milledge/Beltran in the OF, with Gomez and Chavez available as PHers, PRers and late game defensive replacements. Or we could send Gomez down for a little more seasoning once he's healthy, and bring him back up next year when we move Dunn to 1B.

Don't get me wrong SHK, Dunn has his limitations, but as a 5 or 6 hitter he's not too shabby either.

Fredo said...

Oh, and one more thing. As Gary Cohen was pointing out the other night, Dunn always works a deep count, which isn't what you'd necessarily expect from a power hitter.