You know baseball's approaching when...

[CincyRedsFan30]

Alan Cutler (who I had to deal with at Rich Brooks' UK football press conferences this past season) is on WLW (Sunday) saying that the Reds should have traded/dumped Dunn this offseason and that dumping him would be "addition by subtraction" and that we should have gotten Jeff Suppan for him.

No kidding.

And I mean NO KIDDING.

[CincyRedsFan30]

Also, two guys in my news editing class (who are actually pretty cool in general and are hoping to be sportswriters soon) talked about the Reds today and they said they are excited about the season but they don't like Dunn because he either hits a HR or K's when he should be putting the ball in play more.

Guys like Cutler feed perceptions about players with Dunn's skill set.

[ghettochild]

[HollywoodLeo]

I'd love to have Dunn K'ing and HR'ing in PetCo

[Kingdom]

When did Jeff Suppan become a hot commodity?

[redsrbetter]

I'd love to have Dunn K'ing and HR'ing in PetCo

So would I. As long as it meant the Reds would have Peavy K'ing Dunn at GABP.

Seriously, I am not even worried about discussing Dunn too much this year. I think what he needs to do is to become the premier OBP or OPS guy we all expect him to be. No doubt his .855 OPS led the team last season. But it is not exactly stellar. 55 players had a better OPS mark than him last season. If he is going to continue to slide in both defensive and offensive attributes, I will continue to lose interest. So, I basically have something close to the same feeling as those soon to be sportswriters you are talking about CRF.

Not that I want this to become a Dunn debate. But I am more looking forward to watch guys like EdE and Phillips.

[HollywoodLeo]

So would I. As long as it meant the Reds would have Peavy K'ing Dunn at GABP.

Would you take Tim Stauffer instead?

[Kingdom]

Oh be fair Leo, give them David Wells.

[CincyRedsFan30]

When did Jeff Suppan become a hot commodity?

I think he's delivered some big games at times and I think he is a not-so-bad pitcher for sure, but losing Dunn's power unless they plan on adding another power bat would be lethal for the lineup unless they received a player of higher caliber than Suppan for him.

Especially if Griffey has another injury-plagued, less than Griffey-like year.

[missionhockey21]

So would I. As long as it meant the Reds would have Peavy K'ing Dunn at GABP.

Seriously, I am not even worried about discussing Dunn too much this year. I think what he needs to do is to become the premier OBP or OPS guy we all expect him to be. No doubt his .855 OPS led the team last season. But it is not exactly stellar. 55 players had a better OPS mark than him last season. If he is going to continue to slide in both defensive and offensive attributes, I will continue to lose interest. So, I basically have something close to the same feeling as those soon to be sportswriters you are talking about CRF.

Not that I want this to become a Dunn debate. But I am more looking forward to watch guys like EdE and Phillips.

Krivsky (I believe) had an interesting theory that Dunn's slide late last year was attributed to feeling the pressure of carrying the lineup on his shoulders with Griffey gone. Whether it's true or not, I think it's a bit short-sighted to be giving up hope on Dunn. He might not live up to the hype we have established, but what would everyone's feelings be if his hot streak was what he finished the season up with after a slump (instead of the other way around)?

Outside of Ed E or Ken Griffey returning to a form closer to 2005 than 2006, you're going to be hard pressed to find anyone to out-produce Dunn this year... even with another "poor" year. The good news is with a new pitching coach and all the projections for Dunn next season, it's looking quite favorable that he'll bounce back... and it will be beyond needed with this offense.

As for CRF's comments, not terribly shocking considering the man who said it and it goes to prove my theory that too many of the media personalities are drinking from Marty's Kool Aid, but alas we all know he'll be one of the first singing his praises if Dunn OPS's at .950 in 2007. Or maybe not, some are going to criticize Dunn for his defense and the strikeouts, no matter how many runs he creates which is sad, but I am hoping Dunn can finally have that big breakout season of monstrous proportions. I understand where redsr is coming from (it's hard not to get frustrated despite what he did produce), but I am pulling for Dunn because it's just damn fun to pull for the underdog that the media has attacked too often. Thanks for the info CRF.

[Fishercat]

I'd trade 3 Jeff Suppan's for an Adam Dunn, and if it's Boston-version, infinite Jeff Suppans.

[love_that_reefer]

Alan Cutler (who I had to deal with at Rich Brooks' UK football press conferences this past season) is on WLW (Sunday) saying that the Reds should have traded/dumped Dunn this offseason and that dumping him would be "addition by subtraction" and that we should have gotten Jeff Suppan for him.

No kidding.

And I mean NO KIDDING.

How do you trade for a free agent? This guy is clearly a moron!! Dunn will be trade bait come July.

[missionhockey21]

Supposedly he was all of this offseason, but no one met the asking price. And given the Reds depleted offense and complete lack of moves to bolster that this offseason, if they are in contention it will be because of Dunn and they won't move him. Then again, 4th or 5th place and I am sure there will be rumors a plenty involving aging players and a couple of relievers that will cause a few Reds fans (myself included) to jump off a bridge.

[Slyder]

Supposedly he was all of this offseason, but no one met the asking price. And given the Reds depleted offense and complete lack of moves to bolster that this offseason, if they are in contention it will be because of Dunn and they won't move him. Then again, 4th or 5th place and I am sure there will be rumors a plenty involving aging players and a couple of relievers that will cause a few Reds fans (myself included) to jump off a bridge.

I dont think so. We're out of it I see us opening an auction house for Dunn and say the starting begins with 1 top flight spect and watch teams butcher each other if that. More than likely I see us packaging relievers in a time where everyone will need them for spects that can help in 08-09 rather than particularly right now.

[CincyRedsFan30]

To be fair to Cutler (I know, I know), he might not have specifically said "trade Dunn for Suppan," but he in essence said Dunn was taking up too many and we needed to dump him ("addition by subtraction") so we could add Suppan (assuming he meant through free agency).

I do think Krivsky likes Dunn and will not move him unless he feels he's getting fair value for him. I just hope he TRULY understands what fair value would be for him.

He will truly be an important cog in the offense this year. He has had a bit more protection over the last few years, but with Griffey aging and Edwin still raw (though he could be very good), Dunn needs to assume somewhat of a leadership role on offense this year. He shouldn't put too much pressure on himself to produce, but he really needs to try to improve his game over last year, which I think he will.