Runscott,
As a fan of the Reds when Dunn was on the team I can tell you have the same arguments as Dunn fans back then.
Look at the stats and the Reds had a BAD pitching staff. Look at the stats and Dunn hit 40 home runs and had 100 rbi's. Dunn good, pitching staff bad.
The problem with that is that people did NOT look at Dunn's defensive stats or his base running ability. Furthermore, they didn't look at his game log and see when he hit his home runs.
Dunn was a HORRIBLE defensive player. If you never saw him play and don't believe me then go and read what Jon DeWan of the Fielding Bible had to say about Dunn's defense.
Because he was overweight and out of shape, he had no range. Because of THAT, he played deeper than normal. This meant a pitcher could make a good pitch and the ball would STILL fall in for a hit because Dunn could NOT get to it. This also meant that even playing deeper, Dunn could not cut off balls down the lines or in the gap and keep them from being extra base hits. This isn't even mentioning the errors he committed on balls that he DID get to or his weak and inaccurate throwing arm.
Add all of those things to the Reds playing in a hitter friendly ball park and you get pitchers throwing more pitches than they should have, giving up more hits and extra base hits than they should have and then giving up more runs than they should have.
As far as his offense goes, yes, he hit home runs but even then, it was no sure thing his team would win when he did so.
Again, when your middle of the order hitter is one of the highest paid players on the team and they are NOT producing on offense, are horrible on defense and do not scare the pitcher, catcher or defense when they are on base then they are a NEGATIVE as far as winning a baseball game goes.
Look at Dunn's game log and you will see that he can go three weeks to a month where he produces very little on offense. He will then have about a two week period when he gets hot. When you add his two, two week hot periods together they usually add up to about HALF of his full year production as far as home runs and rbis go.
So, Dunn is super productive for those two periods. The problem is, if the other hitters on the team or the pitchers are NOT good during that period then Dunn's hot streaks are wasted. That ALSO means that with Dunn being UNPRODUCTIVE the other 120 to 130 games during the year, it is hard for a team to be a winner.
Dunn has hit two home runs for the A's in three games since he has been there but the team is 1 and 2. What do YOU think is going to happen when Dunn goes into one of his 0 for 20 streaks with a bunch of strike outs and no rbi's?
Dunn is happy and talking about NOT retiring now. When he goes into one of his patented, long streaks of unproductiveness and the fans are booing him, watch how that talk ceases. Also watch how the fans will get sick of him smiling in the dugout when the A's are losing. Watch how they will get sick of him standing at the plate, watching a called third strike cross the dish when there is a runner on third base.
Watch, just like with the Reds, Diamondbacks, Nationals and White Sox, how the fans will say he is a nice guy but they can't wait for him to be off of their team or, once he is off of their team, how he is a nice guy but they are glad he is gone.
David
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