What would you say if I told you that your team has just acquired Adam Dunn? You would probably sigh and say something like, “we better prepare ourselves for a lot of strikeouts,” or “another classic hit or miss player.” While those two things may be very true, Adam Dunn can be a very valuable player for many teams down the line.<\/p>\n
To start off, we should first rule him out for any National League team. While he has been very productive for the Nationals, his defensive ability is atrocious enough to keep many teams from acquiring him. It’s fair to say that his abilities will almost certainly lock him to a designated hitter position.<\/p>\n
So if we think of him as a DH, Adam Dunn becomes a very valuable player for many American League teams. In fact, DH’s are a prime concern for many teams at this point. Only one DH has an average over .300, and only one has more than 15 home runs. Both are Vladimir Guerrero.<\/p>\n
Dunn’s 22 home runs are good for fifth best in Major League Baseball, and better than any current DH. He has an above average on-base-percentage of .374 and a .575 slugging-percentage, also better than any current DH.<\/p>\n
However, he does strike out a lot. 34.3% of his at-bats result in a strike out. But that hasn’t exactly hindered his ability to help his team win. His WPA (win probability added) of 2.28 is better than any current DH besides Vladimir Guerrero.<\/p>\n
Not only would Adam Dunn be a great addition to a great team, he would be an improvement for most teams. Playing for the Nationals apparently doesn’t do much good for your reputation, but Dunn can make a big difference for any contending team.<\/p>\n
The Nationals apparently have a very high asking price for Dunn, and rightfully so. Once big market teams like the Yankees, Angels and Red Sox realize the difference Dunn can make, offers will start swarming into Washington. In other words: let the bidding begin.<\/p>\n
You can e-mail me at jess@jesskcoleman.com<\/a><\/strong> or follow me on Twitter @jesskcoleman<\/a><\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What would you say if I told you that your team has just acquired Adam Dunn? You would probably sigh and say something like, “we better prepare ourselves for a lot of strikeouts,” or “another classic hit or miss player.” While those two things may be very true, Adam Dunn can be a very valuable […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":754,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,5],"tags":[3728,3151,9063,104,1415,9066,9061,765,9060,8791,5247,191,463,9062,9064,588,3615,556,2349,9059,1051],"class_list":["post-6835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-statistical-analysis","tag-adam-dunn","tag-angels","tag-asking-price","tag-base-percentage","tag-bats","tag-contrary-to-popular-opinion","tag-defensive-ability","tag-dh","tag-hitter-position","tag-jess","tag-mail","tag-major-league-baseball","tag-nationals","tag-prime-concern","tag-probability","tag-red-sox","tag-reputation","tag-slugging-percentage","tag-vladimir-guerrero","tag-wpa-win","tag-yankees"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t