Quote:
Originally Posted by mth123
Good pitching usually stops good hitting I'll agree, but offense is needed as well and offenses need a central power figure to revolve around. There aren't many winners that I remember outside of the small ball Cardinals under Herzog who didn't have a big bat in the middle. They even had Jack Clark at the center of the offense in later versions.
As for the price, any comparable middle of the line-up guy will cost as much if not more. It would cost more than $13.5 Million per year to replace Dunn on the market IMO.
And w/o offense that money you want to invest in pitching will be wasted on overpaid consolation choices (a la Milton), because no one we would really want to give it to would take it.
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There aren't many comparable middle of of the lineup guys. Dunn's offensive profile is rather unusual. Most strikeouts per season in baseball history yet high walk total. High home run total with relatively few RBIs. Does better in second lineup spot than hitting fourth or fifth. Not your typical slugger.
Team/GM has to really want that type of hitter and be willing to devote a lot of the team's resources on him.
I still think that the Reds shouldn't sign major long term deals with any offensive players until they add more good pitching. I would try to get hitters in the Ron Gant/Kevin Mitchell/Greg Vaughn mold -- veteran hitters who can be acquired relatively cheaply for one or two years.
I would focus my dollars on pitching right now. Add two more good starters and a closer and then worry about offense. Just my view.