Quote:
Originally Posted by WMR
You're seriously going to try and quote Bronson Arroyo as a source? 
And to your 2nd comment, pure supposition on your part with no tangible proof whatsoever. |
You can bury your head in the sand all you want, but Arroyo is far from the only one that has said it. I could sit here and go down through the many people that have made comments about Dunn or Dunn's situation with the organization. To which, you'll simply try to discredit every single person (as you just have with Arroyo).
People have been ignoring everything with Dunn for the last few years. It's an exercise in futility to have an opinion because everything gets dismissed and passed off as a strawman argument in the name of batting average and strikeouts. Nevermind that not everyone has an opinion that does not center around those two issues.
I respect Dunn. I think the guy is a good dude. And I think he's clearly an asset more so than a liability. I could sit here and go over, what I believe to be legitimate reasons to be critical of him, but it completely misses the point.
Dunn was not planning on re-signing, and if he did, the Reds were going to have to break the bank. This was echoed by so many people it's not funny. What's more is that for as enormously cherished as he is here, he had little or no market value last year during the trade season, nor this year in the offseason (though I think economy played a small part this year). But at the time, the Reds had to play the percentages and it seemed very much as if he was going to command a lot.
For a team financially strapped as it is, not good to gamble on that. The Reds instead chose to play those odds and when a small market formed for him in August, they unloaded him for a decent starting pitcher and a couple of moderate prospects. They certainly did not do a whole lot in the offseason, but they did manage to find a player at the same position that, has been producing since being given a chance A) first by upper-level management and then B) by field management.
It may seem trivial now, but if said player continues producing, and the flexibility allowed the Reds to upgrade third and possibly make one or two more transactions this offseason, it's then crazy to say the long-range affects of that decision did not pay dividends.
He's a good player. I wish him the best. I just wish people would stop holding the organization hostage over him. There's clearly plenty to be critical over without his inclusion.