More kind words from Dunn as he makes his return to Cincy

[OnBaseMachine]

The uniform was obviously different and a different color but Adam Dunn hadn't changed a bit. Dunn,the former Reds star and current Nationals first baseman/outfielder, met with the media in the visitor's dugout for a few minutes on Thursday. He teased a couple of people including Ken Broo and Seg Dennison and checked out Great American Ball Park from his new perspective.

"This is the first time I've stepped out here and looked and it looks red," Dunn said. "It's really red out here. It's what I remember."

Although fans often had a love-hate relationship with Dunn (loved the homers, hated the strikeouts, fielding and the team's losing) -- but he harbored zero ill will towards anything or anyone in Cincinnati.

"I'm not bitter at all," Dunn said. "I got an opportunity to play here since 2001. I enjoyed my time here. I met some great people. It's a business. I understand that. I don't hold grudges against anything. It worked out for a reason."

There was a time when Dunn and owner/CEO Bob Castellini were looking to extend Dunn's stay with the Reds but that obviously changed when Dunn was traded to the Diamondbacks just over one year ago. In the off-season, he signed as a free agent with Washington.

"I understand this is a business and that's how it goes," Dunn said of his end with the Reds. "They obviously did what was best for the organization and I still think Mr. Castellini is one of the best people I've met in my life. They'll definitely turn this thing around here. I met a lot of great people here that are hard to replace because you're with them day in and day out for x-amount of years. That's the main thing I miss about it."

http://marksheldon.mlblogs.com/

[OnBaseMachine]

Dunner is a class act. He will always be one of my favorite Reds players off all-time. He's my favorite non-Reds player in the game today. I love that guy. I'm leaving for Cincy in the morning and will be attending the games on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and I'll be giving Dunn a standing ovation. Hopefully Reds fans give him a warm welcome. He put up some big numbers with the Reds and has never said a bad word about the organization. I hope that someday he returns to Cincy and finishes his career where he started it.

[Brutus]

I harbor no ill-will toward the guy. He's a good player. For me, it was time to move on. I'm glad the Reds traded him. He was not going to stay anyhow, so they did what they needed to do.

I like him. I respect him. I will always think it was time to turn the chapter.

[WMR]

Originally Posted by Brutus the Pimp

I harbor no ill-will toward the guy. He's a good player. For me, it was time to move on. I'm glad the Reds traded him. He was not going to stay anyhow, so they did what they needed to do.

I like him. I respect him. I will always think it was time to turn the chapter.

Did Dunn tell you that himself?

[Brutus]

Originally Posted by WMR

Did Dunn tell you that himself?

Three different players made remarks to that affect. Bronson Arroyo said "everyone knew he was probably going to ask for $100 million."

I know it's not popular around these parts to say, but Dunn was not going to be an option no matter how it was sliced.

[WMR]

Originally Posted by Brutus the Pimp

Three different players made remarks to that affect. Bronson Arroyo said "everyone knew he was probably going to ask for $100 million."

I know it's not popular around these parts to say, but Dunn was not going to be an option no matter how it was sliced.

You're seriously going to try and quote Bronson Arroyo as a source into Dunn's contract negotiations?

And to your 2nd comment, pure supposition on your part with no tangible proof from Dunn whatsoever.

[Brutus]

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.

[GAC]

I wish he was still in a Red's uni. it's obvious, looking at this '09 team, that he wasn't the problem. How anyone could think he was simply baffles me.

I've got a couple guys at work that have always hated Adam, for the obvious stereotypical (and illogical) reasons, yet lament the loss of players like Freel, and love players like Rosales. They seem to think hustle is a viable stat.


You trade the caliber of a player like Dunn, then you replace it. This FO didn't.

[Highlifeman21]

Definitely curious as to the ovation he'll receive the first time his name's announced.

[Joseph]

Originally Posted by Highlifeman21

Definitely curious as to the ovation he'll receive the first time his name's announced.

Didn't seem like there was all that much of one did it?

Then again there are like 5 people there.

[Highlifeman21]

Originally Posted by Joseph

Didn't seem like there was all that much of one did it?

Then again there are like 5 people there.

I'm not listening or watching, so I have no idea.

But, with low attendance, it doesn't surprise me if those 5 people don't care that his name was announced.

[OnBaseMachine]

I was at the last three games, and while there wasn't any huge crowds, Dunn did receive a decent ovation when his name was announced. It was fun watching him play again. The home run he hit off Cueto was probably the shortest HR he's hit in his career. It cleared the wall in left by maybe a foot. It couldn't have traveled more than 332 feet. He looked great is just about every atbat. I think he walked like five or six times, was HBP twice, and he hit a couple bullets for doubles today. His OPS is up to .997. Zimmerman/Dunn/Willingham is a dangerous middle of the order. The Nats ripped the Marlins off in that deal. Too bad the Reds didn't get him.

[Joseph]

I was there last night and I don't think he got much of an ovation at all to be honest. Certainly nothing compared to other returning 'heroes' in the past like Casey. Hell LaRue got a better hand than the one I heard for Dunn in his 1st AB last night. Granted that was the third game of the series.

[OnBaseMachine]

Originally Posted by Joseph

I was there last night and I don't think he got much of an ovation at all to be honest. Certainly nothing compared to other returning 'heroes' in the past like Casey. Hell LaRue got a better hand than the one I heard for Dunn in his 1st AB last night. Granted that was the third game of the series.

All the people around me in the Moon Deck gave him a decent ovation. I thought there would be quite a few knuckleheads boo him but there really wasn't. I was pleasantly surprised.

[Johnny Footstool]

I'll never get the "it was time to move on" perspective. Why on earth would it be time to move on from a .900 OPS player?