Dunn Deal

Jim Bowden continues his trend of acquiring his former players from his days as GM in Cincinnati, now signing Adam Dunn to a 2 year $20m deal. It's hard to fault him for the signing, a team like the Nats who are really terrible need some light, and since Dunn's price dropped dramatically it makes sense for them to attempt a splash in the market.

Now Dunn is a better player than Abreu but is he worth $15m more? Maybe a better question is if Abreu worth $15m less? Dunn (Nats), Abreu (Angels), and Burrell (Rays) are all better than Raul Ibanez (Phillies), and all are cheaper, and all are tied up for less years. It's safe to say here that the Phillies are the only losers, while the other teams are all winners. Not huge winners, but they all got great hitters at a fraction of the cost.

With that said where will Dunn play? Most likely 1b where the Nats still have Dimitri Young (lost cause) and Nick Johnson (could still be good, great obp when healthy). But there is no room in the outfield with Josh Willingham (acquired from Florida), Lastings Millege, Austin Kearns, and Elijah Dukes. This is similar to the Angels scenario except that the Nats have absolutely no shot at winning anything this year. They have a plethora of Lf/Rf/1b/Dh, easily the most replaceable positions, yet they went for Dunn.

It's the same story as Abreu, he'll help the team by a few wins, but those wins may be meaningless, and at the expense of someone's playing time. Millege and Dukes have to play, they're too young and talented not too. It looks like Willingham will be knocked out, unless he learns how to catch again. And they traded for Willingham like I said , so why exactly did they do that? I'm not of the opinion that Scott Olsen is going to be a difference maker.

Jim Bowden isn't afraid to shake things up, so I guess you have to applaud him for that, but how can I say this, he's not really exactly good at his job. Millege and Dukes may end up being great players, and all the credit goes to Bowden for picking them up on the cheap, but by the time they are that way (if they get to that point) I have a feeling a new GM is going to be the one figuring out how to win with them.