On the coming trade for Adam Dunn

The Reds cannot simply wait for Griffey to get injured in order to fit the hot and mighty Josh Hamilton into their lineup. The fact is that they've got a surplus of talented outfielders, and just as they did with Wily Mo Pena and Austin Kearns, they will trade for pitching, and the likely target is Adam Dunn, since his contract is up next year, and GM Wayne Krivsky has said he doesn't like strikeouts.

Dunn is what some call a Three True Outcomes (3TO) player, because when he's at the bat he'll either strike out, walk, or hit the ball out of the park. The downside for many is that he'll strike out so much that his batting average will suffer quite a bit. This is true, but what is unseen is that Dunn also walks a whole lot. Adam Dunn had only 131 hits last year, but he had 112 walks; that's 245 times on base, which is 9 more than this leadoff man who "gets on base an awful lot" and played 162 games last year. Of course, Dunn also hits the ball very hard when he makes contact; over his career, 363 of his 716 hits have been for extra bases, which is a bit over 50%, so those hits are generally quite useful.

The Dodgers desperately need a power bat, and they'd be willing to part with a pitcher for Dunn. If they're smart, they'll offer Randy Wolf, who appears to be making a great comeback season, and his contract is over next year. If they're slightly less smart, they'll offer Brad Penny, who is a bargain for the next few years for his performance. If they're really stupid, they'll offer Chad Billingsley for a rental of Dunn; Kuo's injury-ridden history would allow me to accept trading him, though.

All that would need to be done next would be to make a significant package for Andruw Jones that involves shipping out Juan Pierre, or a similar trade for Torii Hunter. Then sign one, based on where you want Matt Kemp to play, right or center field.

There's no way Colletti will trade for A-Rod; the guy is a Boras client with an opt-out clause, and Colletti will not feel safe with that.