It's now official. You can mark it down. With the trading of big bopper Adam Dunn, the Reds have run up the white flag. They've given up the ghost. They've bailed out. They've capitulated.
Any pretense of trying to salvage the season was erased when Dunn was dispatched to the great Southwest. Dunn will now do his heavy hammering and frequent whiffing for the Arizona Diamondbacks. No longer a Red, Dunn is now a rattler. Having left the Queen City, it'll be most interesting to see how often he mashes in the heat of a pennant race.
His departure leaves what had already been a suspect Reds' offense, quite emaciated. Just take a look at the lineup Cincy is now trotting out there and it isn't hard to figure out that run production is going to be a huge concern. As currently constituted, the Reds won't strike fear in the heart of any opposing pitcher. Hell, anyone facing Cincy will probably be salivating over the prospect of facing such a vulnerable bunch. To say the Reds are now presenting a popgun lineup might be giving them too much credit.
The first step in neutering the offense came when Cincy moved Ken Griffey. Yes, the "Kid" wasn't having a great year but he'd had his moments. What's more, Griffey remained a threat at the plate. His mere presence in the lineup was crucial because it offered a degree of protection to those around him. It isn't coincidental that since Griffey's departure, the Reds have lost at an alarming rate and have, basically, gone in the tank.
When you couple Griffey's loss with Dunn's absence, then all bets are off. Things go from scary to downright harrowing. The Reds will never be able to dig themselves out of the NL Central cellar with the collection of hitters they're now employing. It just can't be done. It's so much pie-in-the-sky and wishful thinking.
Whether dispatching Dunn elsewhere will prove to be a sound baseball decision remains to be seen. But, on the surface, it appears to be a major blunder and a colossal miscalculation. Particularly when you take into account the fact that the two pitchers the Reds have thus far received in exchange, have suspect and dubious arms. Would it have been too much to ask of Reds' management that they, at the very least, get someone close to being 100% healthy.
Regardless of what you may have thought about Dunn, the massive outfielder did put up numbers that are hard to ignore. The Reds are going to be hard pressed to replace what Dunn gave them.
Granted, he had a downside and, often, it wasn't pretty. He could be a human fanning machine. He hit for way too puny an average. And, periodically, he could misplay a fly ball into an absolute adventure. Dunn was far from perfect or sublime.
Yet, he was a constant in key categories. It was practically a given, a virtual certainty that the lumbering redhead would get you 40 knocks, 100 RBI, 100 walks and score a passel of runs. His on-base and slugging averages weren't too shabby either. If that isn't production, then what is?
Because of his streaky nature, Dunn was a lightning rod to many Reds' fans. He was simultaneously loved and loathed in the Queen City. No one generated more debate around the water cooler than did big # 44.
He was a walking contradiction. He could move you with his clutch homers. He could awe you with his power. But he could also be the most maddening and frustrating of ballplayers. He never seemed to reach the full potential that his physical skills suggested. His disappointments and failures could be every bit as spectacular as were his successes. Dunn seemed to operate at the extremes.
But, by and large, he was more asset than drawback. Add to the equation the fact that Dunn was a quality teammate and respected as a man and it's hard to come to the conclusion that Cincy is better off without him. He leaves a void that's gaping and will become all the more pronounced as the Reds attempt to go forward without him. Sans Dunn, the Reds figure to suffer a mega power outage.
Sadly, Dunn's exit is proof positive that Cincy has surrendered the season. No matter what spin management may put on it or how brave a front Dusty Baker may wish to show, this is packing it in. It's retreat in the face of the enemy. It's flat out giving up. It signals yet another quasi fire sale for a franchise that's losing credibility by the day.
Once again, the Reds' faithful are being asked to suffer through another major renovation process. Yet, the aims and intentions of the front office seem muddled. At first glance, the Cincinnati organization seems genuinely rudderless, with little idea of what direction they're headed. That's truly a sorry state of affairs for a once great and competitive club. If this isn't bottoming out, it sure feels like it.
It's been a lengthy drought of 13 years since the Reds last made the postseason and an altogether embarrassing eight campaigns since they registered a winning season. It's utterly inexcusable that a team in such a baseball hotbed should be so inept, for so long. You almost have to try at being that poor. But when you mix in bad management with underachieving players, it's a recipe for disaster and the Reds are living that reality.
Trading Adam Dunn only seems to continue and reinforce that downward cycle. But, perhaps, his departure should have been predictable. After all, in this decade the Reds have gotten very proficient at caving-in and running up the white flag of surrender. It's become almost second nature.
So why should 2008 be any different? Now that they're without Dunn, the season is all but done. And, once more, the Reds are done in!