Bomber Bites With Jumping Joe–Is Adam Dunn The Answer For The Yankee Power Outage?
By Joe Vitulli
Mandatory Credit: Chad R. MacDonald.
The Yankees’ offense for the last two years has ranged from nonexistent to abysmal. GM Brian Cashman has been unable to replace the voids in the lineup left from the departures of Robinson Cano, Curtis Granderson, Nick Swisher, and Alex Rodriguez. They have overachieved due to the terrific play of the bullpen and a better than expected, makeshift rotation. On the heels of last weekend’s trade of Vidal Nuno for Brandon McCarthy, Cashman should pull the trigger again and trade a low level prospect to the Chicago White Sox for slugger Adam Dunn.
Adam Dunn hits home runs in bunches. He also strikes out in bunches. The vast majority of his at-bats end without a fielding play, as only one of three outcomes generally occur. He will hit a home run, walk or strike out. Normally, I would not advocate for such a one-dimensional player. He is also terrible in the field. However, he would fit into this Yankee team very nicely and provide power to a team that has gone from a homer happy club in 2012 to one that can go a week or more without leaving the yard. Dunn’s 13 long balls this season would be second on the Yankees, behind only Mark Teixeira‘s 15.
Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports
Dunn could provide the kind of spark that Alfonso Soriano provided last season. He is the power threat that Soriano was supposed to be this season. His left-handed swing is tailor-made for Yankee Stadium, and could be a second legitimate power threat in the Bomber lineup. While he is not a good defender anywhere, he is a better first baseman than Kelly Johnson, and could spell the 40-year-old Ichiro in right. He is best suited to be a DH, and could siphon off at-bats from Carlos Beltran there as well.
The cost for Dunn would not be more than a low level prospect or two. Dunn is in the final year of a four-year, $56 million contract and is simply a rental at this point. The White Sox have no real room for him, with a glutton of first base/DH types, including the emergence of All-Star Jose Abreu. The White Sox would likely be grateful to shed what remains of his $15 million salary for this season. The Yankees should flex their financial muscle and absorb the salary dump.