Memo to Jim Bowden: Stop Reading the Papers...You Just Can't Win

For more than a month, sports writers have been eviscerating the Washington Nationals for their inactivity since the end of the 2008 season.

Oh sure, the team got a couple of solid major leaguers, outfielder Josh Willingham and pitcher Scott Olsen, from the Florida Marlins for just a little more than a bag of balls and a couple of bats.

But since then, or so they say, the cheapness of the Lerner family, and the general stupidity of team general Jim Bowden, has made the Washington Nationals a national laughingstock.

If the team would just sign someone like Adam Dunn, they said, the horizon in the team's distance would be instantly transformed from global-warming brown to something akin to the Garden of Eden.

With Bowden being the serpent, of course.

Tom Boswell of the Washington Post said in an on-line chat yesterday that he would be the first one to take back all of those awful things he said about the team's front office if they would only sign someone like Adam Dunn, say for around $12 million a year.

And so the Nationals signed Adam Dunn, but for just $10 million a year.

And they still can't get any love from these yahoos.

Thom Loverro of the Washington Times, by far the most anti-Lerner and anti-Bowden (and anti-Nationals) beat writer, wrote this morning that although things are a little brighter today, Dunn (who will help), is no panacea, no light at the end of the tunnel, no sign from the Oracle of Delphi.

Is he ready to drop the non-stop "The Lerner's are so cheap that..." diatribe?

Not hardly.

This was as close as Loverro could come to acknowledging that the Lerners did exactly what he and his co-horts have been demanding:

"Apparently [the Lerners are] not cheap enough to bury the franchise even deeper in the hole it fell into last year - a 102-loss embarrassment in its inaugural season at Nationals Park."

Wow. What a ringing endorsement there, Thom.

And of course, he just has to take a jab at Dunn, the very person that he has been demanding that the Nationals sign.

Dunn was a star football player, too, and has said several times that he misses playing the sport.

Last season, Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi said this to a caller on a radio talk show who wanted him to sign Adam Dunn as a free agent:

"Do you know that the guy really doesn't like baseball all that much?" Ricciardi said. "Do you know the guy doesn't have a passion to play the game that much? How much do you know about the player?

"There's a reason why you're attracted to some players, and there's a reason why you're not attracted to some players. I don't think you'd be very happy if we brought Adam Dunn here."

Loverro quotes this story and then tells his readers that Ricciardi wasn't the first, and won't be the last, to make the case that baseball isn't that important to Dunn.

What Loverro doesn't say, however, is that J.P. Ricciardi retracted his words almost immediately and apologized to all involved.

This is what Buster Olney reported a few days later:

"Ricciardi said on Thursday evening that he called Walt Jocketty, the general manager of the Reds, to apologize to him, and he was in the process of contacting Dunn directly. 'I let my guard down' said Ricciardi. 'I apologize to him. I have to be better than that … Unfortunately, you get caught in the heat of the moment.'"

And then he said something very interesting:

"I don't even know Adam Dunn."

Neither does Thom Loverro.

But rest assured that Loverro wasn't alone.

ESPN.com's Keith Law, another Nationals hater, was was relentless over the past winter, reported today that Dunn would make the Nationals only "slightly" better.

Harumph.

Turning on a dime, Law stopped attacking the Nationals for not signing anyone and began attacking them for being so stupid to sign someone.

Said Law, "Signing Adam Dunn makes the Nationals somewhat less awful for 2009 and 2010, but given their inability the last three years to convert veteran players on expiring contracts-Alfonso Soriano, Dmitri Young, Ronnie Belliard, or even younger time bomb Chad Cordero-into long-term assets, this doesn't push the franchise forward at all."

And then he just loses it.

Remember now, this is a guy that said the Nationals had to show their fans that they were serious about building a competitive team now, and that "The Plan," which would rebuild the farm system and provide the team top prospects in time, wasn't enough.

Law said that the Nationals had to show its fans that the team was willing to make the current edition more palatable even if it didn't help the team long-term.

So what does he say now?

"Developmental concerns aside, the big question for the Nationals is this: Why? Dunn won't be around long enough to be part of the first winning Nationals team. Even if Dunn has one of his best years, the Nationals are still the favorite to finish last in the NL East and unlikely to finish above fourth."

What?

And now, less than 24 hours after the signing was announced, a whisper campaign has begun to discredit Dunn as a baseball player.

"No one else wanted him" said one site. "Dunn sat on the Nationals' offer for two months because he didn't want to sign with them" said another. And of course, all of them are taking pot-shots at his defense (which is perfectly fine because he is without question a defensive liability)

But now even his offense is being analyzed and deconstructed.

Why? They guy has hit at least 40 homers a year for the past five years. No, not that. It's in the internals, they say.

You can tell this is Washington DC, can't you?

Chico Harlan of the Washington Post, who has been one of the fairest of all beat writers covering the Nationals, threw this tidbit into his morning blog post:

"When Adam Dunn swings a bat, fielders hardly ever have to worry about, well, you know, fielding. Last year, for instance, Dunn saw 2,811 pitches. He put jut 12.7 percent of them in play -- the second-lowest total in baseball. Dunn is the ultimate boom-boom-bust. He homers, or walks, or Ks. Fielders can nap."

And?

I can guarantee you that when Dunn comes to the plate this spring and digs in against Johan Santana, the pitcher is not comforted by the fact that there is just a 12.7 percent chance that one of his pitches will be put into play.

He's thinking that unless he puts the ball exactly where he wants it, there is a 100 percent chance the ball is going to travel 500 feet (Dunn was 3rd in the majors last year in how far his home runs traveled).

Look, we all know what Adam Dunn is and what Adam Dunn isn't. He isn't a great defender. He's mediocre at first and he's downright scary in left (which is where the Nationals are now saying he'll play).

He's a hit-and-miss kind of batter. He strikes out a lot. He broke Bobby Bonds' strikeout record with 195 in 2004. But he also walks a lot. He led the National League in walks last season with 128 and has averaged 114 over his career.

They are grousing about his career batting average of just .247.

Who cares?

His on-base percent the last five years has been .387. The guy gets on base.

He only hit 59 singles in 2008. That's a negative? He had almost 40 walks more than the average starter in the National league last year.

His singles are hiding in his walk column.

Ryan Howard of the Phillies is a well-loved, well-appreciated first baseman. He just signed a contract for $4 million more per year than Adam Dunn.

Howard is a far worse fielder than Adam Dunn. He made 19 errors at first last year. I mean, you can't make those many if you try.

Howard struck out 199 times, breaking Dunn's record. He did it both in 2007 and 2008. If you're keeping track, that's 34 more strikeouts than Dunn.

Howard had a OBP of .339. Dunn's was .387.

Howard did have three more doubles, eight more homers, and 46 more RBI than Dunn.

Got it. Ryan Howard is a better hitter.

But consider that Ryan Howard hit much better in his Philadelphia band-box than on the road in 2008 while Adam Dunn hit better away from his Cincinnati band-box. 

That would suggest that on a neutral field, they'd be similar hitters, though Howard will always drive in more runs because he is not as patient a hitter and will swing at balls that Dunn would take for a walk.

Do you think Ryan Howard would be getting treated like Adam Dunn if he was the free agent this offseason?

No. He would have been just a wee bit below Mark Teixeira in the first baseman free agent pecking order.

Look, Adam Dunn isn't the second coming.

He is the first coming.

The Nationals have never had a pure power hitter like him. True, Alfonso Soriano hit 46 homers for the team in 2006, but he's averaged just 31 in his two seasons with the Cubs.

You know what, I changed my mind.

Adam Dunn is the second coming.

Of Frank Howard.

And Nationals' fans over the age of 45 find that most appealing, the machinations of grumpy sports writers not withstanding.