If only this newspaper printed in Comic Sans so we could send a letter to the Lerner family.
Adam Dunn took his talents to the South Side on Thursday, and it wasn’t because he thought it would be best for him and his family. From all indications, the Nationals’ best slugger the past two years wanted to stay in Washington. He just wasn’t given the opportunity to do so.
As a result, Dunn agreed to a four-year, $56 million deal Thursday with the White Sox. And there’s only one possible message here — to both Nationals fans and his former teammates: Money takes a priority over winning in the District.
Sure, Dunn isn’t a great defensive player; his range is limited, and his glove isn’t any better. But he probably will finish with his typical 38-42 home runs and around 100 RBI next year in Chicago. And he was beloved by fans and teammates such as Ryan Zimmerman, who seems distraught at Dunn’s departure.
In his place, the Nationals plan to focus on Tampa Bay’s Carlos Pena and Arizona’s Adam LaRoche. Pena might as well change his name to Kingman (or Mendoza), and in some ways his defensive numbers might be worse than Dunn’s. LaRoche would be an adequate replacement, but he’s not going to be a draw in a easily distracted town like this one.
And that’s the bottom line: If the Nationals want to keep their limited market share — and players like Zimmerman, Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper from going elsewhere — this isn’t the right way to do it.
