Note: I wrote this just before the weekend and given his trade today, it makes sense to publish it here.
Now, I’m not here to tell anyone that their time has passed and that the best years are behind them. But White Sox DH Adam Dunn–start coming up with ideas for what you want teams to give you on your Retirement Tour à la Jeter. We’re talking do you want benches made of baseball bats or a pair of cowboy boots from a former President of the United States? Because while Dunn might not get the accolades and applause of Jeter, Rivera, or even Big Papi when he’s all said and done, he certainly deserves a victory lap. Talk about a guy who did it his way!
In his 13-year career, Dunn has slashed .237/.365/.491/.856 with 459 HRs, 1155 RBIs, and a BB:K ratio of 1310:2350 or about 5:9. Ok, so that K rate leaves something to be desired but look at those Moneyball-esque Walk and Homer numbers! Dunn’s 459 career dingers puts him at 36th all-time and nestled in company like Papi, Yaz, Jeff Bagwell, Jose Canseco. Ok, any list loses steam when you get you Canseco. His career HRs per AB is 14.8, good for 10th all-time while his career total Walks of 1,310 is good for 42nd all-time. Hell, his career number of Ks (2350) is the 3rd-most of ALL TIME. Give him a hand, folks!
I say his career was “fantastic” because for fantasy purposes, he has been great. In his 1974 career games he has averaged .82 hits, .25 HRs, .60 RBIs, .55 Runs. .66 BBs, and 1.70 Total Bases per game.
For us Fanduel fantasy nerds, that amounts to 814+666+30+1836+126+1090+1155+1310+82+122-2350-1299 = 7231 – 3649 = 3582 pts / 1974 games = 1.815 pts/game for his whole career. Basically, given the matchup, he’s the greatest punt option of all time.
Now in recent years Dunn has not played the outfield at all or played regularly at 1st Base, so we cannot accurately look at his defensive numbers. Welp, we can always take a look at his pitching:
Now, I’m not here to tell anyone that their time has passed and that the best years are behind them. But White Sox DH Adam Dunn–start coming up with ideas for what you want teams to give you on your Retirement Tour à la Jeter. We’re talking do you want benches made of baseball bats or a pair of cowboy boots from a former President of the United States? Because while Dunn might not get the accolades and applause of Jeter, Rivera, or even Big Papi when he’s all said and done, he certainly deserves a victory lap. Talk about a guy who did it his way!
In his 13-year career, Dunn has slashed .237/.365/.491/.856 with 459 HRs, 1155 RBIs, and a BB:K ratio of 1310:2350 or about 5:9. Ok, so that K rate leaves something to be desired but look at those Moneyball-esque Walk and Homer numbers! Dunn’s 459 career dingers puts him at 36th all-time and nestled in company like Papi, Yaz, Jeff Bagwell, Jose Canseco. Ok, any list loses steam when you get you Canseco. His career HRs per AB is 14.8, good for 10th all-time while his career total Walks of 1,310 is good for 42nd all-time. Hell, his career number of Ks (2350) is the 3rd-most of ALL TIME. Give him a hand, folks!
I say his career was “fantastic” because for fantasy purposes, he has been great. In his 1974 career games he has averaged .82 hits, .25 HRs, .60 RBIs, .55 Runs. .66 BBs, and 1.70 Total Bases per game.
For us Fanduel fantasy nerds, that amounts to 814+666+30+1836+126+1090+1155+1310+82+122-2350-1299 = 7231 – 3649 = 3582 pts / 1974 games = 1.815 pts/game for his whole career. Basically, given the matchup, he’s the greatest punt option of all time.
Now in recent years Dunn has not played the outfield at all or played regularly at 1st Base, so we cannot accurately look at his defensive numbers. Welp, we can always take a look at his pitching:
Despite his career successes, his teams have largely been failures. Recent terrible White Sox teams might have pushed him to the brink. He has recently talked about retirement:
“Adam Dunn is 34 years old and having a productive season for the White Sox, ranking among the league’s top 25 in OPS while approaching 500 career homers, yet with free agency and another payday around the corner this offseason he’s pondering retirement.
Dunn, who’s finishing up a four-year, $56 million contract, talked to Dan Hayes of CSNChicago.com about his upcoming decision:
You’re used to doing something your whole life, and I know it’s going to be an adjustment, but I’m fortunate to be able to put myself in this situation at a pretty young age to make the call. There’s nothing bad about that. I’m not sad about that. I’m actually pretty happy about it.
Dunn has three kids under 10 years old and more than $100 million in career earnings, so as he told Hayes:
I’m not a 22-year-old single guy anymore. There are a lot of things that play into coming back and your decision.
Since a disastrous first season in Chicago he’s posted a .784 OPS in 400 games for the White Sox and with 459 career homers Dunn is likely only two seasons from joining the 500-homer club. And of course now he’s gotten all of that pitching experience, too.
Throughout his career Dunn’s bad defense, high strikeout rates, and low batting averages have made him a frequent target of criticism, but among all active hitters with at least 5,000 career plate appearances he ranks 18th in OPS at .858, sandwiched between Robinson Cano at .860 and teammate Paul Konerko at .843.”
References
Feinsand, M. (2013, July 3). Yankees' Mariano Rivera gets unique gift from Twins - rocking chair made from their broken baseball bats. Retrieved September 15, 2014.
Gleeman, A. (2014, August 19). Adam Dunn may retire on the verge of 500-homer club. Retrieved September 15, 2014.