The Washington Nationals and Adam Dunn have agreed to a two-year contract, according to ESPN.com's Amy K. Nelson.
The deal is worth $20 million, ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney is reporting. It could be announced as early as Thursday, according to multiple reports.
Dunn, 29, hit .236 with 40 home runs and 100 RBIs with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Cincinnati Reds last season.
Dunn has hit at least 40 home runs each of the past five seasons. In 1,131 games, Dunn has 278 home runs.
The 2008 Nationals hit 117 homers as a team -- ranking 15th of 16 NL teams -- while finishing with the worst record in the major leagues at 59-102.
Dunn called pals Ryan Zimmerman and Austin Kearns to deliver the news: They'll soon be teammates.
"He's an obvious power hitter and someone who can hit in the middle of the order, drive guys in, hit home runs," Zimmerman said by telephone from Florida. "He's something that we haven't really had consistently. It's exciting, and it makes us better."
After pursuing first baseman Mark Teixeira until he signed with the Yankees, the Nationals had not managed to add a slugger or make a truly significant offseason move -- until now.
The 29-year-old Dunn, who can play the outfield or first base and is a left-handed batter, has a .247 average with 278 homers and 672 RBIs over his career. The 6-foot-6, 240-pound Dunn also has a .381 on-base percentage and last year led the NL in walks with 122.
It's the latest example of Nationals general manager Jim Bowden bringing one of his former Cincinnati Reds players to Washington, a list that includes Kearns, Ryan Wagner, Aaron Boone, Wily Mo Pena and Dmitri Young. When he was the Reds' GM, Bowden drafted Dunn in the second round of the 1998 amateur draft.
Asked why his once and future teammate chose to come to Washington as a free agent, Kearns said: "He knows Jim. He has a relationship with Jim."
Neither Bowden nor president Stan Kasten responded to requests for comment.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
welch wrote:Sign Zimmerman. Lock him down, as Washington's Best Owner did with Mr. Ovechkin.
We pretty much have to sign Zimmerman at this point. We really don't have another player that we can market/build the team around. Unfortunately, I have to say that I don't think that Zimmerman is going to live up to the hype that surrounded him when he was drafted. Yes his defense is good and he should win several Gold Gloves during his career, however, imo he is not going to be anything more than an average offensive 3b. Two straight seasons with an OPS under .800 is a bad sign and he doesn't appear to have a very good command of the strike zone. He also tends to get pull-happy. Hopefully he proves me wrong.
welch wrote:Sign Zimmerman. Lock him down, as Washington's Best Owner did with Mr. Ovechkin.
We pretty much have to sign Zimmerman at this point. We really don't have another player that we can market/build the team around. Unfortunately, I have to say that I don't think that Zimmerman is going to live up to the hype that surrounded him when he was drafted. Yes his defense is good and he should win several Gold Gloves during his career, however, imo he is not going to be anything more than an average offensive 3b. Two straight seasons with an OPS under .800 is a bad sign and he doesn't appear to have a very good command of the strike zone. He also tends to get pull-happy. Hopefully he proves me wrong.
Agreed, if he can stay healthy and Dunn hits behind him, he might see a bump in production. However his strikeout-to-walk ratio has gotten steadily worse meaning teams probably won't be afraid to attack him even with a good hitter next in the order. Plus, at 25 he hasn't shown the kind of improvement you'd like to see at this stage. I think a one-year deal was the best call here, treating him like Ovie would be a colossal mistake. IMO he's going to be a plus defender with sub-par skills, he'll probably hang around the bigs for several years due to his glove.
I've thought for a couple of seasons that Zimmerman has to be told, repeatedly, to hit line drives. "You are not Harmon Killebrew." Repeat it, again and again.
The kid can hit, and I've seen him bunt for a hit, so he has baseball smarts.
But, wow, golly, ugly!!! He doesn't have to swing for a HR every time. I watched him in two sad games at Shea last year, and he over-swung every time.
So annoying that I am tempted to post the walks/strikes of Eddie Yost. Zimmerman is playing Yost's position, so maybe it's good to measure Zimmerman against Yost.
Eh, an underwhelming batting average; but he drives those RBIs in. Hopefully, this will be a step in the right direction and a way out of the National League doldrums. I'm going to make a point to really keep up with the Nationals this year. It's not very easy down here in Braves country
Yes, Virgina, you can be a "real fan" and protest against the front office.
