Kenny Williams isn't allowed to speak about the reported signing of Adam Dunn, but he's already said a ton by signing the lefty to a four-year, $56 million deal.
No. 1: Williams wants to play league-appropriate baseball again. The White Sox went 15-3 against the National League (including 3-0 against Dunn's Washington Nationals), but only 73-71 against their own kind. And even that record is misleading, because they were 64-69 at the time they were mathematically eliminated from the AL Central race.
The good news is that the White Sox lineup won't look much different when interleague play comes around again. They'll just have a much better hitter on their bench.
No. 2: It's Williams' roster. Correctly, he assumed full responsibility for the eminently predictable rotating DH debacle. It may have been Ozzie Guillen's preference, but he had no problem utilizing Jim Thome to his fullest, and Williams should have talked -- or acted -- him out of it. At least he's learned his lesson, and now it's up to Guillen to carry it out.
No. 3: There's money out there. Are MLB owners -- or their corporate sponsors -- ready to start spending again? Add in this deal with the ones received by Joaquin Benoit and Victor Martinez, and it certainly seems that way. Williams was laying low, and had Joe Cowley believing 2011 would be "The Kids Can Play 2: Replacement-Level Boogaloo." If he tried to half-ass the offseason, few would have been surprised.
Doug Padilla relays the decision-making process:
But signing Dunn and bringing back Konerko begs the obvious question. Since Dunn will make a reported $56 million over four years and Konerko figures to earn at least that much, are the White Sox operating on a different budget from the one they originally thought they would take into the 2011 season?
Williams said that instead of the three or four offseason agendas he usually presents to chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, he had just two this time. One was a young team that, while more affordable and full of potential, would take its lumps. The other was to add to what existed.
"Ultimately [with the Dunn deal], you see the obvious decision," Williams said. "We just didn't want to be in the middle. The decision was that if we were going all in, we were going all in. It's been difficult to find the revenue to support the payroll, but we're out there on a limb. We think it's important to make a significant addition."
And overall, that should sit well with Sox fans. The White Sox build annual ticket price increases into their revenue models, so if Reinsdorf doesn't spend, the fans won't see the savings. This is a move that should be lauded from a customer-service perspective.
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From a baseball perspective, I'm not quite "all-in" like Williams. At least it has nothing to do with the philosophy behind the signing this time.
It's kind of funny that Edwin Jackson and Big Donkey were linked in trade talks last July, because I think they're going to provide the same experience. It's easy to be aware of what they cost (this is still my favorite depiction of the Edwin Jackson trade), but there will be numerous times where their physical talents overwhelm in the senses. In Jackson's case, it's watching a guy throwing 98 in the eighth inning of a shutout. Dunn is a good bet to reach the U.S. Cellular Field concourse.
Dunn does three things very well, and they're all important. He hits the ball very far, he sees a lot of pitches, and he tends to have the same year, every year. The guy hit 40 homers in four straight seasons -- not 40 or more, but exactly 40. He slipped in 2009 ... to 38. And then he hit 38 the next year.
There's one mild concern when discussing his recent track record: His walk total dropped last year (116 to 77), and his strikeouts went the wrong way, too (177 to 199). That's not encouraging, but since it's only one year and he had a good year in spite of it, I'm just putting that in my back pocket. Otherwise, Dunn may whiff a lot and hurt teams with his glove, but he's incredibly powerful on offense. There are few players as reliable.
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Unless.
That's always a fun word, isn't it?
There are question marks. Dunn will likely get most of his plate appearances as a DH, and that's a role he's been reluctant to play. He might need some time to get acclimated to sitting in between at-bats.
Adding to the "new-to-him" list, Dunn has never played for a winning club. In fact, the closest he's come is playing the final six weeks for a Diamondbacks team that went 82-80 in 2009. Sandwiching that stint in Arizona, he's played for two teams that never carried playoff hopes. His clubs have averaged 72 wins. Playing for a contending White Sox team could shock the system.
Not only does he carry expectations, but he has to withstand criticism of his K total. Ozzie Guillen does not like strikeouts, and as is often the case, where Ozzie goes, fans follow. We know all strikeouts aren't created equal. A guy like Dunn is allowed to strike out, because his approach maximizes the times he connects. Brent Lillibridge (who would have struck out 230 times last year if given Dunn's PA total) is not, becuase his career slugging percentage is .297. Crash Davis is right that strikeouts aren't democratic, but for hitters, they're more oligarchic than fascist.
Still, strikeouts have a way of making players unclutch (see: Thome, Jim, at least before the revisionist history said he was a gentle giant beloved by all). Dunn might hit like he always does with runners in scoring position, but because he doesn't have the courtesy to put the ball in play with runners on, the out cuts deeper.
Oh, and he's one of the game's few legitimately funny and candid players. That has gotten Sox players into trouble before, and it has gotten Dunn into trouble before. He has a relaxed attitude and can be uncommonly goofy, and when teams are going bad, it tends to draw negative attention. Reds announcer Marty Brennaman couldn't stand him (no, really), and former Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi famously slammed him:
“Do you know the guy doesn’t really like baseball that much?” Ricciardi said to the caller. “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 …
“We’ve done our homework on guys like Adam Dunn and there’s a reason why we don’t want Adam Dunn. I don’t want to get into specifics.”
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Fortunately, there are plenty of reasons to dismiss those notions. Since the start of 2004, only Ichiro Suzuki has played more games. If Dunn didn't like baseball that much, he wouldn't be ready to play every day. And as disappointing as it might be for Washington Nationals fans, I found Ryan Zimmerman's quotes heartening. Read the whole thing, but here's the key excerpt:
Both players were also counted upon to set the tone in the clubhouse, and Zimmerman - who admitted again he was less likely to speak up in the clubhouse than Dunn was - clearly appreciated the help the first baseman gave him.
"My whole view on leadership is that great leaders never have to talk about it and never have to do things to make people say they're great leaders," Zimmerman said. "Those are the people who do everything for the wrong reasons. Me and (Adam) are on the same page. We would do things where people can't see it. He taught me a lot about that as well, to keep things under wraps - you don't need everyone to know you're doing this for a player, you're doing that for a player."
And besides, Dunn is married with a kid, so he fits the requirements for admission into the White Sox clubhouse.
Hopefully I haven't scared you. I blame Nick Swisher. He too was a goofy, patient power hitter who should have been primed to take advantage of the Cell's cozy dimensions. That never happened.
While Dunn may be equally goofy, he's had plenty of experience being unpopular. When Swisher mugged while he struggled, he had no clue what he was in for. That's a point for Dunn, and if he hits the ground mashing, he'll have no problem with popularity.
Another one: Herm Schneider. The Sox had a great four-year stretch with three older power hitters in the middle of his order, and at age 31, Dunn should be a solid bet to give four good years on the whole. This is Kenny Williams going back to what works, after all.
