Things went from the abstract to the slightly more concrete (or less abstract?) last night with the publication of Chicago Sun-Times' writer Joe Cowley's article entitled, "Sox have made pitch for Dunn - ball is in Rizzo's court", in which "a major-league source" tells Mr. Cowley that the White Sox' GM Kenny Williams is willing to part with, "...anyone and anything he has in the minor leagues in a package." DC GM Mike Rizzo, however, at least according to Mr. Cowley's source, "...is acting like Dunn is Ryan Howard." (IRWT) The Sun-Times' Mr. Cowley says Sox' prospects Daniel Hudson and Dayan Viciedo would be available, but the Nats' GM: "...is still fixated on getting Gordon Beckham or Carlos Quentin, two players on the current big-league roster that Williams has refused to move."
According to Mr. Cowley, the White Sox have made their offer, and it's up to Mr. Rizzo to decide whether or not the return on the Nats' big middle-of-the-order bat is sufficient. Daniel Hudson, a 23-year-old right-hander taken in the 5th Round of the '08 Draft is (30-13) with 10.6 K/9 in 57 starts and 310.1 over three seasons in the Sox' system, and he was (11-4) with 10.4 K/9 in 17 starts and 93.1 IP at Triple-A Charlotte this year before making a start for Chicago against the Kansas City Royals on July 11th. The top-ranked pitcher (with the Best Control and Best Slider) in the White Sox' organization in Baseball America's Phil Rogers' 1/4/10 Top 10 List and Fangraphs.com's preseason Top Prospect List, in which Fangraphs.com's Marc Hulet describes him as being major-league ready right now...Dayan Viciedo, a 21-year-old infielder, is in the Majors now, and currently hitting .295/.295/.477 in his first 15 games with the White Sox after 192 games over two seasons at Double and Triple-A in the Sox' system in which he put up a .283/.321/.434 line with 34 doubles, 26 HR's and 112 RBI's...
• ?'s For The DC Faithful: How about Beckham and Hudson? And another young prospect thrown in? Is The RZO right in his estimation of Dunn's worth? Do you consider what the Nats' GM is asking for exorbitant? Are you willing to pay Monday's rumored 4-year/$60 million dollar price tag to sign Adam Dunn? 3-years/$36M?
LINKS:
• NATIONALS NEWS NETWORK: Dave Nichols - "Now is the Time to Get Younger and More Athletic"
Dunn is of the age where hulking sluggers start to break down and he's already a defensive liability. Capps is succeeding after two injury-ravaged seasons and every save is a nail-biter. Both players could return Major League-ready players (not lower-level "prospects") from a contending team.
• MASNSports.com's Ben Goessling, "A quick point on Adam Dunn."
"Here's why that price could make an extension untenable, and possibly force the Nationals' hand to trade him: In the final year of that deal, Dunn would have 10-and-5 rights, meaning he'd have to give approval before the team could move him."