Bruce Levine Reports on Hendry's Other Targets 11/11/05

[Outshined_One]

OO--It is no secret, and has been discussed in the press at length, that Dunn is unhappy in Cincinnati. He and Kearns have not had the right "organizational attitude", sound familiar? No one denies Dunn's talent and production, but given that he is a square peg in a round hole for them, and the money he is due, and the money they have tied up in Junior, Casey and Milton, he can be had.

 

Funny thing is, Casey is the guy that should go, freeing up 1B for Dunn. But Casey is Cincinnati's Jeff Bagwell, the fan base LOVES Sean Casey. And to his credit, he's hardly a bad ballplayer, he's just not worth anything near what he gets paid.

 

Problem with the organizational attitude thing with Dunn and Kearns is two-fold:

 

1) As I mentioned, new ownership is taking over and will be the majority ownership. Considering there's a new group coming into town, I think that would likely herald a shift in philosophy of the organization...or at the least give Dunn and Kearns one more season to make an assessment. If the current GM, Dan O'Brien, is fired, Dunn and company will likely be choir boys.

 

Also, with new ownership, I'd have to think that they would look to gain the fans' confidence. Shipping their two most talented players off to a divisional rival would be suicide.

 

2) Dunn and Kearns' main problems were with the Reds' former manager, Dave Miley. Ditto Junior Griffey. The problems with the departure of Danny Graves have been well-documented in Cincy. When Narron came aboard, apparently things eased in Cincy.

 

Casey and Griffey both have the bad contracts. Both managed to up their value this past season. There are teams out there who would be willing to grab both, since I think they'd come cheaper than, say, Lyle Overbay and Carlos Beltran.

 

Finally, Cincy fans don't "love" Cincy, despite what Chippy lead us to believe for many years ("The mayor of Cincinnati, folks!"). There have been plenty of grumblings about his lax attitude in the clubhouse along with certain aspects of his offensive production (DPs). He's expendable, as far as I can tell.