Adam Dunn's price is droppin' like it's hot

Outfielder Adam Dunn picked the wrong year to be a free agent.

The slugging, left-handed power stick will hit you 40 home runs, drive in 100 runs and get on base about 40 percent of the time. Yet, he is still on the open market ... probably because he also strikes out a ton and is a defensive liability in the outfield.

But it is Jan. 21 and after coming into this offseason looking for a long-term high-paying contract, he is likely at home sitting by a phone hoping that one of those calls is a major league general manager instead of someone asking about how he feels about his internet service.

I wonder if he is left out in the cold that the Chicago Cubs could find a place for him on their roster.

Defense be damned.

Stick him in right and Milton Bradley in center and hope they can outhit their fielding inefficiencies.

Imagine this lineup:

1. Soriano
2. Theriot
3. Bradley
4. Ramirez
5. Dunn
6. Lee
7. Soto
8. Miles/Fontenot

That's the sickest lineup one-thru-eight in the National League.

Heck, if you want to get really creative you can try to find another home for Derrek Lee or Alfonso Soriano. Or you could just be down right cruel and tell Kosuke Fukudome his visa expired.

Somehow. Someway. The Cubs should find a way to get the Big Donkey in blue pinstripes.

Done and Dunn

Yesterday, I chronicled the fall of Richie Sexson after the two-time All-Star and former Cub killer was waived by the Yankees. Today, a look at Adam Dunn who will be taking his Cub killing ways west to Arizona, who was last seen sweeping the Cubs out of the NLDS. Does he have a little Steve Garvey in him?

Let's just get this out of the way right now: Adam Dunn is this generation's Dave Kingman.

Ignore the Big Donkey's career .247 batting average for just a moment and realize he's slammed 270 homers and drove in 648 runs in his eight year career. Oh, you don't believe RBIs is a telling enough statistic for an offensive force, how's that .899 OPS sound to you?

Anyway, Dunn was traded to the Diamondbacks so it looks like his days of torturing the Cubs are over, for now.

So if you're looking at the trade with blinders on, you're probably thinking this is a great trade, seeing that the Cubs get to play the Reds six more times with Adam Dunn out of the line-up and Corey Patterson in it.

Westward bound is Dunn's .260/.398/.619/1.012 line against the North Siders in exchange for three prospects whose talent will be ran into the ground eventually by Reds manager Dusty Baker.

Dunn's acquisition by the D'Backs was a counter move to the Dodgers' deadline addition of Manny Ramirez, who is batting .423 with a 1.293 OPS in Dodger Blue.

So while the Cubs must fend off the (Self) Battlin' Brewers and the Can't Quit Cards, they're biggest competition come October just might be out west.

Does the addition of Dunn, to a team the Cubs struggle against tip the scales? Or does the addition of Man-Ram under the playoff-tested eye of Joe Torre make the Dodgers a more dangerous squad?

Lest we forget about the powerful line-up possessed by the Philadelphia Phillies or the overall talent residing in Flushing, NY with the Metropolitans?

No one said this 100-year thing was gonna be easy, but these deadline deals are making it a wee-bit more difficult.