On many of SB Nation's blogs, you will find that many fans tend to put their blinders on and overvalue their team's own resources, neglecting to realize that their "treasure" is another team's "trash." Amid all the insightful commentary and analysis, one might come across a post such as the following:
Trade Idea!!!
How about we trade Gilbert Arenas and Nick Young for Carmelo Anthony and Ty Lawson? Anthony is an awesome scorer and Lawson will provide depth behind Wall at PG? I checked the NBA Trade Machine and the salaries work out! C'mon Ernie, do it!
(Note: I made up this post. I would also make this trade in a heartbeat.)
Well, there are about eight zillion reasons that Denver doesn't make that trade, but as Wizards fans, we willfully put our blinders on and refuse to consider the needs of our trading partner. The other team simply becomes an object to be acted upon rather than something with which one interacts.
This is a long way to get to my point on Adam Dunn and this article from Federal Baseball about the Nationals failure to trade their slugger at the deadline.
The gist is that the Nationals were asking for the moon for Dunn and went as far as to have teams acquire possible pieces (the White Sox trading for Edwin Jackson) to facilitate a trade without consummating it. Therefore, according to those teams, the Nationals not only failed to use their best trade chip, but they willfully misled teams on what pieces it would take to acquire the slugger.
After reading the piece, I had the strong impression that opposing GM's and sportswriters were acting like the kind of fans I described. Here are three quotes regarding Dunn at the trade deadline. I made two of the quotes up. Which one strikes you as the most hyperbolic?
a. They [Nationals] refuse to accept good offers, and won't trade Adam Dunn.
b. Washington must accept a trade for Edwin Jackson from the White Sox, because it benefits both teams.
c. What [the Nats] did with (Adam) Dunn is a sin.
Now, if you answered "C," you win a prize. That quote comes from Jon Heyman of SI.com from an anonymous GM, and it represents how many other organizations have viewed the Dunn non-trade. The Nationals refuse to accept good trades, Mike Rizzo is a hardass and the organization doesn't see a good opportunity when it is presented.
In other words:
Trade Idea!!!
How about we trade Edwin Jackson and a couple of Single-A pieces we don't need for Adam Dunn on the Nationals? The dude is an OBP machine and is good for 40-100. Dunn will stabilize the middle of of lineup for our playoff run. C'mon Kenny, do it!!
I admire Mike Rizzo for sticking to his guns with Adam Dunn. He wasn't offered the value of return he wanted, so he didn't trade his best asset. It sucks for fans of teams like the White Sox and Yankees that couldn't acquire him. But maybe they should take the blinders off for a second and analyze whether their offers were fair market value for a player like Dunn, rather than just being like the wishes of crazy fans hoping to rob another team blind.
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