Dunn “had offer from Nats”

From John Heyman of SI.com

The market has been mostly quiet for free agent slugger Adam Dunn, but a baseball source said Dunn did receive a contract offer from the Nationals, who badly want a power hitter. The Nats targeted Dunn after making a spirited free-agent run at Mark Teixeira, who signed with the Yankees. But so far, Dunn hasn’t seemed eager to sign with Washington.

Dunn could still wind up in Washington, but the Nationals’ offer has sat there so long he’s sent a clear message he’d prefer to go elsewhere. One other possibility for Dunn could be the Dodgers if they aren’t able to work out a contract with Manny Ramirez, who is by far their first choice to enhance their offense.

One quibble I have with Heyman as he writes later…

Dunn was hoping to hit the jackpot in the free-agent market, and one baseball executive said he believes former Dunn teammate Brandon Phillips‘ contention that Dunn was hoping for a $100 million contract.

I thought Bronson Arroyo made the comment after Dunn was traded and not Brandon? Am I wrong?

SHOCKING!

This post deserves a Drudge siren.

Need I say more?

According to Chico Harlan of the Washington Post, the Nationals have signed catcher Javier Valentin to a minor league contract.

Valentin, 33, hit .256/.326/.411 with four home runs and 18 RBI in 129 at-bats for the Reds last season.  He’ll be given a shot to win the backup catching job over Wil Nieves this spring.  Nieves, 31, batted .261/.309/.341 with one dinger and 20 RBI in 176 at-bats during the ’08 season.

Griardi Speaks at Louisville Dinner

The manager of the New York Yankees, Joe Girardi addressed the University of Louisville Baseball Lead-off Dinner on last Friday night as the keynote speaker to start the collegiate baseball season.

Girardi, along with his son Dante, addressed about 400 guests during Friday night’s dinner talking about several important aspects of baseball and life.  He addressed the importance of relationships in the clubhouse and taking charge when something goes wrong.  Forceful in nature and very intense, Girardi mentioned several times, as did  second-year head coach of Louisville baseball Dan McDonnell, that several of the players were missing due to “poor choices” made prior to the dinner.  Those players were barred from being a part of the dinner for an undisclosed reason.

Prior to Girardi making his address, Louisville baseball head coach Dan McDonnell told the players pointedly, “We are already behind”.  Stressing the need to “get out of the gate” fast, McDonell told his players and the fans that pre-season rankings mean nothing.  Citing multiple polls (Louisville is anywhere from 8 to 25 in various national polls) he told the players that they must come together quickly and work harder at their various drills during the short trainging period starting today before heading down to Florida for thier first games of the season.

After Girardi’s address, emcee Sean Moth interviewed Girardi about his playing days, people who he worked with, and what it was like being the Yankee manager.

Louisville finished the season as Big East Conference champions for the first time ever, but failed to advance in the NCAA tournement.  In 2007, Louisville reached its first ever College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.