Late last night I referenced a story in the Dayton Daily News that described a couple alleged hand injuries suffered by Dunn last season that he kept quiet.

Today, however, Marc Lancaster reports:

You've seen the published report today that says Adam Dunn broke his right hand twice last year and it is still bothering him.

According to the Reds, there are currently no problems with the hand and any suggestion otherwise is “100 percent not true.” They say Dunn is fine and has been fine.

I'm mystified. If the team statement means that they believe that the incidents described in the story didn't really break Dunn's hand, that's one thing. Narron employed a small bit of exaggeration to defend one of his guys and it got blown out of proportion in the media. No big deal.

On the other hand, if the team meant that Dunn was never hit in the hand and that Hal McCoy made all this up, that's another situation entirely. McCoy included some specific and verifiable details; unless he is delusional, there is some basis in reality for this story. And to deny it, especially when a bum hand would work in the Reds' favor in an arbitration case, could imply that the team has a deal in the works for Dunn.

All conjecture, of course. Nevertheless, I'll be very anxious to read the clarification of what the Reds mean when they say that Dunn “is fine and has been fine.”

A couple stories came through about Adam Dunn today. This one, via Marc Lancaster's blog, describes how Dunn was honored tonight at the Hilton Americas-Houston for the 21st annual Houston Baseball Dinner. He was recognized as the area's Major League Player of the Year.

In this story in the Dayton Daily News, we learn that Dunn actually played much of last season with a broken right hand.

“Yeah, I had it checked this week and the doctor said I should put a splint on it, but the heck with that,” said Dunn.

Hear hear, I say! To heck with that! Who needs healthy, pain-free hands? And it makes total sense to refuse treatment now during the offseason, too. After all, next year he could be in the running for the Area's Baddest Ass Award. Sure, he might take home the trophy just by virtue of being a home-run machine, but also enduring a healthy dose of agony while he does it sure couldn't hurt.

Well, except for the agony part.

I know it's stunningly late for me to only just now be acknowledging my binky's big accomplishments, but I figure it's never too late to give it up for The Latin Love Machine, Javier Valentín.

Congratulations to Javy on being named MVP in the Puerto Rican championship series and all of the accomplishments that led up to it. Just for fun, let's take a quick look back at this post about The Power of Love. And heck, let's check out the Bouncing Javy Head too.