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.”