While most make a huge deal out of the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline, one of the biggest trades of the year happened yesterday. Given the pitching of the Diamondbacks and their lack of power, Adam Dunn to the Diamondbacks very well could lead the team to the NL West crown and into the NLCS (possibly the World Series too).

But at this moment, all of this is purely speculation.

Our friends at Beyond the Box Score, however, use statistics to break down what the addition of Dunn means for the rest of the season. The short of it is that the addition of Dunn in left field all depends on who he replaces. At this moment, Adam Dunn is projected to hit (by the Marcel projections) .237/.383/.513 the rest of the season, which would create 94.28 runs (which we get by using the widely-used formula).  He will replace Conor Jackson, who's holding down left field for Justin Upton (who will return shortly). When Dunn comes in, Jackson will move to first base, which could send Chad Tracy to the bench.

The problem with this, however, is that Tracy is a very good player. He is projected to hit .280/.344/.464 the rest of the season, which is worth 81.67 runs created. So, in the grand scheme that is the remainder of the Diamondbacks' season, if Dunn replaces Tracy, that's really only one win (not that significant of a number, considering the Diamondbacks gave up three minor leaguers).

But the most interesting thing is factoring in the season-ending injury to 2B Orlando Hudson, and his replacement, Augie Ojeda. Using the same Marcel projections that BTBS uses, Ojeda is projected to hit .263/.347/.371. This is worth 44.33 runs, a number that is rather bad. But what the Diamondbacks could do to get their best offensive lineup out on the field (except, of course, on the days that the team needs Ojeda's solid defense when Brandon Webb starts) is to place regular third baseman Mark Reynolds at 2B (which BTBS believes he can play because of his shortstop background). 

If Reynolds replaces Ojeda at second base, and allows Tracy to move to third, Dunn's 94.28 runs created, in essence, replaces Ojeda's 44.33.  This is worth roughly four wins, which is an absolutely gigantic number down the stretch of the season.

But this, of course, all depends on if the Diamondbacks are willing to sacrifice defense for hitting. But, considering that they just traded for Adam Dunn, this seems like a reasonable assumption.

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