Lost in all the Olympic fun of yesterday was the power of the waiver wire and the Diamondbacks acquiring a large Donkey. Now it's not uncommon for a player to get through waivers and for a deal to be made, but usually it doesn't involve the moving of the MLB home run leader.So how exactly did a division leader wind up acquiring a premium power hitter through the waiver wire? Well there are several factors involved. The first and most important being Dunn's impending free agency. If you are not in a pennant race then there is no point in picking up a rental player and spending the extra money. Next, because he will probably be a Type A free agent, Cincy was only interested in listening to trade offers for Dunn and not a straight contract dump. Thus again if you are not in the race then there would be no point in bringing in the contract. Finally and most importantly for the Diamondbacks is that despite leading their division only the Dodgers sit below them in the standings with legitimate playoff aspirations. The Dodgers could and perhaps should have put in a claim for Dunn simply to block the DBacks, but with the addition of Manny to an already overcrowded outfield they probably didn't want to take the risk of actually getting stuck with Dunn.
Now that all those factors lined up we shall see if the big swinging, oft walking and more often King will actually be a factor in the pennant race.
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