The Dusty Session 2.0

Dusty Baker just did his media session at the Winter Meetings. The guy is a shear delight. He quoted Van Morrison at one point. The session lasted a half hour. The highlights:

--On trading Ken Griffey Jr. or Adam Dunn: "I don't want to part with either one of them. It's hard to have an offensive part and get more offense. What you have to do is try to fill in the other stuff. Pitching, speed and defense hopefully. . . If they didn't want Dunn back, they wouldn't have picked up his option. And Junior's here; I didn't come to town for Junior to leave."

--On his reaction to the Florida-Detroit trade: "Damn. My wife grew up with Dontrelle (Willis') aunt. He's from the Bay Area. We could have rode to spring training together."

--Has he talked to Pete Rose? "Not yet. I'm hoping to hear from Pete. I'm sure I will when I get there. Like I said, I love Pete. I'd like to prove Pete wrong when he says it's impossible to win in that ballpark. I like to hopefully win and have Pete and Joe (Morgan) back -- all the dudes that kicked my tail."

--On the Mitchell Report coming out before Christmas: "That ain't Merry Christmas or Happy New Year for some people." He did say he got interviewed for the report, by the way.

--On Barry Bonds since the indictment: "I've spoke to him. Spoke to him shortly after to say hello. I spoke to his mom. Our families go way back. I grew up with his dad and mom. I mean, what are you supposed to do?"

--Is it imperative that Reds add a starting pitcher? "Well, imperative, I'd sure like to have one. . . or maybe even two, or hopefully one of the kids will develop and mature over the winter. And like we used to say with the Dodgers, we're always looking for a surprise pitcher who falls out of the sky, that gets it together -- whether it's someone in the Rule 5 Draft or a guy who was injured last year or a young man who went to Winter Ball and picked up another pitch."

--Do you think you can win right away? "I always think I can win. I always think I can win right away. We're not that far from winning, even though we haven't won in seven years. That's behind us."

--Does he see a deal happening? "We're trying. We're trying every day. This is probably the most activity I've seen at the Winter Meetings in a long time."

--Do you think you can help Dunn defensively? "Yeah, I think I can. (Left field) is the hardest field to play. It was hardest for me. I played center, right and left. In left, you don't have much reaction time. Everyone can hit the ball hard to left. . . the ball is never coming at you straight. I won a Gold Glove in left. . . I think I can help him, and I've heard he's a guy who is open to suggestion and help."