Washington Nationals' Adam Dunn is seen prior to the Nationals' game against the San Francisco Giants at Nationals Park in Washington on July 9, 2010. UPI/Kevin Dietsch Photo via Newscom

Flawed as he may be, for the good of baseball, not many want to see Adam Dunn inserted into the New York Yankees lineup.

But according to ESPN's Buster Olney, the battle for the old school masher is down to the Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays.

Dunn is going to strikeout a lot, and he's going to play bad defense, but he can also send quite a few balls over the right field fence. He's old school, he's the type of guy who you expect to find in the clubhouse surrounded by a half dozen empty can of beers but ready to go everyday. Baseball used to have a home for these guys, but now everyone is obsessed with the five-tool player, well Dunn is the one-tool player but in the right lineup he can cause some damage.

"The greatest drama in the last 30 hours before the trade deadline might be the shadow war between arguably the two best teams in the majors over Adam Dunn," writes Olney. "The Washington slugger may or may not be dealt by the Nationals, and the worst nightmare for the Yankees or the Rays is that he winds up sitting in the middle of the lineup of their rival -- because for all of his perceived flaws in his defense and in the way he accumulates strikeouts, Dunn is a big-time run producer who is capable of being a difference-maker."

"The Rays are going to get a hitter, in any event, and certainly Dunn would be the best who is actually within their reach," Olney adds. "But at the very least, the Rays and the Yankees both would hope that their division rival does not find a way to land the big slugger."

Thursday afternoon New York Post reporter Joel Sherman wrote "The Yankees have all but given up hope of landing Nationals slugger Adam Dunn, The Post has learned."

We tend to think the Yankees never bow out of a sweepstakes which could have a significant impact on their lineup.

It was believed the White Sox weren't willing to match Washington's asking price for Dunn, but according to Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated, the White Sox could acquire Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Edwin Jackson and then trade him to Washington for Dunn.