In early August 1886, Dunlap was sold to the Detroit Wolverines for $4,700, the most expensive purchase price at the time. In addition to the sum paid to the Maroons to grant the release, the Detroit team signed a contract to pay Dunlap $4,500 a season for two seasons, with an advance of $1,500 on the first day of November 1886 and 1887, respectively. The mid-season sale led to concerns about the Maroons: "The transfer of Dunlap to Detroit is a small thing in itself, but its bearing on the entire base ball world is so great as to almost revolutionize the present order of things. He was the king pin of the St. Louis Club and his sale makes a certainty of the dissolution of the Maroons." The Detroit management was praised for their "pluck and enterprise" in making the bold "business stroke." "The Sporting News" wrote at the time:"Dunlap has joined the Detroits and now that team will fly the League pennant just as sure as time flies and the world grows. From the day the old St. Louis Union team went out of existence Dunlap has been anything but a favorite in St. Louis. Still there was no one in the world but was willing to concede that he was the greatest second baseman America has ever known."