Here’s a roundup of links on the Rays’ recent acquisition of Corey Dickerson and minor league third baseman Kevin Padlo from the Rockies for Jake McGee and pitching prospect German Marquez.
- Dickerson adds to what’s becoming a large collection of candidates to play outfield, first base and DH for the Rays, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes. That group includes Dickerson, Kevin Kiermaier, Desmond Jennings, Steven Souza, Brandon Guyer, James Loney, Steve Pearce and Logan Morrison. Of those, Dickerson, Pearce and Morrison are new additions, and Jennings essentially will be a new addition as well, having missed most of the 2015 season due to a knee injury. “It’s hard to predict how it’s going to actually turn out, but having this group gives us a lot of confidence that we’re going to score the runs that we need to this year,” says Rays president of baseball operations Matt Silverman.
- Rockies GM Jeff Bridich says that, in addition to adding a potential closer in McGee, they’ve improved their defense and baserunning by replacing Dickerson with Gerardo Parra, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post writes. Of course, they’ll be losing Dickerson and his career .299/.345/.534 line, a good one even in Colorado. “Offensively, I’m not sure how it improves our outfield,” Bridich says. “Corey is a very talented offensive player. The things he always needed to work on at the major-league level were his outfield defense and his baserunning. And I think those two places are two places of strength for Gerardo.”
- Dickerson for McGee is a “weird trade” from the Rockies’ perspective, FanGraphs’ Dave Cameron writes. The Rockies are giving up four years of control of a talented young hitter in exchange for two years of a reliever, and they could have moved Dickerson to first base, where they have a vacancy. And adding a short-term relief acquisition makes little sense for a team that doesn’t seem poised to contend, Cameron argues. For the Rays, Dickerson wasn’t exactly a necessity, but they added talent in the deal and can figure out what to do with their OF/1B/DH surplus later.
geejohnny
Colorado needs a first baseman? You can have James Loney. Heck, in Colorado he may hit 15 hrs.
Senioreditor
His home/away splits look terrible. The Rockies made a good move.
kiermaier
well he played in pitchers ballparks on the road since he played in the Nl West and had to face good pitching, However now that he is in the Al East he will play in more hitters ballparks and face easier pitching
petcopadre
sounds good, Only time will tell. The first thing I thought after reading the title of this article was “Why should there be a reaction? Dickerson was semi-good but he isn’t a star”. I still feel that way. I realize he has potential to be above average but he’s not there yet.
Senioreditor
His career home/away splits look terrible. The Rockies made a good move.
kenster84
Weren’t those same things said about Holliday,Fowler and quite a few others though?
Niekro
No in the case of Holliday he was well above average on the road as well.
pd14athletics
Ha, remember when Rollins stole MVP from Holliday? Voters were saying the reason was because the gap in Holliday’s home/road average. They didn’t care that Phillies play in probably the 2nd friendliest place to hit in the NL, and that Holliday hit better on the road than Rollins did on road OR home. As an A’s fan in hindsight, I don’t feel bad for Holliday.
pd14athletics
The whole off season has been weird. Massive contracts for pitchers. Relievers getting big deals. Then solid all around guys taking small deals nobody would have guessed. Howie Kendrick 2/20? Then guys like O’Day at 33 is getting 4/31? I agree that it’s a weird trade but I think Rockies actually win here. Good relievers are getting pretty expensive and if you want a reliever with more team control take a look at what Astros gave up for Giles. Maybe market stops overreacting to good relievers but still the Rockies are selling a hitter who will have a really hard time matching numbers elsewhere. Rockies need all the good pitching they can get.
beauvandertulip
Rockies win? They have no Rotation at all. And giving up 4 years of control of anyone who is Dickerson talented for two years and a minor leaguer with not great numbers. It’s a stupid move. It’s why I think the Rockies do even worse this year.
Niekro
Dickerson in left, Kiermaier in Center, Souza in right Guyer a bench bat, Jennings 4th OF
Loney,Pearce, Morrison 1B/DH all they really did was replace Jaso and DeJesus/Sizemore
JoeyPankake
Playing the best defensive center fielder at in the majors at first base seems like an unwise allocation of assets, does it not?
SoCalShu
I think they were more referring to him playing 1B until Cargo goes back on DL…haha
Valkyrie
He might have been referring to the reference to the Rays surplus of possible OF/1B/DH candidates which included Kiermaier, who actually is the best defensive CF in MLB.
Mendoza
going into 2015 I recall several MLB radio hosts praising Corey as a up and coming star… now I hear him being called by Jim Bowden a platoon bat at best?
can you explain the 12 month turn around in many people’s expectations of Dickerson
it’s puzzling?
panickingcalmly
I wonder if the Rays are trying to use the savings from McGee’s salary to sweeten a Loney deal. Loney + $4 million just might do it.
baronbeard
Nah, spent it on Pearce. I think they are trying to find a way to send him somewhere without having to send money. Maybe include him on a bigger deal.
sandiegorocker1104
Only way I’d take Loney is if I get Archer or Odorrizzi(I know I butchered his last name), and even then the prospect haul might be a tad less.
kiermaier
lol chris archer is not getting traded I dont know why people like you keep bringing his name up
sandiegorocker1104
I know that, I’m just illustrating that Loney isn’t getting moved either without being attatched to a high end player unless all the salary is eaten.