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Corey Dickerson

Corey Dickerson Clears Release Waivers

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The Nationals announced that veteran outfielder Corey Dickerson went unclaimed on release waivers. He’s officially a free agent.

Dickerson, 34, lost his roster spot on Wednesday. The left-handed hitter signed a $2.25MM free agent contract over the winter. His stint in the nation’s capital didn’t go well. Dickerson missed six weeks with a calf strain and struggled over the 52 games he played. He hit .250/.283/.354 with a pair of home runs. The on-base and slugging marks were the lowest of his career.

Once the trade deadline passed, the Nationals decided to move on from the former All-Star. They called up former Yankees’ first-rounder Blake Rutherford for an audition in the corner outfield. It’s understandable the last-place club preferred to get a look at Rutherford, who’d be controllable for a number of seasons if he plays well enough to secure a spot.

The Nationals remain on the hook for the rest of Dickerson’s salary. He’ll likely be limited to minor league offers now that he’s back on the open market. If another club called him to the majors at any point this season, they’d pay just the prorated portion of the $720K minimum, which would be subtracted from the Nationals’ payments.

Nationals Option Luis García, Release Corey Dickerson

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The Nationals announced after today’s game that they have requested unconditional release waivers on outfielder Corey Dickerson and optioned infielder Luis García to Triple-A Rochester. The corresponding moves haven’t been announced but Talk Nats reports that outfielder Blake Rutherford will be selected to the roster for one of them. Infielder Jeter Downs will be recalled for the other, per Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post.

García, 23, was once a top 100 prospect but has continually struggled to hit in the big leagues. Dating back to the 2020 season, he’s appeared in 302 games and taken 1,169 plate appearances, coming into today’s action. He’s mustered a batting line of .263/.291/.388 in that time, which amounts to a wRC+ of 82. That includes a .260/.294/.363 showing this year, translating to a 74 wRC+.

Those numbers are especially concerning since his hit tool was supposed to be his standout feature as a prospect. Advanced defensive metrics don’t like his glovework at second base much, with García having tallied -2 Defensive Runs Saved there in his career, along with -14 Outs Above Average and a grade of -6.5 from Ultimate Zone Rating. His numbers at shortstop are worse.

The Nats will now send him back to Triple-A to get more work there, though he has little to prove at that level. In 82 games there in his career, he’s hit .306/.368/.554 but hasn’t been able to replicate that at the big league level. He’ll now try to get back in a groove and earn himself another chance.

From a service time perspective, he began this year with one year and 164 days of service. He’s already gone well past the two-year mark but his chances of reaching Super Two status at the end of the this year could go down, depending on how long he’s out. Perhaps more importantly, he has just one option year remaining. Once he spends 20 days on optional assignment, he’ll burn that last option here in 2023 and be out of options going into 2024. The Nats will likely still be rebuilding next year and could give him another shot, though his grasp on a roster spot would likely be more tenuous at that point.

As for Dickerson, 34, it’s hardly a surprise to see him lose his roster spot now. He was one of a handful of veterans that the Nats brought in over the winter on one-year deals to serve as veteran mentors and hopefully become trade chips. Jeimer Candelario showed the best-case scenario as he mashed and was able to be flipped to the Cubs for a couple of prospects. But Dickerson has hit just .252/.285/.357 for the year, producing a wRC+ of 71 that would be a career low for him. Now that the deadline has passed, the club will use his roster spot to give a chance to other players with a greater chance to help in future seasons.

One of those players the Nats will get a look at will reportedly be Rutherford. The 26-year-old was a first round pick of the Yankees, getting selected 18th overall in 2016. He was considered a top 100 prospect going into 2017 before getting flipped to the White Sox that summer as part of a seven-player deal that sent Todd Frazier, David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle to the Yankees.

The Sox added him to their 40-man roster in November of 2019 to prevent him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft, but he didn’t hit much in the years to come and was eventually outrighted off the roster, without getting a chance to make his major league debut. He cleared waivers in the process, meaning the other 29 clubs in the league had a chance to grab him and passed.

He reached free agency after last year, signing a minor league contract with the Nats in the winter and has seemingly been back in good form. He’s hit .345/.395/.583 in 62 games split between Double-A and Triple-A this year, producing a 153 wRC+. That’s obviously much better than his combined batting line of .262/.305/.399 from 2019 to 2022. The Nats will now give him a chance to see how he can handle major league pitching. If he succeeds, he still has no service time and can be retained for six seasons beyond this one. He also has an option year remaining, giving the club a bit of roster flexibility to use at some point.

Who Could The Nationals Trade At The Deadline?

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This year’s trade deadline seems like it has the potential to be unique, with very few clear sellers. The expanded playoffs and weak Central divisions mean that there are only five teams that are more than eight games out of a playoff spot at the All-Star break.

One of those five clubs is in Washington, as the Nationals have been rebuilding in recent years. Stars like Max Scherzer, Trea Turner and Juan Soto have been flipped in deadline deals over the past two seasons, which unsurprisingly has led to them being one of the few noncompetitive clubs here in 2023. Their 36-54 record has them in last in the National League East and they’re 13 games back in the Wild Card race.

The Nats therefore stand out as one of the few clear sellers at this point, with just over three weeks until the August 1 deadline. They no longer have superstars like those mentioned above, but there are still some players that should attract attention.

Rental Players

Jeimer Candelario

Candelario, 29, is one of the most straightforward trade candidates in the league. He’s an impending free agent having a great season on a team that’s clearly in a position to sell. MLBTR recently listed the top 50 trade candidates for this summer and Candelario took the #2 spot, trailing only Lucas Giolito of the White Sox.

The third baseman was seemingly breaking out in Detroit not too long ago, putting up solid numbers both in 2020 and 2021. He produced a .278/.356/.458 batting line over those campaigns for a 125 wRC+ and was considered around league average defensively, leading to a tally of 5.8 wins above replacement from FanGraphs in 201 games. Unfortunately, just about everything went wrong in 2022 as he hit just .217/.272/.361 for an 80 wRC+ with subpar defensive grades.

The Tigers non-tendered him instead of paying him a projected $7MM salary for his final arbitration season, and the Nats swooped in with an offer of $5MM plus $1MM of incentives. It looks like that investment will pay off handsomely for the Nats, as Candelario is having a bounceback season. He’s hitting .261/.337/.478 (118 wRC+) and his defensive grades are much stronger. With so few sellers and a pitching-heavy free agent class this coming winter, Candelario should be one of the most sought-after position players in the weeks to come.

Carl Edwards Jr.

Edwards, 31, missed much of the 2019-2021 period due to injuries and had to settle for a minor league deal with the Nationals prior to the 2022 season. He made it to the big league club in May of last year and posted a 2.76 ERA in 62 innings the rest of the way. He likely benefited from a .259 batting average on balls in play and 83.6% strand rate, but his peripherals were around league average.

The Nationals tendered him a contract for 2023, agreeing to a $2.25MM arbitration salary. He’s been solid this year, with a 3.69 ERA in 32 appearances. His 16.9% strikeout rate and 12% walk rate aren’t exciting, but he has a 46% ground ball rate and has allowed just one home run all year. He isn’t likely to fetch a ton as a rental reliever with worrying peripherals, but he’s fairly cheap and bullpen help is always in demand. He’s been on the injured list almost three weeks due to shoulder inflammation, however, so his health will be a clear factor in his market.

Corey Dickerson

Dickerson is a 34-year-old veteran who signed a one-year, $2.25MM deal with incentives in the offseason. The Nats were surely hoping he could serve as a veteran mentor to their younger players and perhaps play his way into being a deadline trade chip. Unfortunately, he’s hitting just .248/.278/.358 on the year for a wRC+ of 69. As a veteran left-handed hitter, he might get interest based on his track record, but the return would likely be mild even if he gets hot in the next few weeks.

Signed/Controlled For One Extra Year

Dominic Smith

Smith, 28, was a similar bounceback play to the Candelario signing. In 2019 and 2020 with the Mets, he hit .299/.366/.571 for a wRC+ of 150 but followed that up by hitting .233/.298/.345 over the next two years for an 82 wRC+. The Mets non-tendered him, and the Nats signed him to a one-year deal with a $2MM salary and $2MM in incentives.

Unfortunately, this deal hasn’t worked out nearly as well as the Candelario one. Smith is hitting .260/.328/.340 (85 wRC+) while playing first base only. Given the offensive expectations of that position, that’s clearly insufficient production. He can be controlled for 2024 via arbitration but is trending towards another non-tender unless he can turn things around.

Victor Robles

Robles, 26, was once considered one of the top prospects in the league but has yet to put it all together at the big league level. He’s always had the speed and defense combo working but has continued to struggle at the plate, coming into 2023 with a career batting line of .233/.306/.359 and a 78 wRC+.

He has shown some positive developments here this year, including a 14.3% strikeout rate that’s well below his 23.9% rate in previous years. His .299/.385/.364 batting line is a bit above average, translating to a wRC+ of 111. Unfortunately, that’s come in just 36 games as he’s twice gone on the IL due to back spasms, including his current stint. He’s making $2.325MM this year with a $3.3MM club option for 2024. Even if that were turned down, he could still be retained via arbitration.

Trevor Williams

Williams, 31, was primarily a starter with the Pirates for many years but had been deployed in a swing role by the Mets in recent seasons. He signed a two-year, $13MM deal to return to a starting role with the Nationals. He has a 4.45 ERA through 18 starts, striking out 17% of opponents while walking 7.5%. That low strikeout rate has led to a 5.41 FIP and 4.95 SIERA. He’s not going to command huge interest, but a club in need of a back-end innings eater could give Washington a call.

Patrick Corbin

Corbin, 34 next week, is having a bounce back year, at least in terms of results so far. His 4.89 earned run average is an improvement over his 6.31 figure from last year and the 5.82 from the year prior. That’s come despite a 15.2% strikeout rate, which is a few ticks below the past few seasons and would be a career low. On his back-loaded contract, he’s making $24MM this year and a massive $35MM next year. Even if the Nats paid all of that down, they likely wouldn’t be able to get much back in trade.

Longer-Term Players

Lane Thomas

Thomas, 27, is perhaps the Nats’ best chance to get a significant return this summer. He’s hitting .302/.347/.497 for a wRC+ of 126. His defense is generally considered a bit below average, but he’s stolen eight bases in 10 tries this year. It could be debated as to whether Thomas or Candelario is having the better season overall, but Thomas comes with two extra seasons of arbitration control beyond this one. He’s making $2.2MM this year and would be in line for a couple of raises in the upcoming campaigns.

He’s not a lock to be moved because the Nats could hold onto him and hope to return to contention while he’s still on the club. However, his trade value will only diminish as he gets closer to free agency and more expensive. It’s certainly possible that the Nationals return to contention in the coming years, but it will be a challenge with the division featuring a stacked Atlanta club, the ascendent Marlins and aggressive-spending Mets and Phillies.

Hunter Harvey

Harvey, 28, has been a solid reliever for the club over the past two years. Since the start of 2022, he’s made 76 appearances with a 2.86 earned run average, 28.4% strikeout rate, 7.7% walk rate and 41.2% ground ball rate. He’s continued to move into higher-leverage spots, earning 11 holds and eight saves this year. He could be retained for two more seasons via arbitration, but reliever performance is volatile and there’s always the risk of an injury. He’s making just $870K this year.

Kyle Finnegan

Finnegan, 31, is in essentially the same spot as Harvey, as he can be controlled via arbitration for two more seasons beyond this one. He has a longer track record, having established himself as a viable reliever back in 2020, but his results are less encouraging this year. His 3.38 ERA is still solid, but his strikeout rate has dropped from last year’s 26.1% to this year’s 22.4%, with his walk and ground-ball rates also moving in the wrong direction a bit. He’s making $2.325MM this year.

Tanner Rainey

Rainey, 30, is like Finnegan and Harvey in that he has two arbitration seasons after this one. But his situation is very different, as he had Tommy John surgery last August and is only now nearing a rehab assignment. Players on the injured list can still be traded, though the interest may be muted based on the uncertainty. He posted a 3.30 ERA last year with a 28.1% strikeout rate prior to going under the knife. He’s making $1.5MM this year.

Ildemaro Vargas

Vargas, 32 this weekend, has plenty of experience as a light-hitting utility player. He had a .233/.268/.355 career batting line by the end of 2021 for a wRC+ of 60 but had played every position except center field and catcher. He’s had better results at the plate since joining the Nats in August of last year, hitting .281/.310/.409 for a wRC+ of 98 in 289 plate appearances. He’s making $975K this year and can be retained via arbitration for two more seasons.

Joey Meneses

Unlike the other names on this list, Meneses isn’t approaching free agency or making a significant salary. The long-time minor leaguer finally got the call to the big leagues last year at the age of 30 and mashed 13 home runs in 56 games, finishing the season with a .324/.367/.563 batting line and 156 wRC+. He was only able to accrue 65 days of service time, leaving the Nats with six years of remaining control.

His production has naturally taken a step back in 2023, as he’s hit just six home runs and is batting .284/.328/.404 for a wRC+ of 98. He’s been on a mini heater of late, as four of those six homers came in the club’s last three games before the break. The Nats could simply hang onto Meneses given that he’s not slated for arbitration until after 2025 or free agency until after 2028. However, his late-bloomer trajectory means that he’s already 31 years old and will likely be in his mid-30s by the time the club is in contention again. Perhaps the best course of action would be to cash him in for younger players now — if there’s sufficient interest in the next few weeks.

____________________________

The Nationals were the star sellers of each of the past two deadlines, flipping Scherzer and Turner two years ago and then Soto last year. They don’t have any players that could reach that level, either in terms of publicity or prospect return. However, Candelario is one of the best rentals available and should net them some decent value. If they get more aggressive and move controllable players like Thomas, Harvey and Finnegan, they could go even farther in stockpiling young talent for future seasons.

Nationals Notes: Dickerson, Kuhl, Kieboom

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The Nationals announced today that they reinstated outfielder Corey Dickerson from the injured list with fellow outfielder Jake Alu optioned to Triple-A Rochester in a corresponding move.

Dickerson, 34 next week, was signed in the offseason to a one-year deal worth $2.25MM plus incentives. Unfortunately, he only got into two games before landing on the injured list due to a calf strain that ultimately kept him away from the club for about six weeks.

He’s been roughly a league average hitter in the past few seasons but has been better with the platoon advantage. Going back to the start of 2020, he’s hit .279/.326/.417 against righties for a wRC+ of 105 but just .192/.244/.320 against lefties for a 53 wRC+. Manager Dave Martinez tells Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com that Dickerson will start in left field against righties while Stone Garrett will take the short side of the platoon. Given that the rebuilding Nats are unlikely to be in contention this summer, Dickerson’s status as a veteran on a one-year deal would make him a natural trade candidate if he’s healthy and playing well.

In the rotation, the Nats have been dealing with a few absences this year, including Stephen Strasburg’s ongoing issues and Cade Cavalli’s Tommy John surgery. In addition, righty Chad Kuhl landed on the IL a couple of weeks ago due to a sprain of the big toe on his right foot. He seems to be getting close to a return, as Zuckerman relays that Kuhl threw 65 pitches over four innings in a sim game today.

Kuhl wasn’t especially effective prior to the injury, posting a 9.41 ERA in five starts. However, he’s been a serviceable backend starter in his career, with a 4.92 ERA in a larger sample of 598 2/3 innings. The Nats have received some decent work from their current rotation of Patrick Corbin, Josiah Gray, MacKenzie Gore, Trevor Williams and Jake Irvin, as all five of them have an ERA below 5.00. Irvin, however, has just three career starts, allowing just one earned run over the first two but six in his most recent outing. Once Kuhl is ready to return, the club will likely have to decide if they want Irvin to stick in the big leagues or continue his development in the minors.

Looking to the farm, infielder Carter Kieboom didn’t play this weekend due to some lat soreness. Zuckerman relays word from Martinez that Kieboom underwent an MRI, though the results haven’t come through yet. Once one of the top prospects in the sport, Kieboom struggled in his first cracks at the majors, hitting .197/.304/.285 in 106 games over the 2019-2021 period. He then missed all of 2022 due to Tommy John surgery and dealt with shoulder soreness this spring. He began the year on the injured list with a shoulder impingement and was recently optioned to Triple-A after completing his rehab assignment. The results of the imaging will hopefully shed more light on the issue for Kieboom but the fact that something seems to be lingering in his shoulder is somewhat concerning.

NL Notes: Nationals, Scherzer, Gallen

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Fans of the Nationals received positive injury news today, as their Triple-A affiliate in Rochester announced that left fielder Corey Dickerson is set to begin a rehab assignment. Dickerson signed in Washington on a one-year deal this past offseason, but appeared in just two games for the club prior to the club placing Dickerson on the 10-day injured list with a calf strain. Dickerson, who will celebrate his 34th birthday later this month, is in his eleventh season as a major league player, with a career 112 wRC+.

That solid production would be a boon to a Nationals club that has mostly used 28-year-old outfielder Alex Call in left field while Dickerson has been on the shelf. Call has struggled so far in 143 trips to the plate for the Nationals this season, with a .230/.329/.336 slash line (86 wRC+) so far this season. That being said, Dickerson is not without flaws himself: his wRC+ has declined to a mark of just 97 since the beginning of the 2020 season, and he has hampered by a significant platoon split that has seen him post just a .693 OPS against left-handed pitchers throughout his career.

Fortunately for the Nationals, however, they have a seemingly perfect platoon partner for Dickerson in the form of Stone Garrett, a 27-year-old slugger who has slashed .344/.368/.594 against left-handers in 72 career plate appearances in the majors. Platooning Dickerson with Garrett upon his return to the lineup could help the Nationals solve their offensive woes in left field, where the club’s 85 wRC+ ranks seventh worst in the majors.

Dickerson may not be the only reinforcements on the horizon from the injured list, however. MLB.com’s injury tracker notes that right-hander Chad Kuhl, who signed with the Nationals on a minor league deal during the offseason, threw a simulated game of over 60 pitches earlier this week. Kuhl, who has been on the IL with sprained toe since the beginning of the month, could threaten the spot of right-hander Jake Irvin in the rotation going forward. While Irvin is expected to make his next start, the Nationals figure to reevaluate their rotation after that, with Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post noting that Kuhl’s return could give the Nationals the opportunity to manage the 26-year-old Irvin’s innings going forward.

More from around the National League…

  • Jon Heyman of the New York Post suggests that the Mets, while not concerned about the neck issue that caused veteran right-hander Max Scherzer to be scratched from his start earlier in the week, are worried that the 38-year-old’s ailment near the scapula, which caused the club to push back one of his starts in mid-April, could be an issue that Scherzer will need to manage all year. It’s been a difficult start to the 2023 campaign for Scherzer, who has posted a 5.56 ERA in 22 2/3 innings amid multiple injury concerns and a 10-game suspension for violating the league’s policy on foreign substances.
  • As noted by Bob Nightengale of USA Today, budding ace Zac Gallen has expressed interest in staying with the Diamondbacks long term, though he noted a preference for avoiding in-season extension negotiations. Gallen, 27, has emerged as one of the game’s best pitchers in recent years, including a breakout campaign last season that saw him post a 2.54 ERA in 184 innings en route to a top 5 finish in NL Cy Young award voting. Fortunately for Arizona, they have plenty of time to discuss a long term deal with their young ace, who is set to hit free agency after the 2025 campaign.

Nationals Notes: Kuhl, Kieboom, Dickerson

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Prior to this evening’s game against the Cubs, the Nationals placed starter Chad Kuhl on the 15-day injured list. The placement is retroactive to April 30, ruling him out for the next two weeks. Cory Abbott was recalled from Triple-A Rochester to take the open active roster spot.

Kuhl told reporters he sprained the big toe on his right foot during Saturday’s appearance against Pittsburgh (relayed by Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com). He stayed in the game and logged 3 2/3 innings but was tagged for eight runs. It was another rough appearance for the 30-year-old, who has allowed four-plus runs in four of five outings this year. He hasn’t gotten past five innings in any of his appearances.

All told, Kuhl lands on the shelf with a 9.41 ERA through his first 22 frames in a Washington uniform. He’s striking out a below-average 16.8% of opponents while walking a lofty 15% of batters faced and surrendering more than two home runs per nine innings. The offseason minor league signee will obviously have to perform better once he returns from the IL if he’s to hang onto his roster spot for the entire season.

The rebuilding Nationals enter play Monday with a 4.75 rotation ERA that ranks 18th in the majors. Young pitchers Josiah Gray and MacKenzie Gore are both faring well from a run prevention perspective, though Gore has walked an alarming 14.4% of opponents. Trevor Williams has provided a 4.10 ERA over 26 1/3 frames, while veterans Kuhl and Patrick Corbin have been hit hard.

Abbott seems likely to step into Kuhl’s rotation spot. The righty started nine of 16 big league outings last year and has opened all five of his appearances in Rochester this season. He carries a 6.46 ERA in spite of a strong 28.8% strikeout rate over 23 2/3 Triple-A innings.

The Nationals also provided reporters with injury updates on the position player side. Infielder Carter Kieboom is soon to report to Double-A Harrisburg for a rehab stint, tweets Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. That sets the stage for a forthcoming return to major league action, which’ll be Kieboom’s first MLB game time since 2021. The right-handed hitter missed all of last season with a forearm issue that eventually required Tommy John surgery; he’s been out for the first month of this year on account of a shoulder impingement. A former top prospect, Kieboom carries a career .197/.304/.285 batting line and is looking to establish himself as a potential long-term piece.

Outfielder Corey Dickerson landed on the IL with a strained left calf two games into the season. He’s further behind in his recovery. According to the MLB.com injury tracker, Dickerson has been throwing and swinging a bat but is not yet cleared to run. He signed a $2.25MM free agent deal over the winter to add a veteran left-handed bat to the corner outfield rotation.

Nationals Place Corey Dickerson On 10-Day IL, Recall Stone Garrett

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The Nationals placed left fielder Corey Dickerson on the injured list with a left calf strain and recalled left fielder Stone Garrett, the team announced. Dickerson left yesterday’s game due to “tightness” in his left calf and underwent an MRI earlier today that revealed the strain. Dickerson, 34 in May, previously missed a month of the 2022 season after suffering a left calf strain with the Cardinals in early June. He figured to be a regular fixture in Washington’s outfield this season alongside Victor Robles and Lane Thomas, but now the Nationals will turn to Garrett with Dickerson headed for the IL.

Garrett, 27, made his major league debut with the Diamondbacks last season, slashing .276/.309/.539 with 4 home runs in 27 games with the club, good for a wRC+ of 131. That strong production at the plate was paired with concerning underlying metrics, however, as Garrett posted an astronomical .370 BABIP while striking out in 32.1% of his plate appearances and walking in just 3.6%. Those concerns led Arizona to leave Garrett off the 40-man roster headed into the offseason, allowing him to depart for free agency and sign a major league deal with Washington. Garrett then came into camp this spring with a chance to make the team, but posted a .653 OPS in 18 spring games.

It seems unlikely Garrett will be able to replace the production of Dickerson, a career 112 wRC+ hitter who has struck out in just 20.4% of plate appearances in his 1,035 game major league career. That said, Garrett did manage an identical 112 wRC+ in 103 games at Triple-A last year. The Nationals will hope that Garrett’s considerable power can make up for his high strikeout rate, particularly against the left-handed pitchers he holds a platoon advantage over. Garrett joins Robles, Thomas, and Alex Call as outfielders on the club’s active roster, though Ildemaro Vargas, Michael Chavis, Joey Meneses, and Dominic Smith all have experience in the outfield as well.

Injury Notes: Dickerson, Whitlock, Gonsolin, Haniger, Slater

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Corey Dickerson left today’s game due to tightness in his left calf, and Nationals manager Davey Martinez told reporters (including Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com) that the outfielder will receive an MRI tomorrow.  This isn’t the first time that Dickerson has dealt with such an injury, as a strain in his left calf cost him about a month of Dickerson’s 2022 season with the Cardinals.

Washington signed Dickerson to a one-year, $2.25MM deal over the offseason, adding a left-handed veteran to their mix of right-handed hitting and mostly less-experienced young outfielders.  Dickerson was slated to get the bulk of work in left field whenever a righty starter was on the mound, and considering how the Nats are rebuilding, Dickerson will likely be shopped at the trade deadline if he is performing well.  Of course, staying healthy is the first step, and Dickerson and the Nationals can only hope that tomorrow’s MRI doesn’t reveal anything serious.

More on other injury situations from around the majors…

  • Garrett Whitlock made a Triple-A rehab start yesterday, and Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters (including The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey) that Whitlock is planned for one more outing with Double-A Portland on Thursday.  Assuming all goes well, the Sox would then activate Whitlock from the 15-day injured list for his next outing and his 2023 debut.  The right-hander needed a little more time to prepare following hip surgery last September, thus necessitating the IL visit at the start of the season.  The Red Sox are planning to use Whitlock as a full-time member of the starting rotation this year, after hip problems interrupted his first stint in the rotation in 2022.
  • Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya and other reporters that Tony Gonsolin is intended to throw a bullpen session on Sunday and then a live batting practice session at the team’s extended spring camp on Wednesday.  Gonsolin suffered an ankle sprain in early March and is expected to need until late April to return to the L.A. rotation, but the righty appears to be making good progress in recovery.
  • The Giants provided media (including MLB.com’s Maria I. Guardado) with several updates on injured players, including the news that Mitch Haniger and Austin Slater will both be re-evaluated this week in San Francisco when the Giants begin their first homestand of the year.  Both players began the season on the 10-day IL, with Haniger dealing with a Grade 1 oblique strain and Slater a hamstring strain.  A more concrete timetable might be known after next week’s check-ins, though the team did have some hope that Haniger (who suffered his strain on March 10) would be ready for Opening Day, and Slater was given an initial estimate of a 3-4 week recovery period.  Slater is starting to progress to baseball activities in his rehab, so it would appear he has a chance of returning within that initial window.

Nationals Sign Corey Dickerson

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1:14pm: The Nationals have officially announced their signing of Dickerson.

7:30am: The Nationals and free-agent outfielder Corey Dickerson are in agreement on a one-year deal worth $2.25MM, tweets Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. The Excel Sports Management client can earn another $750K via performance incentives. The Nats Report first reported that Dickerson and the Nationals were in agreement on a deal.

Dickerson, 33, will join his eighth big league team with this agreement — and his third in the National League East, having played prior stints with both the Phillies (2019) and Marlins (2020-21). His 2022 season was spent with the Cardinals, where he logged a .267/.300/.399 slash with six homers, 17 doubles and a triple in 297 plate appearances. That slash is at least somewhat skewed by an awful start to the season which saw him bat .180/.237/.213 through his first 97 plate appearances; from June 1 through the end of the 2022 campaign, Dickerson recorded 200 trips to the plate and posted a hefty .307/.330/.484 batting line.

In reality, Dickerson’s true talent level likely lies somewhere between the two extremes. The 2017 All-Star and 2018 Gold Glove winner is a lifetime .281/.324/.481 hitter but has settled in closer to a league-average bat since the 2020  season, slashing .266/.313/.403 in 872 turns at the plate.

The left-handed-hitting Dickerson carries a fairly sharp platoon split, with the majority of his power coming versus right-handed pitching. Dickerson’s 25.8% strikeout rate and 4.9% walk rate against lefties are also demonstrably worse than his respective 18.9% and 6.1% marks when holding the platoon advantage. Overall, Dickerson has held his own in terms of batting average against lefties (.259) but has paired that with a bleak .299 on-base percentage and just a .394 slugging percentage. Against righties, however, he’s slashed .287/.331/.505.

For a rebuilding Nationals squad with an all-right-handed-hitting outfield of Alex Call, Victor Robles and Lane Thomas, adding Dickerson on an affordable one-year deal is eminently sensible. His days as a center fielder should be behind him, but Dickerson can take plate appearances against right-handed pitching off the plates of each of his new fellow outfielders. Robles, in particular, was anemic against righties in 2022, slashing just .188/.238/.258 in 240 plate appearances. It’s also worth noting that Call was a 27-year-old rookie in 2022, and while his production in the upper minors (and in his 47-game MLB debut) certainly merited the promotion, he’s not exactly locked in as an established, everyday big leaguer just yet.

Dickerson could also see some time at designated hitter, and the Nationals will surely mix in 2022 breakout slugger Joey Menseses — another right-handed hitter.  Meneses could log time at first base, spelling recent signee Dominic Smith against lefties, and he’s an option in the outfield corners and at designated hitter.

There should be plenty of at-bats to go around, and given the short big league track records of Call, Thomas and Meneses — to say nothing of Robles’ continued offensive struggles that now span the past three seasons — Dickerson should fit in nicely and raise the floor for a lineup that’s light on proven hitters. He’ll also give the Nationals a potential trade chip at the deadline. Dickerson alone isn’t going to fetch a prominent, top-tier prospect, but he can still net the Nats some minor league talent if he’s healthy and performing well.

With Dickerson in the fold, the Nationals’ payroll will inch beyond the $104MM mark. It’s a far cry from the $197MM Opening Day payroll the team trotted out in 2019, when they went on to win the World Series. However, this iteration of the Nationals is more focused on building up the farm and setting the stage for future seasons, and the front office’s rebuilding effort is taking place in conjunction with ownership’s exploration of a potential sale of the team.

Be that as it may, the generally slashed payroll leaves the Nats with plenty of latitude for additional spending, should further deals to their liking present themselves. Beyond Dickerson, Washington has thus far agreed to Major League deals with the aforementioned Smith (one year, $2MM), third baseman Jeimer Candelario (one year, $5MM), swingman Erasmo Ramirez (one year, $1MM) and right-hander Trevor Williams (two years, $13MM) in free agency. There’s still room for another veteran starter, and the bullpen has plenty of uncertainty that could be offset by the addition of a more reliable name.

Rockies Rumors: Outfield Search, Cron

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It’s been a quiet offseason for the Rockies, whose free-agent additions to this point consist of right-handers Pierce Johnson (one year, $5MM) and Jose Urena (one year, $3.5MM). The Rox have also claimed Brent Suter from the Brewers, signed Tyler Kinley to an extension and issued a handful of minor league deals, and they were reportedly interested in several free-agent outfielders before those players landed elsewhere (Michael Conforto, Cody Bellinger, Brandon Nimmo among them).

They’ve clearly been linked to a number of left-handed-hitting outfielders since the offseason began but have also appeared limited in the extent to which they’re comfortable paying those players. Jon Heyman of the New York Post wrote recently that the Rockies are indeed trying to add a lefty-swinging outfielder to their group, adding that they “may consider” a reunion with Corey Dickerson, who spent the first three seasons of his career calling Coors Field home. The Rox shipped Dickerson to the Rays in the trade that brough German Marquez to Colorado, and Dickerson has since bounced to six teams while settling in as a productive, if somewhat limited corner outfielder.

Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post, however, throws some cold water on the possibility of a Dickerson reunion, writing in his latest mailbag column that he’s not heard of any real interest expressed by the Rockies. Dickerson would indeed be something of a tough fit with the Rockies’ roster, as currently constructed. While names like Bellinger and Nimmo could’ve been plugged into center field, Dickerson has been primarily a left fielder in recent seasons. Bryant is expected to man that position when healthy, and across the outfield, Randal Grichuk has been at least comparable to Dickerson from an offensive standpoint over the past few years. Playing Dickerson in right and Grichuk in center is a stretch, too; Dickerson ranked last among MLB outfielders in arm strength last season, according to Statcast.

The Athletic’s Jim Bowden echoes Heyman’s sentiment that the Rox are prioritizing the addition of a left-handed-hitting outfielder, calling free agent switch-hitter Jurickson Profar a “real possibility” for the club. That said, many of the limitations that apply to Dickerson also apply to Profar. He’s primarily been a left fielder since a pair of shoulder surgeries and a case of the yips pushed him from shortstop, to second base, to the outfield. He’s also not a demonstrably better offensive player than in-house options like Yonathan Daza and the aforementioned Grichuk, although his .244/.333/.375 slash over the past three seasons (103 wRC+) would be a slight improvement. That said, both Daza and Grichuk can play center field, while Profar has just 156 career innings at the position — none in 2022.

It’s fair to question just how much the Rockies are willing to spend to acquire the lefty outfield bat they reportedly covet. It never seemed likely that the Rox would match last year’s spending — not after they inked Kris Bryant to a $182MM contract and subsequently pushed their projected 2023 payroll (currently about $163MM) up into franchise-record territory. But the team’s activity thus far, or lack thereof, doesn’t paint a portrait of a club that is planning to win many bidding wars in free agency this time around.

Whether due to a desire to shed payroll or simply to free up time for younger players, it appears the Rockies have at least been willing to listen to offers on first baseman C.J. Cron. Saunders writes in his mailbag that Colorado hasn’t received much trade interest in Cron, however.

Given Cron’s status as a productive hitter and solid defender at first base, there’s little reason to simply attempt to dump his $7.25MM salary, even if the Rox would eventually like to take a longer look at 24-year-old Michael Toglia at first base. Toglia, the team’s first-round pick in 2019, has had strikeout troubles in the upper minors but also walked at a 12% clip, slugged 32 homers between the minors and a brief MLB debut in ’22, and has drawn praise as an above-average defender at first base. Given Toglia’s proximity to the Majors and Cron’s status as an impending free agent (following the 2023 season), it stands to reason that the latter could yet be a trade candidate — be it later in the offseason or as the summer deadline approaches.

Depending on Colorado’s appetite for spending, the trade market ought to present various avenues to acquire a lefty bat — whether a true center fielder or perhaps another corner option (with Grichuk and Daza then being relied upon as the primary options in center). The Twins (Max Kepler), Orioles (Anthony Santander), A’s (Seth Brown), Pirates (Bryan Reynolds) and division-rival D-backs (Jake McCarthy) all have lefty or switch-hitting outfielders who’ve come up in trade rumblings, to varying extents, this offseason.

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