The Tampa Bay Rays traded away LHP Jake McGee and RHP prospect German Marquez for OF Corey Dickerson 3B prospect Kevin Padlo, both formerly of the Rockies.
Sources: #Rays getting Dickerson. Expected to send multiple pitchers to #Rockies. Others possibly involved.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 28, 2016
Source: Deal is McGee and a minor-league pitcher to the #Rockies, Dickerson and a minor-league pitcher to the #Rays.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 28, 2016
For Tampa Bay, the addition of a high-upside young bat in the form of Dickerson bodes well for a team in search of an impact bat to bolster the lineup. The trade also cleared $4.8-million of salary ― money that directly contributed to the one-year, $4.75-million deal with Steve Pearce.
Dickerson is not yet arbitration eligible and comes with four years of club control remaining. The 26 year-old was plagued by broken ribs and plantar fasciitis in an injury shortened 2015 season, yet he still hit .304 with an .869 OPS in 65 games. This, after putting together an impressive 2014 season in which he belted 24 homers and drove in 76 RBI in 131 games.
Those impressive numbers do come with some caveats. Dickerson has tortured right-handed pitching at a career .313 BA/.358 OBP/.577 SLG/.934 OPS clip, however, lefties have given him a fair amount of difficulty, limiting him to a .246 BA/.299 OBP/.377 SLG/.677 OPS line.
Beyond that, there’s a nearly 400-point difference between his OPS on the road and at the hitter-friendly Coors Field. Danny Russell (DRaysBay) made note of the extreme park effect in play in a recent article:
By measure of wRC+, Dickerson performed more than 100% better than the average player at home, but performed 17% below average on the road. That differential has improved over the last three seasons, reaching a 105 wRC+ on the road in 2015, but not in a robust sample size (112 PA).
Defensively, Dickerson has spent the bulk of his Major League time in left-field. And while his Defensive Runs Saved (-6 DRS) and Ultimate Zone Rating (-6.7 UZR) are down on his work in left, his worst ratings in the eyes of those metrics came in his injury plagued 2015 season.
One condition of the deal is the now glut of outfielders ― Desmond Jennings, Brandon Guyer, Kevin Kiermaier, Steven Souza Jr., and Steve Pearce ― which could necessitate a trade. However, one of the aforementioned outfielders already has a suitor ― the Chicago Cubs. On Tuesday, Bruce Levine (CBS Sports Chicago) confirmed Chicago’s interest in Jennings:
The players the Cubs have had interest in include reliever Jake McGee (2.41 ERA, 0.94 WHIP in 2015), starting pitcher Jake Ordorizzi (9-9, 3,35 ERA) and outfielder Desmond Jennings (.268 batting average, .664 OPS in injury-plagued season).
Keep checking back for more details on this story.
Noteworthiness
― Jason Hanselmann (The Process Report) gave his thoughts on Dickerson, concluding that he’s “A gifted hitter that has struggled with injuries (plantar fasciitis, broken ribs in 2015), and is a minus even in the corner outfield due to a chicken wing and the thighs to match.” By all means, check out Hanselmann’s well thought out piece that’s linked above.
― In a phone interview Thursday afternoon, McGee told Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) that he expected a trade at some point, although he was surprised by the timing of it now. The lefty, who had been with organization since 2004, also said he will be “sad” to leave the many friends he made, mentioning teammates, coaches, training staff and bullpen catcher Scott Cursi.
― President of Baseball Operations Matt Silverman said the front office did its “homework” on Dickerson’s home/road splits, and are confident that his skills will translate into success at the Trop and elsewhere.
A hitter like him is someone that often times is hard to come by. Too much to pass up in this case.
Silverman also acknowledged the hole in the bullpen, saying the others ― such as Alex Colome, Steve Geltz, Enny Romero, and Danny Farquhar ― will need to step up.