Welcome, Corey Dickerson

The Pirates were in the news this first week of Spring Training when they announced that they dove into the baseball dumpster and signed two more guys, Bryce Brentz and Michael Saunders, to compete for the left field job.  Ridicule predictably - and justifiably - followed.  However, those scoffers, myself included, need to step back and give a bit of credit to Neal Huntington for pulling the trigger on a trade that sent Daniel Hudson and minor league infielder Tristan Gray to the Tampa Bay Rays for left fielder Corey Dickerson.

The 28 year old Dickerson made the American League All-Star team last year, and is left handed hitting power hitter (27 HR in 2017), a welcome commodity in PNC Park with its short right field line.  So credit to NH for obtaining a guy who certainly appears to be a bona fide major league in-his-prime outfielder.

One possible red flag is "If this guy is so good, why did the Rays DFA him in the first place?"  Well, the answer, apparently, is money.  Dickerson is now arbitration eligible and the Rays didn't want to pay what he earned in that process.  Sound like a familiar story, Pirates fans?  Makes you wonder what the Pirates will do with him should he put up big numbers for them in 2018, but that is a worry for another day.

Another red flag show up when you look at Dickerson's numbers in 2017:

	Corey Dickerson - 2017	Corey Dickerson - Pre All Star Game	Corey Dickerson - Post All Star Game
Games	150	85	65
At Bats	588	343	245
Runs	84	60	24
Hits	166	107	59
HR	27	17	10
RBI	62	42	20
BA	0.282	0.312	0.241
OPS	0.815	0.903	0.690

I don't know if Dickerson was injured or played hurt during the last half of 2017, but the numbers sure tell you that something occurred that caused a drop off in his offensive production in the second half of last year.

So, the big question is, which Corey Dickerson shows up for the Bucs in 2018?  Sure hope that it's "Pre-ASG Dickerson", and that he performs that way all season.

FINAL NOTE:  With the acquisition of Dickerson, the Pirates announced today that they were releasing Michael Saunders.