Toronto Blue Jays should look into outfielder Corey Dickerson
In a surprise move, the Tampa Bay Rays designated outfielder Corey Dickerson for assignment which means the Toronto Blue Jays should be keeping tabs on him.
It is not everyday that an All-Star outfielder gets DFA’d by his team ahead of spring training but that is exactly what the Tampa Bay Rays did with Corey Dickerson. Now the Toronto Blue Jays have an opportunity to bolster their lineup.
The Rays have 10 days to trade or release Dickerson and it would not be surprising to see teams make a call for the 28-year-old. In 150 games in 2017, he had 27 home runs, 62 RBIs, and a slash line of .282/.325/.490.
Any team that acquired Dickerson would be adding a strong bat in their lineup and as Bill Chastin wrote for MLB.com, he can be the type of player that helps a team make the postseason.
It should be noted Dickerson’s numbers dipped in the second half of the season where he was hitting .241 to go along with 10 home runs and 20 RBIs, after hitting /312, 17 home runs and 42 RBIs in the first half of the season.
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With jobs open in the outfielders there is a potential fit with Dickerson, especially if he goes unclaimed. Kevin Pillar and Randal Grichuk are likely to command two of the three starting outfield jobs. If the team wants to solidify that left-field spot, Dickerson would be the ideal candidate.
He makes $5.9 million, which is part of the reason the Rays are looking to move him as they brought in C.J. Cron to be their permanent DH at only $2.3 million. One issue with Dickerson is that he strikes out at a higher rate, but had the power to make his bat valuable last season.
This is how David Slusser of Rum Bunter broke down Dickerson’s free swinging approach.
"Dickerson swings at almost everything. Over the last three seasons he has an o-swing percentage (swings at pitches outside of the zone/pitches outside of the zone) of 41.7 percent, 44.0 percent, and 45.6 percent when the non pitcher league average has been 30.6, 30.2, and 29.8 in that time frame. Of the 232 qualified hitters since 2015, only Adam Jones (45.1 percent) and Salvador Perez (44.9 percent) have swung at more pitches out of the zone. The high swing and miss rate combined with the high swing rate is part of the reason Dickerson from a 139 wRC+ in the first half of 2017 to a wRC+ of 80 in the second half. His xStats, which uses data from Statcast, had Dickerson’s expected production at .264/.308/.460."
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If the Blue Jays miss out on Dickerson it would not be the end of the world. However, considering how tough it is to find viable free agent options at a reasonable cost, it would not be a terrible idea to try and bring him in.