As hard as it is to believe, a trade was consummated as " a salary dump" and it was the Pirates not dumping the heavy contract.!
The 28 year old Dickerson will be arriving at PNC Park off his career season in Tampa last season where he hit.287 with 27 long balls and 33 doubles, which is important at PNC with the power alleys, although the larger alley is to left center, which might not be as crucial to the lefthanded-hitting Dickerson's success.
Keep in mind that Dickerson slumped badly in the second half (.232, 10 homers and 82 strikeouts) and isn't noted for being a strong defender- a negative at PNC Park where the left fielder has to cover more ground than any other left field in the game.
However, even though he is going to have his share of strikeouts, Dickerson should at his worst be good for at least 20 homers.
Dickerson will make just under six million this season and the Pirates will have him under contract until the end of the 2019 season.
Daniel Hudson disappointed a bit (2-7 4.38 ERA) in his only season in Pittsburgh, mainly because they expected a little more for his contract after signing him to a two-year contract for eleven million.
The righthander was expendable to the Pirates after various bullpen reinforcements such as Kyle Crick from the Giants, Michael Feliz from the Astros in trades, free agent signing Josh Smoker from the Mets and Rule 5 draftee Jordan Milbrath from the Indians and the bullpen looked to be one of the strengths of the Pirates.
Pittsburgh also included minor league second baseman Tristan Gray, who the Pirates picked in the 13th round of last year's draft out of Rice.
Gray is more intriguing than you would think for a 13th rounder after a .269/7/37 line in his first pro year at short-season West Virginia but is more of a lottery ticket as a college bat than a sure prospect.
The chance for the Pirates to add Corey Dickerson must have been somewhat of a surprise because earlier in the week, the Pirates added a lefthanded-hitting and a righthanded-hitting outfielder and from the looks at that time, both looked to be contending for the left field starting spot.
Now both players might be battling for one spot on the roster with the other headed for AAA Indianapolis.
At this time last season, Michael Saunders might have been looked at in a similar fashion as Corey Dickerson is today, coming off a career-high season in doubles and homers and off his first All-Star selection.
The 31-year-old Saunders left Toronto for Philadelphia and produced a terrible line in a season that saw him hit so poorly as a Phillie, he returned to Toronto (Combined .202/6/21).
Saunders is better than 2017 (Though he always will strike out a ton), but I think his 24 homers in 2016 is unlikely to be repeated, but his cost wasn't nearly as high for Pittsburgh (a minor league contract/ spring training invite) than it was for Philadelphia just one year before and Saunders is at least an interesting contender to be a bat off the bench.
Pittsburgh attempted to buy low with a cash purchase of outfielder Bryce Brentz after the Red Sox signed J.D. Martinez to a large contract and needed to free up a roster space.
The 29-year-old was at one time thought of as a possible elite prospect but has been hampered by wrist injuries and despite coming off the Red Sox 40 man has only 90 plate appearances in the big leagues.
Brentz has been so injury plagued that until last season when he played 120 games for AAA Pawtucket, he had not played in 100 games since 2012!
Brentz did smack 31 homers for the PawSox, so the Pirates are hoping that perhaps he has rebounded and could be a steal in the making.
We'll see if Brentz is a true late bloomer or turns out to be one of those 4A players that turn out to be AAA hired guns to travel the International and Pacific Coast leagues.
At a minimum, I think Brentz has the potential to add power somewhere, the question is where-left field where he would have to chase off Corey Dickerson, the bench in Pittsburgh or chasing flyballs in Indianapolis.
No matter the result of the left field battle, it will be interesting to follow how Austin Meadows hits in Indianapolis.
Meadows does need time in AAA and his main issue has been fighting off injuries since first playing in the Hoosier State in 2016.
One would have to think that Meadows will at least spend the first two months in AAA, but what if those two months are dazzling ones that force his way to Pittsburgh?
I would think the player that loses out in that scenario would be Corey Dickerson, but it could be Gregory Polanco, should his production drop in 2017 carry into 2018.
The inbox is overflowing,so look for a sports and non-sports version soon, another look at assault weapons and there is the boxing challenge, so lots of posts over the next few days...
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