OnlyBucs

606961707E040 wrote: Dickerson is a real head scratcher to me.   I get it that he's hot and he will cool off, but he's NOT a bad defender in LF.   he's a career. .832 OPS with serviceable OF defense.



What on earth was TB thinking DFAing this guy?   I expected his glove work to be much worse than what I'm seeing.  And he seems to have a good first step too.  He's not lacking range in any big way out there either, so far.



Definitely don't get it.  As long as he doesn't need to throw anyone out, I don't see any defensive issue.  TB fans should be very upset. 


I think Dickerson struggled mightily against fast balls last season. At least, I think the Rays were sort of under the impression that the league had adjusted to him after his crazy start to the season and we're a bit down on him.



The rays are also in payroll slash mode, but they probably should have been able to get more for him on the open market. But there was also a depressed market for MLB talent (see the McCutchen return). Either way, if Dickerson made some adjustments to rectify the issues that lead to his 2017 season crater, then the Pirates were handed a middle of the order bat.

3C353D2C22580 wrote: Dickerson is a real head scratcher to me.   I get it that he's hot and he will cool off, but he's NOT a bad defender in LF.   he's a career. .832 OPS with serviceable OF defense.



What on earth was TB thinking DFAing this guy?   I expected his glove work to be much worse than what I'm seeing.  And he seems to have a good first step too.  He's not lacking range in any big way out there either, so far.



Definitely don't get it.  As long as he doesn't need to throw anyone out, I don't see any defensive issue.  TB fans should be very upset. 


I don't know what they were thinking. It really is a head scratcher. The only logic I can try and derive is that Dickerson doesn't really look like a high level players. He doesn't get real high or low. He isn't a particularly graceful field and doesn't throw real well. He doesn't have the build of someone like Polanco. I know when I first saw him on TV in ST, I was concerned because he didn't look like an over .800 OPS power hitter.



However, he continues to do it. Looks don't mean everything. In his case, they don't mean much. He gets the job done and he has some really good pop to his bat. he has a great approach at the plate. I like him a lot.



Plus, he had a really interesting quote last week after one of the games. He said something to the effect that he has loved this clubhouse and has been the most positive and focused clubhouse he's been in.

Well, he is 29 and this fall will be his last year of arbitration. They may have just wanted to move him while he had some value.