Colorado Rockies: Grading the Corey Dickerson Trade

The Colorado Rockies parted ways with one of their promising young outfielders this week, Corey Dickerson, in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays.

In exchange for Corey Dickerson and prospect Kevin Padlo, the Colorado Rockies received southpaw reliever Jake McGee and relief pitching prospect German Marquez. While it was evident that the Colorado Rockies would eventually decide to part with one of their left-handed hitting outfielders after the signing of Gerardo Parra, it is surprising that it was Dickerson.

To me, this trade was simply perplexing. Jake McGee is a great reliever, recording a 2.41 ERA with a 0.94 WHIP in the 2015 season; but in my mind, the Colorado Rockies need starting pitching (specifically prospects who are cheap and under long-term team control), not to upgrade their relief corps. The addition of Jake McGee to the bullpen is all well and good, but it does not solve the greater problem with how this team is constituted.

Many fans (myself included) believed that the Colorado Rockies would finally decide to move Carlos Gonzalez after the signing of Gerardo Parra. Now with 4 left-handed hitting outfielders, I honestly thought that Corey Dickerson was the last player the Colorado Rockies would trade.

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Corey Dickerson experienced an injury riddled season in 2015, playing in 65 games. Despite his limited play time, Dickerson slashed .304/.333/.536 with 10 home runs and 31 RBI’s. In the 2014 season, Dickerson showed what he is capable of, recording a slash-line of .312/.364/.567 to go along with 24 homers and 76 RBI’s in 131 games.

For the Colorado Rockies, it looked like Corey Dickerson was the future — an excellent hitting outfielder who was under team control for the next four years — for a left-handed reliever under team control for only 2 years, playing on a team that will not be competitive next season. Maybe the front-office knows something that I don’t, but I don’t see the logic here.

Aug 9, 2015; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Rays relief pitcher Jake McGee (57) throws a pitch during the ninth inning against the New York Mets at Tropicana Field. Tampa Bay Rays defeated the New York Mets 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

Coming off an injury plagued season, the Colorado Rockies should have at least waited to trade Corey Dickerson. His trade value was arguably as low as it could possible could be, and could have yielded a huge haul if they had perhaps waited until the trade deadline and decided to trade him to a contender for a king’s ransom.

Perhaps it’s not so much this trade I don’t understand as it is the signing of Gerardo Parra. The Colorado Rockies elected to sign the 28-year-old outfielder to a three-year contract worth $27.5 million. While Parra is an effective hitter and good defensive outfielder, they increased their payroll and relinquished another four years of a cheaper and arguably better offensive player in Corey Dickerson.

The Colorado Rockies have shopped Carlos Gonzalez all offseason, and it looked clear cut that he would get traded at some point. The Rockies have danced around a full rebuild for a few years now, content with making moves that solve some problems and create others, ultimately accomplishing nothing and keeping the Colorado Rockies wallowing in mediocrity.

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The swap of minor league talent aside, the exchange of Corey Dickerson and Jake McGee is a trade that one might see in the middle of the season with a contending club trading a promising young outfielder for an effective late innings reliever. If the Rockies were serious about rebuilding, they would have not signed Gerardo Parra, and would have traded Carlos Gonzalez to acquire some young starting pitching talent and look ahead to the future. Corey Dickerson should have remained a member of the Colorado Rockies.

Because we can’t do anything about this trade, perhaps there is another reason why Corey Dickerson was traded, despite everything that I have already outlined. Dickerson dealt with plantar fasciatis and broken ribs last season, and perhaps the team knows something about his health that we don’t. Maybe the seemingly inexplicable reason why the Colorado Rockies decided to part with Dickerson is that they knew something about his health, and decided this was their best chance to get something in return.

Next: Colorado Rockies Trade Corey Dickerson for Pitchers

In the end, I’m not a fan of this trade. While the return wasn’t terrible (Jake McGee is a great reliever), I don’t believe it addresses the team’s greatest needs at the moment. I think I’m more angry at the signing of Gerardo Parra than I am of this trade. Still, it’s not a terrible trade, all things considered.

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