The Pirates' competition in left field has come to an end before the team even played its first spring training game.
The club announced Thursday morning it acquired All-Star outfielder Corey Dickerson from the Rays in exchange for relief pitcher Daniel Hudson, minor-league infielder Tristan Gray and cash considerations.
Dickerson, 28, was designated for assignment by the Rays last week, despite representing them in the All-Star game last season. The left-handed hitter had a slash line of .282/.325/.490 with 27 home runs and 62 RBI last season, although he batted .242 in the second half.
"We see him being our primary left fielder," Neal Huntington told reporters in a conference call Thursday night. "This gives us another layer of depth, another layer of quality to protect our major league club in case of injury. It was a tough decision to drop somebody in over Adam Frazier or Jordan Luplow or Sean Rodriguez. For the most part, they will continue to play important roles. We're going to get a lot of guys at-bats, but we do see Corey as our primary left fielder."
Dickerson also hit 24 home runs two seasons ago and has posted an above-average OPS in four consecutive seasons. The move will thrust Frazier back into a bench role, unless the club does indeed decide to trade Josh Harrison before opening day.
Dickerson will make $6.5 million this season and is arbitration-eligible next offseason. The short-term commitment is ideal for the Pirates since Dickerson could serve as a placeholder in left until Austin Meadows or Bryan Reynolds is ready for the major leagues.
Hudson, 30, struggled last season after signing a two-year contract with the club last December, and he missed the first week of spring training workouts because of a sprained right ankle. The right-hander will make $5.5 million this season, but he was questionable to make the 25-man roster after the Pirates acquired Kyle Crick and Michael Feliz in trades this offseason.
He had a 4.38 ERA and 1.459 WHIP in 61 2/3 innings with the club last season, losing his job as the setup man to Juan Nicasio in June. The club's seven-man bullpen will likely include Crick, Feliz, Felipe Rivero, George Kontos, Tyler Glasnow, Steven Brault and possibly Jordan Milbrath, who the Pirates acquired in the Rule 5 draft.
"In the move of Daniel, we signed Daniel last year with the intention of him helping us for the two years," Huntington said. "We've been able to acquire a few arms, whether it's through the Rule 5 draft, whether it's trade, whether it's some of our own guys developing and taking steps forward, whether it's an openness to maybe having some of our young starters pitch out of the pen. But we've created a nice quality and quantity of arms. And we felt we were dealing from an area of strength."
Gray, 21, was a 13th-round draft pick of the Pirates last June before he batted .269 in 53 games for short-season West Virginia.
Dickerson addresses the Pirates' need for an additional power-hitting threat in the lineup, giving them insurance in the event Colin Moran and Gregory Polanco are unable to provide lineup protection for Josh Bell. Also, the division is quite thin on left-handed starting pitchers, and Dickerson hit 24 of his 27 home runs last season against right-handers.
The Pirates were among the worst offensive teams in baseball with Andrew McCutchen last season, ranking 29th in Major League Baseball in home runs and 28th in slugging percentage.
An eighth-round pick of the Rockies in 2010, Dickerson had 24 home runs in his first full major league season in 2014. However, he was limited to only 65 games the following season after he suffered multiple rib fractures while diving for a fly ball.
Dickerson was traded by the Rockies to the Rays in January 2016, and he flourished in the American League East. However, the club designated him for assignment last week when it acquired C.J. Cron from the Angels. The Rays have traded several players this offseason in a fire sale, including Jake Odorizzi, Evan Longoria and Steven Souza Jr.
Thus, the acquisition cost for Dickerson was quite low. The Pirates included cash considerations to offset at least some of Hudson's contract, although he's not guaranteed a spot in the Rays' bullpen. Additionally, Gray was not among the Pirates' top-30 prospects according to MLB.com, and their system is stocked with middle infield prospects.
Acquiring Dickerson drastically changes the potential outlook of the Pirates' opening day roster. If Harrison stays, barring any significant injuries, Frazier and Rodriguez would play significant roles off the bench, joining David Freese and Elias Diaz to strengthen one of the club's weaknesses from last season.
Additionally, it is increasingly unlikely Luplow or Jose Osuna will make the 25-man roster. Luplow, Daniel Nava and Bryce Brentz, whom the Pirates acquired from the Red Sox on Tuesday, are candidates to be the fourth outfielder, in addition to Frazier and Rodriguez.
"We do feel very comfortable with Adam Frazier bouncing into the outfield," Huntington added. "We do feel very comfortable with Sean Rodriguez bouncing into the outfield. As we've done in the past, the ability to rest guys here and there without taking much of a step back. We feel like we've given Clint [Hurdle] arguably one of the stronger benches we've had in a while, if not in our time here than in his time here, with quality young players behind that in Triple-A."
Dickerson could also be a candidate to bat leadoff. That role was likely to go to Frazier — he batted .260 in 296 plate appearances atop the order last season — but Dickerson batted leadoff in 57 games for the Rays in 2017.
The Pirates open spring training play with a split-squad game against the Rays on Friday afternoon, but it's unlikely any veteran players will compete given that most position players did not report to Pirate City until late last week. So, time will tell how Hurdle experiments with having three left-handed hitters.
The question, though, is will Dickerson be capable of playing defense in left field at PNC Park? He started 87 games in left for the Rays last season, posting a negative-1 defensive run saved, according to FanGraphs, and he has rated as below-average defensively in four of his five major league seasons.
Huntington, though, said Dickerson's defense improved last season because of a revamped offseason workout regimen and their reports early in spring training indicate he is even better prepared to play left field in PNC Park.
"We did see improvement [in his defense]," Huntington said. "Different body, different athleticism. Again, still hasn't played 120 games out there in a given season but we did a see a player that was more athletic, that committed himself and our reports so far this spring are he might be in better shape and maybe even a little bit leaner, while still being able to do a ton of damage in the batter's box. We recognize it's a tough left field. We talked repeatedly about wanting two center fielders out there, but we do think Corey is going to be able to come in, be an offensive weapon for us and play some solid defense."
But Hurdle will have options to use a defensive replacement late in games — his options are far more appealing this season as opposed to last year — and Starling Marte's presence in center should help Dickerson.
Although the Pirates are the only club to not sign a free agent to a major-league contract, this move showed their remaining veterans that they were willing to add to the roster after Harrison and Freese expressed frustration with the direction of the club.