Who Is Chris Dickerson

You may have seen a new right fielder this past week as the Yankees played down in Tampa against the Orioles.  Chris Dickerson was called up by the Yankees from Triple-A when Rafael Soriano was placed on the DL with elbow soreness.

Besides being the guy who was hit in the face by Mike Gonzalez on Wednesday night and is now suffering from a mild concussion, Dickerson was the guy who we traded for Sergio Mitre during spring training.  You can read my post about that trade HERE.   On a side note, After watching that pitch hit Dickerson the other night, he should be very thankful that he only received a mild concussion.  While watching that game, it looked like he could have died!

Prior to this season, Dickerson has been bouncing around in the National League since 2008 with Cincinnati & Milwaukee.  He wasn’t going to make the Brewers major league team out of spring training and rather than being sent back down to the minors, they traded him.  During the spring he had some decent numbers, hitting .278.  Those numbers were good enough to make an impression and he started this year in Triple-A Scranton.

Before getting called up by the Yanks, Dickerson was playing the outfield in Triple-A and batting only .248.  Although that seems like a low batting average to get a major league call-up, he does have a .370 on base percentage.  It’s not great by any means, but it still is better than Swisher who is batting a mere .163.  He also provides some versatility in the outfield as he plays both the corners and center.

Dickerson also has some pretty good numbers against righties over his career.  He has a career .273 batting average against righties with a .363 on base percentage and .420 slugging percentage.  Logic tells us that Dickerson will be used against righties and Andruw Jones will be used against lefties.   That is assuming this concussion is as “mild” as they claim.

So far Dickerson has been limited to two games for the Yankees and has gone 2 for 5 with 1 RBI and 2 strikeouts.  Hopefully he can battle this concussion and get back on the field while Swisher tries to figure out how to swing a bat!

Why The Trade Makes Sense

As of today, Granderson's injury is still a question mark and he said its 50-50 that he will play on opening day.  I would imagine the Yankees are quite concerned about this injury and will play it safe by starting Granderson on the DL for the start of the season.  It's easier to deal with a small problem now, then a large problem in June/July.  With Granderson's health and Andruw Jones sub-par numbers this spring, the Yankees needed some insurance.


With Mitre being the odd man out in the rotation battle this spring, it was logical that Cashman would try to deal him.  The Brewers, like the Yankees, had an extra player but in their outfield, Chris Dickerson.  Since Zack Greinke was injured this spring, the Brewers needed a starting pitcher and the Yankees needed a fourth/fifth outfielder, it just made sense -- Trade Mitre for Dickerson.


Dickerson was having a decent spring training, batting .278.  He has quality career numbers against righties, batting .273/.363/.420.  It looks like the Yankees will start Dickerson when they are facing a righty and start Andruw Jones when facing a lefty.  Dickerson has some big league experience in the outfield, which is more than the Yankees can say about Eduardo Nunez who has been getting some starts in left field.  Nunez has looked terrible trying to track down fly balls, so he would be a defensive liability.  


The other options for the outfield spot weren't looking much better:  Golson, Curtis & Mesa.  Of that group, I like Melky Mesa the best, but he is still a long way from playing in the big leagues.  Golson who made some starts last year is having a slow offensive spring only batting .231, so the Yankees need to let him heat up in AAA if they will call him up.  Colin Curtis is the other option but he has been injured this spring and is batting .000 in six starts.  His winter ball numbers in the Mexican League weren't much better than Golson, batting only .240.  Bottom line is nobody in the Yankees system made much sense and Cashman had to get creative.  


This trade wasn't a "Big Trade" but it alleviated some of the concerns the Yankees had for the outfield.  Bringing in Dickerson for righties and starting Jones for lefties was a smart solution to a temporary problem.  It should be interesting to see what the Yankees do once Granderson is healthy, but something tells me Cashman has a few other moves up his sleeve.

Lots of News From Sunny Florida

We arrived yesterday in Tampa and as soon as we got here, the Yankees started making some moves.  Sergio Mitre was traded to the Brewers for Chris Dickerson early in the day and Kevin Millwood was signed to a minor league deal before lunchtime.  Say what you want about Cashman but both these moves make a lot of sense.

Mitre has been struggling this spring and has never really found a definitive spot on this team.  He has been used as a long man and a spot starter, but overall has never really become a go-to pitcher.  Since the Yankees had signed Bartolo Colon, and he has pitched incredible well this spring, it is logical to make him the long man.  Colon has not pitched 100 innings since 2005, and has only pitched a total of 64 innings over the previous two season.  The Yankees considered him as a starter, but realized Colon wouldn't make it though the full season.  Since his numbers were so strong this spring, it would be a shame to cut him, so Colon has been named the long man, ultimately leaving Mitre the odd man out.  Its also noteworthy that Colon's pitch speed decreases inning by inning, so leaving him as a reliever makes it a no-brainer.

Now Granderson looks like he may be injured and could possibly start the season on the DL, so the Yankees needed an extra outfielder.  It seems like Golson and Curtis didn't impress the team, so the Yankees looked outside the organization, finding Dickerson.  That is why Mitre was traded for Dickerson. Dickerson has some major league experience and Mitre had no place on the team. Simple as that.

Last night or this morning, Ivan Nova was named the 4th starter and Garcia the 5th starter.  We watched Nova pitch last night and he looked good, even without his great stuff.  Last week when he pitched the no hitter against the Orioles he looked really sharp and his fastball had great movement down in the zone.  Last night, he was good, but definitely not "sharp."  Notwithstanding, he still managed to pitch 6 solid innings allowing only 2 earned runs.  He had a few strikeouts and a walk, which led to one of those runs.  Nova has come into camp to prove his worth as the #4 starter, and he is the obvious choice.  If he doesn't work out, the Yankees still have insurance with Colon and possibly Millwood.

Millwood was given a low risk contract where he could make 1.5 mil if he makes the major league roster with incentives for ever 10, 15, 20 and 25 games he pitches.  If he doesn't make the team by May 1st, he can opt out.  The Millwood decision is very low risk and is nothing more than an insurance policy.

Cashman gets a lot of heat, but he made some smart low-risk moves this offseason.  These moves so far have been high reward and hopefully will continue to pay off as the season progresses