Corey Dickerson has quickly become a fan favorite in Philadelphia with his productive play. How far will the Phillies go in trying to retain the outfielder?
“Should the Phillies re-sign Corey Dickerson?” This is a loaded question. Although it seems like an incredibly simple decision when glancing at Dickerson’s stat line (slashing a ridiculous .293/.307/.579 since joining the Phillies), the debate becomes far more complex when you seriously delve into some of the details.
Dickerson has had a very productive second half in Philly, that much is not up for debate. He’s knocked in 34 runs and hit eight home runs despite being shuffled around in the lineup like a deck of cards. He’s hit for contact, played above-average defense in multiple outfield spots (0 errors), and has overall led to a spark that kept the team floating in the Wild Card race for a few weeks longer than they really should have.
In just 34 games as a Phillie, Dickerson has quickly become a fan favorite. Manager Gabe Kapler obviously has loved his production, and I’m sure other teams around the league have taken note of his abilities. Regardless of his recent broken foot, Dickerson has lined himself up for quite the payday this offseason.
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Bryce Harper, Andrew McCutchen, Jay Bruce, Roman Quinn, Adam Haseley, and Odubel Herrera (yes he’s still on the team) are all outfielders lined up to be on the roster in 2020. That’s quite a long list.
Harper obviously isn’t going anywhere, Cutch was one of the team’s best players when healthy, Haseley has exploded onto the scene in his rookie year, and Quinn and Bruce have proven to be viable bench options.
Nobody is really sure what the plan is for Herrera when his suspension ends (check out John Town’s story talking about the situation here) but it’s unlikely he will be in a prominent role next year.
With Dickerson expected to demand a large sum this winter, it would make little sense to re-sign him solely as a bench piece, he would have to start. So who do you bench for him? Five-time All-Star and former MVP McCutchen? 21-year-old rising star Haseley? 330 million dollar mega-star Harper???
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Seeing as Dickerson probably can’t transition into an everyday center fielder and take over for Haseley, it appears to be Dickerson vs McCutchen for that starting left field job. This seemingly gives us an answer to our difficult question. I absolutely LOVE Dickerson don’t get me wrong. He’s a fantastic player and appears to be an even better teammate/locker room presence.
However, with all that said, Dickerson just doesn’t compare to Andrew. The Phillies are paying McCutchen 17 million dollars next season, and before he tore his ACL, he was legitimately one of the best leadoff hitters in the MLB with a .378 on-base percentage.
There’s a better chance I wake up tomorrow a Braves fan than there is of the Phillies giving up on Cutch just yet.
Now before I officially write Dickerson off as an “ex-Phillie”, there’s always the chance he loves Philly enough to want to take a pay cut and return as a rotational piece. It’s somewhat reasonable to assume Cutch could play some center, and the duo of Haseley and Dickerson could agree on splitting some game time.
Unfortunately, my gut is telling me Corey is going to want to get paid like a starter, and Philadelphia won’t want to splash big on a position they’re relatively deep at (the Phillies have over 400 million dollars invested into the outfield at the moment).
Should the Phillies re-sign Dickerson? Sure, if the price is right it’s always advantageous to retain talent. Will they re-sign him? No, probably not. Here’s to me hoping I’m wrong.
~stats via MLB.com, spotrac.com, and baseball-reference.com~