Colorado Rockies: Looking back on the Corey Dickerson trade

In January of 2016, the Colorado Rockies traded their young slugger Corey Dickerson to the Tampa Bay Rays for Jake McGee, with two minor leaguers trading hands as well. The move at the time was roundly criticized by the Rockies fan base, including one commentator that said it demonstrated how “out of touch the Rockies are with reality.” Looking back as we start the third season after the trade, it’s safe to say that Rox fans may have a slightly different take on the deal now.

The Trade

At the time, the Rockies were coming off a 71-91 season and had just signed outfielder Gerardo Parra – another move that mystified fans at the time. Parra was yet another outfielder – and a lefty hitter at that – when the Rockies already had too many of both of those.

Charlie Blackmon and Carlos Gonzalez had locks on two out of three outfield spots, and there were also top prospects David Dahl and Raimel Tapia ready to fight with Dickerson and Parra for playing time, and Dahl and Tapia are both left-handed hitters. Throw into the mix righties Brandon Barnes and Ryan Raburn and there just weren’t a lot of at bats to go around.