Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

Alternate title: Why did I spend my day off analyzing Chris Dickerson?

I don’t play fantasy baseball. My dad and two of his friends play Big Show Baseball, which is run by a former member of the Los Angeles Angels’ front office, and is essentially fantasy baseball on steroids. There are a lot of spreadsheets involved, a lot of discussions about linear weights, contracts, arbitration, and non-roster invites, and 6-hour drafts via conference call. I’m not officially involved with the team, but I am somewhat unofficially the Yankee scout. Meaning I attempt to answer any questions the three of them have about Yankee players or prospects (though not knowing the answer has happened more times than I’m willing to admit). The other day, after realizing their team possessed little depth in the outfield, they had a Yankee question:

“What about Chris Dickerson?”

Back in February, Dickerson, who was out of minor league options, was placed on waivers by the Yankees to make room on the 40-man. Most were convinced he’d be claimed by another team, but he managed to clear waivers. Which means he’s heading to Triple-A once spring training ends and will be stashed away in the minor leagues as a nice insurance policy for the Yankees.

Dickerson was an extra outfielder for the Yankees, a late-inning defensive replacement, and an occasional pinch-runner/hitter. He was useful enough, and I figured a handful of teams would be interested. A few teams off the top of my head that are short on depth in the outfield and could benefit from having Dickerson on their team: the Houston Astros, New York Mets, or Washington Nationals.

Dickerson obviously has his flaws. He isn’t a great baseball player. He’s not even a very good player. He doesn’t hit lefties, he owns a career strikeout rate of 26.1% (though he has a career walk rate of 11%), and a career .133 ISO indicates power isn’t his game. But he’s athletic, and has an upside many teams could get plenty use out of. He’s only amassed 582 plate appearances in four major league seasons — split between the Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers and Yankees — but he’s a lefty who has hit right-handers well in his career, can play all three outfield positions, and brings some defense and decent speed to the table. He’s exactly what teams should want in a fourth outfielder – though he could probably be starting for a team like the Astros. Um, for the record, I could probably be starting for a team like the Astros.

His career line against right-handers over four seasons is .270/.355/.415 with a .341 wOBA. He offers respectable speed, and has been pretty successful at stealing bases in both the majors and minors. Over limited playing time in four major league seasons, Dickerson has stolen 24 bases in 30 attempts (an 80% success rate). In the minors, he stole 161 bases in 208 attempts (a success rate of 77%).

So, what about Chris Dickerson? I think he’s a great role player to have on a team, particularly if you’re looking for outfield depth. Unfortunately for Dickerson, he hasn’t gotten many opportunities to be a full-time player or even a platoon, in part due to injuries. The Yankees simply have no room for him on the roster, but I’m of the opinion that he deserves more of a shot to flourish in the majors, and it still remains surprising that he managed to clear waivers.

Take a quick glance at the Astros depth chart and tell me I’m wrong.

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The offense got things going quickly, scoring three runs in the first inning. Grandy then hit a homer in the second before Carmona threw a pitch at Tex’ upper body. The beaning, obviously, didn’t sit well with the team and the benches cleared; Girardi even got into it with Tribe skipper Manny Acta. Tex was pissed to say the least. It was good seeing some emotion from the team, but I have to wonder why nobody said boo when the Sox beaned five Yankees over two games…

Regardless, Tex got the last laugh as he had a three-run double (his first double since May 28 — 29 games), two walks and scored twice. It was, though, his seventh hit by pitch of the season after getting hit just 13 times all of last year.

Posada seems to have been revived as of late; he went 3-for-5 with an RBI but did get caught trying to stretch a single into a double. He now has hits in 10 of his last 16 at-bats and, since asking out of the lineup against Beantown, is 16-for-50 (.320). However, he still hasn’t hit a home run since April 23 (104 at-bats).

A-Rod absolutely murdered a pitch for his 625th career dinger, reports said it traveled 460 feet, while Gardy and Cano combined to go 5-for-9 with two RBI and a run scored. Jeet went 1-for-5 with a double and scored twice, and is now nine hits away from 3,000.

SuperNova threw a pretty good game after a few clunkers. He went seven innings and gave up two runs on four hits with six strikeouts to three walks. He said that he felt as strong in the seventh inning as he did early on, which is good. Hopefully he keeps this going and puts up some more strong starts.

The bullpen did its darnedest to give the lead away. Kevin Whelan, who was *brought up before the game, walked in a run while getting only two outs in the eighth. He had walked only six batters in 27 innings in Scranton, but walked four in six batters during his Major League debut tonight. I know it’s an unfair comparison, but Mo has walked four batters in 24 1/3 innings this season.

*Chris Dickerson was sent down to make room

Amauri Sanit then came on and struck out O-Dog to end the eighth before giving up four runs (three of which were charged to him) on as many hits in the ninth. Lance Pendleton walked in a run and Mo gave up a two-run single. The final score really isn’t indicative of how bad the Yanks beat them all game. It would have been a shame if they blew it, Nova really pitched well and deserved the win.

For what it’s worth: the Injuns had scored four runs or fewer in 14 of their last 18 games and two runs or fewer in 10 of their last 15 games coming in.

The clubs will play the second tilt of this four-game set tomorrow at 1:05 with Cy Colon going against Mitch Talbot.

It was announced before the game that Joba will undergo Tommy John surgery on Thursday. The procedure will be performed by Dr. James Andrews. It usually takes at least a year to recover so best case scenario he’s back by next All-Star break, but most likely we won’t see him until 2013. Get well soon Joba!

LET’S GO YANKS!!!

Mitre’s numbers with the Yanks (’09-’10) were rather lackluster, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a Yankee fan who’s upset about his departure. He gave up 114 hits, 68 runs (59 earned), 17 homers, 29 walks and 61 strikeouts in 105 2/3 innings for an 89 ERA+ in his two years in pinstripes (mostly mop-up duty). Peace out Meattray, don’t let the door hit you in the ass.

Dickerson has 454 at-bats in three years with the Reds and Brewers. The 28-year-old, who owns a lifetime line of .267/.356/.403, has one option left and is expected to be insurance if (God forbid) Grandy’s oblique injury is more serious than previously thought.

The 36-year-old Millwood was signed to a pro-rated $1.5 million deal with $3.5 million in incentives. He gets $500,000 each for five, 10, 15, 20 and 25 starts, and would get an additional $1 million for 30 starts. However, he has to be on the 25-man roster by May 1 or the deal is void.

Millwood, who threw a no-no for the Phils back in 2003, went 4-16 with a 5.10 ERA and 223 hits, 116 runs (108 earned), 30 homers, 65 walks, 132 strikeouts and a 1.510 WHIP in 190 2/3 innings for an 83 ERA+ in 31 starts last year for the Orioles. The 14-year veteran boasts a career 159-137 record with a 4.11 ERA in 2505 innings for the Braves, Phils, Indians, Rangers and O’s.

This is a low-risk signing and Kev is more or less insurance in case Colon and/or Garcia get hurt. It never hurts signing guys to minor-league deals. I’m all for the move.

The season starts tonight when the Atlanta Braves visit NL East rival and defending World Series champions, from the City of Brotherly Love, the Philadelphia Phillies. Looking at last year before the season, some people didn’t think the Phils would win their division, let alone the ultimate MLB prize, a championship ring. People just get it wrong sometimes. However, the exercise of predictions is always a fun one to partake in, particularly for a writer that loves baseball. So, that said, below are my prognostications for the upcoming 2009 season with some brief comments for each division results. After choosing the World Series champs, I’ll predict the individual awards as well. Agree or disagree, leave a comment!

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