Rays Trade Rumors: Rockies offering Outfielder for Pitching swap

We got rumors people! According to Ken Rosenthal, the Rays and Rockies are talking trade.

Sources: #Rockies spoke to #Rays about OF for SP swap. TB already has Kiermaier-Souza-Jennings-Guyer. More likely to seek prospects for SP.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 17, 2015

While the noted bowtie aficionado suggests the Rays already have a packed outfield and would look for prospects instead of major leaguers, that's not exactly a fair assessment of the Rays outfield situation.

Whichever Colorado outfielder that would come in a proposed trade would probably be an upgrade over anybody Tampa Bay currently has slotted to play left field. If the Rays are thinking about making a move for a Rockies outfielder lets take a quick look at the options:

Carlos Gonzalez

Owed $37 million for the next 2 years, Gonzalez is the priciest of the bunch. Coming off a nice bounce back 2015 campaign, CarGo had 40 HRs and hit .271/.325/.540 with a 114 wRC+.

As with all Rockies players, questions of inflated stats in the thin, Rocky Mountain air will always arise. For his credit, CarGo posts a respectable career slash line of .255/.310/.441 away from Coors Field. Unfortunately, the Rockies probably won't be shopping him based on away numbers.

Charlie Blackmon

Blackmon enters his first year of arbitration eligibility, and is coming off back to back 2 fWAR seasons. In 2015 Blackmon posted a slash of .287/.347/.450 and a 101 wRC+. He played most of his 2015 season in CF, and not particularly well according to advanced metrics, posting -8 DRS and -8.5 UZR/150.

Corey Dickerson

Dickerson has the most team control (first year of arbitration in 2017, free agent after the 2019 season) and the cheapest price tag of the trio. He also might be the most interesting target because of his ability to mash right handed pitching.

For his career, the lefty has a slash of .313/.358/.577 and a 139 wRC+ vs RHP, which is tantalizing. Dickerson had an injury shortened season in 2015, dealing with both planter fasciitis and two fractured ribs, but was worth 2.6 fWAR in 2014.

Among the three outfielders, Dickerson would be the ideal player to slot into a left field platoon with Brandon Guyer. On the downside, that would require moving Desmond Jennings in this or a later deal, selling him at an all time low, which would not be a great return on value.

Maybe it is prospects the Rays would be want after all, but Dickerson is a fun match.