PORT CHARLOTTE (620 WDAE) -- The Rays made a pair of significant moves Saturday evening, designating Corey Dickerson for assignment after acquiring first baseman C.J. Cron, then trading starter Jake Odorizzi to the Minnesota Twins for a minor-league prospect. However, general manager Erik Neander did well to use their depth to help not only bolster a need for the team (a right-handed power-hitting first baseman), but also provide some headroom in the payroll department, what he termed "financial flexibility."
"These are two areas for us in terms of what was going out that we determined to be areas of depth, and wanted to work from those," Neander explained Sunday. "We were able to bring in one prospect in Jermaine Palacios and we'll see how things play out with [Dickerson], but you know [it's] an opportunity for us to achieve some of our stated goals while still giving ourselves enough of camp to continue to explore the market and see what else we can do to round out our team."
Cron has not played more than 116 games in a season in Major league Baseball, but it's not because of injury, rather having to play behind Albert Pujols in Los Angeles, and Neander feels the 28-year-old could be ready to take the next step.
"He's a really good hitter. He's strong. He has a really good feel to hit. His hands work. He can do a lot of different things in terms of the pitches he can stay on, where he can drive a baseball, et cetera," the Rays GM Pointed out. "He's at that point in his career where some of the life experiences and some of the adversities he's had to deal with through his career to this point I think can put him in a position where coming into a new environment, sometimes a fresh start can really help those guys, energize them and put them in a position to hit a higher gear."
Manager Kevin Cash also thinks getting an opportunity to play every day should lead to a higher output from the former first-round pick.
"Without knowing exactly what he's gone through and what his role [was] in Anaheim, we look at C.J. as a guy that might have an opportunity to have a little bit cleaner avenue to get some playing time," the Rays skipper said. "And that bat might translate to some more power and some more consistency."
But not everyone is pleased with the moves. Pitcher Chris Archer was surprised that the trade of Odorizzi netted the team just a single minor-league prospect. However, he's hoping the 21-year-old Palacios turns out to be a super prospect just like Tobias Myers, who the Rays got from Baltimore for Tim Beckham.
"I'm hoping that [the Odorizzi trade] was one of the situations like with Beckham," Archer said. "We got one really, really, really good minor-league player. I've had a chance to meet [Myers] and I think he's going to be pretty special, and I'm hoping the same is the case for [Palacios]."
But Archer is not as optimistic with the Dickerson decision, calling it "perplexing."
"Everybody knows the circumstances, how much he brought to the team last year," Archer continued. "I'm just hoping that a team picks him up, because he earned his salary, and he deserves to make what he earned."
Listen to more from Neander, Cash and Archer below!