Pirates' Dickerson felt 'embarrassed, disrespected' by Rays' DFA

Corey Dickerson knew his time with the Tampa Bay Rays was running short, but he never thought it would end the way it did.

Though he's coming off a 2017 season in which he was named an All-Star, the Rays surprisingly designated Dickerson for assignment on Saturday to open up a roster spot for newly acquired first baseman C.J. Cron. Five days later, Dickerson was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in a three-player deal.

It's a nearly unprecedented fall from All-Star to DFA limbo, and the entire ordeal both surprised Dickerson and also left a bad taste in his mouth.

"When they called me ... I thought I got traded," the 28-year-old told MLB Network Radio on Friday. "And then (GM Erik Neander) dropped that they were gonna DFA me. And I was confused, embarrassed a little bit, as I started to think about my friends and my family.

"You know you work so hard, you put in all this work, and you perform, and ... you worry about what people think. I was a little bit angry, disrespected feeling. There's a lot of emotions going on. It's really hard to even put in to words, it was kind of like I was so caught off guard I couldn't even really have proper thoughts."

Dickerson struggled in his first season with the Rays, but rebounded in 2017 to post solid numbers across the board. He slashed .282/.325/.490 (the average leading his team) and also slugged 27 home runs and 33 doubles over his 150 games, numbers that were good enough to earn him his first All-Star Game appearance.

But as with many of the Rays' stars, Dickerson's salary - he's set to earn $5.95 million this season after avoiding arbitration - helped contribute to his departure from Tampa Bay. When he was finally dealt, Dickerson became just another name in a string of high-priced Rays players dealt away this winter, joining Evan Longoria, Jake Odorizzi, and Steven Souza Jr., among others.

While acknowledging the business aspect of the game ultimately led to the move, Dickerson said that it's still hard to shake the feelings that came with being designated for assignment, and they might not go away for some time.

"I would always take the high road, I would never bash an organization or any of their decision-making, because it is a business," he said. "But even when you hear their reasonings and stuff like that, in your mind they don't justify all the hard work, all the things you played through, all those sorts of things. And, you know, it could affect your family.

"I don't think I'll ever let this go. As long as I play the game I'll always remember it."