While far from a blockbuster move, the Atlanta Braves made one of the first official signings of MLB free agency when they inked veteran knuckleball pitcher R.A. Dickey to a one-year deal worth $7.5 million. The deal also has an option for 2018 but Dickey serves as the latest addition to a Braves team that will open up a new ballpark this season and thus are making a firm effort to improve the product on the field. After trading for Matt Kemp last summer, the Dickey signing bolsters a starting rotation that needs work. In terms of Dickey's value in fantasy baseball, he comes off a rough 2016 when he put up a 4.46 ERA and 1.37 WHIP but that performance is not much of a shock considering his age (42) and pitching in one of the toughest ballparks in the majors in Rogers Center which is a pure launching pad. Dickey now moves to the much easier National League and returns to the NL East where he won a Cy Young with the Mets in putting up a 2.73 ERA and struck out a monstrous 230 batters. Of course we are not suggesting Dickey will go back to pitching like an ace but his ERA and WHIP will almost certainly come down by a decent margin (think 4.25 ERA and around a 1.32 WHIP), while also seeing an uptick in K's. Nothing more than an SP 5 for sure but at least Dickey's signing shows the Braves are serious about returning to contention.
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