Amaro Denies That Dickerson Trade Is Close

5:59pm: Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. told Todd Zolecki of MLB.com that an acquisition of Dickerson is not close (Twitter link). Heyman has since retracted his report (on Twitter).

5:40pm: The Phillies are close to a deal for Orioles outfielder Chris Dickerson, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports.

Dickerson, 31, was designated for assignment by the O's on July 19, managing a .245/.274/.412 line in 106 plate appearances prior to that point. He's been the subject of several trade rumors since his DFA, with FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal suggesting the Phillies as one possible destination. The Phils are known to be targeting an outfielder for their back up centerfielder job. Dickerson has logged 114 innings in the outfield so far this year, splitting them roughly evenly between left, center and right.

A left-handed hitter, Dickerson has hit 266/.342/.425 for his career against right-handed pitching, so he could also be useful as a late-inning pinch hitter. He's appeared in the majors every year since 2008, but has never managed to accumulate more than 300 plate appearances in any single season.