8:33am: Dickerson signed a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training, and he also drew interest from the Yankees and Indians, according to a second tweet from Biertempfel.
7:55am: The Pirates have signed outfielder Chris Dickerson, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune (Twitter link). Biertempfel does not specify whether or not the MVP Sports Group client received a Major League or minor league deal, but the latter of the two options seems likely. Dickerson is already in Bradenton, Fla. (the Pirates' Spring Training home) for workouts, adds Biertempfel.
The 31-year-old Dickerson batted .238/.266/.400 with four homers and five stolen bases in 109 plate appearances for the Orioles in 2013. He also saw 160 PAs at the Triple-A level where he slashed .243/.350/.368. Originally a 16th-round pick by the Reds in 2003, Dickerson is capable of playing all three outfield positions and has a .745 OPS in 708 career plate apperances.
Pittsburgh has their starting outfied set with Starling Marte in left, 2013 NL MVP Andrew McCutchen in center and Jose Tabata in right, but Dickerson could compete with Travis Snider for a backup role with the Bucs.
I think Dickerson will need someone to go down with an injury to make the 25 man. Lambo and Decker are ahead of him on the depth chart.
Load the bench with bargains and hope they pan out–the NH Way
Unless he goes crazy in ST i think he will be in Indy to start the year.
With Tabata, Snider, Lambo, and Decker (not to mention Polanco) ahead of him on the depth chart, I can’t see this being any more than a depth signing.
Yep. Unless there’s another signing, I’m guessing Lambo is being considered for 1B, Tabata is starting in RF, Decker and Snider are backing up, and Dickerson is at AAA with Polanco.
I liked Dickerson and really thought he had something to contribute, particularly defensively. The Pirates will be well served.
This has Felix Pie –AAA– type depth written all over it.
Dickerson is much better than Felix Pie… I enjoyed watching him play for the O’s last year.
agree…but it’s still AAA depth. Plus, CD brings a high character personna to the club.
Okay. I think this is a good idea. Even if Dickerson doesn’t make the roster, I think he should stick with the organization. You never know if he’ll be added to the 40-man with some good work ethic as shown with Pie last year.
I also find it interesting that when you go to Baseball Reference for Dickerson and look at similar players, within the top 10 compatible batters are Xavier Paul and Alex Presley and oddly a bunch of ex-players who were either born in PA or played for them at one point.
not a bad depth move assuming they didn’t overpay him. I would guess Lambo and Snider will beat him out for an MLB job but having an extra left handed bat could prove useful.
Stockpiling RF candidates makes me wonder if they are planning on trading Tabata.
Down the road when Polanco is ready, I could see that.
Dickerson has had a weird career, but has some talent. I certainly don’t mind the signing at all: he runs the bases well, plays pretty good defense from what I have gathered, and has a little pop. If nothing else, he pushes Snider, who was mostly terrible last year.
I also wonder, just throwing it out there, if Dickerson may be looked at for the left-handed hitting first base option. He hasn’t played first at the major-league level that I know of, but then again neither has Lambo.
Very good depth move