Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Chris Dickerson

Minor Moves: Jacobs, Herndon, LaRoche, Lalli, Bourgeois, Humber

By | at

Today's minor moves can be found right here in this post …

  • Among the many re-signings of players otherwise eligible for minor league free agency reported by Matt Eddy of Baseball America are first baseman Mike Jacobs, who will stay with the Diamondbacks, and reliever David Herndon, who the Yankees have re-signed. Neither saw big league action this year. Jacobs put up a nice .296/.366/.533 line in 514 Triple-A plate appearances in his age-32 season, while Herndon, now 28, was good for a 2.78 ERA in his 35 2/3 innings across the Yanks system.
  • Third bagger Andy LaRoche has signed with the Blue Jays, Eddy reports on Twitter. The 30-year-old younger brother of Nats' first baseman Adam LaRoche played in just one game with Toronto last year, and has not been a regular big league contributor since leaving the Pirates after the 2010 season.
  • Catcher Blake Lalli has caught on with the Diamondbacks, Eddy notes in the same link. Also thirty years of age, Lalli has only forty uneventful MLB plate appearances. Playing at Triple-A for the Brewers last year, he put up a .282/.334/.447 line in 311 plate appearances.
  • The Reds have signed 31-year-old outfielder Jason Bourgeois, Eddy reports on Twitter. Bourgeois saw limited time with the Rays last year. His career big league line stands at .259/.305/.326 in 515 plate appearances over parts of six seasons, including 51 stolen bases.
  • Right-handed starter Philip Humber, 30, has inked a deal with the Athletics, reports Eddy (via Twitter). The once-perfect Humber had his option declined by the Astros early last month.
  • Righty Fabio Martinez signed with the Dodgers, per another Eddy tweet. The longtime Angel farmhand last worked in the Indians system, but has never managed to harness his live arm and posted BB/9 totals of over ten in 2012-13. 
  • Pitcher Trevor Reckling has signed with the Reds out of independent league ball, Eddy tweets. He played six seasons in the Angels' system, reaching Triple-A at age 21 before moving the wrong way down the ladder. Noted as a reclamation project for the White Sox before the 2012 year, Reckling will give it one more go in Cinci.
  • The Rockies re-signed minor league second baseman Angelys Nina in a move designed to keep him from reaching the open market as a minor league free agent, tweets Eddy. Nina managed a .280/.331/.422 line in his second go-round at Tulsa, adding ten home runs and nineteen steals.
  • Outfielder Chris Dickerson and first baseman Dan Johnson, each of whom were outrighted on Thursday, have refused their assignments and elected to become free agents, according to an Orioles press release yesterday. 
  • Remember to check MLBTR's DFA Tracker for updates on players designated for assignment around baseball. Currently, only Tommy Layne is sitting in DFA limbo.

Orioles Outright Chris Dickerson, Dan Johnson

By | at

Here are today's minor moves and outright assignments from around the league…

  • The Orioles announced that they have outrighted outfielder Chris Dickerson and first baseman Dan Johnson to Triple-A Norfolk. The 31-year-old Dickerson hit .238/.266/.400 in 109 plate appearances for the O's, surviving a DFA and being outrighted to Norfolk only to resurface with the club later in the season. Johnson, 34, was hitless in five at-bats for the O's and is a career .236/.337/.411 hitter in parts of eight big league seasons. He is most famous for the dramtic two-out, two-strike, game-tying home run that he hit in the bottom of the ninth inning in the final game of the Rays' 2011 season. Tampa would go on to win the game, sending them to the postseason.

Orioles Outright Chris Dickerson

By | at

JULY 29: Dickerson has been outrighted to Triple-A after accepting the assignment, according to the team.

JULY 19: The Orioles have designated Chris Dickerson for assignment, the team announced on Twitter. The move will clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Henry Urrutia, who will be promoted to the Majors to start the season's second half.

The 31-year-old Dickerson hit .245/.274/.412 in 106 plate appearances for the Orioles after being promoted in early April. He signed a minor league deal with the O's this offseason. Dickerson broke into the Majors as a 26-year-old with the Reds in 2008 and is a career .263/.340/.408 hitter, though he's produced very little since his first two seasons with Cincinnati.

Urrutia's prospect stock has risen quickly this season, as the Cuban import has batted .365/.427/.531 with seven long balls in 288 plate appearances between Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk. The lefty swinger should give manager Buck Showalter an additional threat at designated hitter, and he could see occasional time in the outfield as well, though the Orioles are mostly set in that capacity with Nate McLouth, Adam Jones and Nick Markakis.

Amaro Denies That Dickerson Trade Is Close

By | at

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.

Rosenthal On Cardinals, Athletics, Stanton

By | at

Ken Rosenthal's latest column for FOX Sports begins with a look at the Braves' rotation without veteran Tim Hudson, who sustained a season-ending ankle fracture last night.  Rosenthal notes it's a very young group without Hudson, and seems to be lacking a true number one starter.  Such a pitcher is probably not available on the trade market, which I imagine the Braves will be eyeing more keenly.  Elsewhere from Rosenthal's column:

  • The Cardinals are not actively pursuing the Astros' Bud Norris or the Blue Jays' Mark Buehrle.  The Cards didn't push for Matt Garza, but did scout Jake Peavy's last start.  Ervin Santana is available as well, but Rosenthal wonders if "a trade might not be worth the trouble," given the Cardinals' current group of talented young pitchers.
  • The Red Sox never got serious on Garza due to concerns with his injury history.  The Red Sox and Tigers were the other AL clubs in on reliever Francisco Rodriguez, who was recently traded to the Orioles.
  • After making a late run at Garza, the Athletics are interested in Peavy and Santana.  Sometimes it helps to add to a strength, explains Rosenthal.
  • The Rangers ask the Marlins for Giancarlo Stanton "every week," a Major League source tells Rosenthal, and keep hearing "no."  In addition to Alex Rios of the White Sox, the Rangers are considering Justin Ruggiano of the Marlins and Chris Denorfia of the Padres.  However, they have "not mounted a serious push" for Ruggiano, while the Padres don't plan to trade Denorfia or teammate Carlos Quentin.
  • "Some with the Brewers" wonder if the presence of Ryan Braun might make it more difficult to attract free agents.
  • The Phillies are "narrowing their search for a backup center fielder," writes Rosenthal, and the recently-designated Chris Dickerson could be one option.

AL East Notes: A-Rod, Guerrieri, Red Sox, Dickerson

By | at

The Alex Rodriguez saga took another strange turn today when the third baseman's handpicked doctor told Mike Francesca of WFAN that the third baseman doesn't have a quad strain and should be able to play, writes Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.  Later in the day, Yankees GM Brian Cashman responded in a press release, saying, "Contrary to the Basic Agreement, Mr. Rodriguez did not notify us at any time that he was seeking a second opinion from any doctor with regard to his quad strain.  As you know, it is the Yankees’ desire to have Alex return to the lineup as soon as possible. And we have done everything to try and accomplish this."  Here's more out of the AL East..

  • Rays pitching prospect Taylor Guerrieri underwent Tommy John surgery today, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. Drafted 24th overall by the Rays in 2011, Guerrieri is ranked as the 64th prospect in baseball by Baseball America. ESPN.com's Keith Law ranks him 47th, while Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com has him at No. 44. In 67 innings this year for the Rays' Class A affiliate, the right-hander had compiled a 2.01 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9.
  • Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino says his team has an obligation to be active at the trade deadline, but that doesn't mean a deal is a certainty, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal tweets. While the Sox have been a popular name in trade speculation and have been connected with arms such as the White Sox's Jake Peavy and the Royals' Luke Hochevar, the executive cautions that the team isn't "just building for one year." "There's going to have to be a pretty good deal to extract some of these high-quality prospects we have," Lucchino said (link).
  • The Orioles are getting lots of interest in Chris Dickerson and we can expect to see him in the majors somewhere in the next few days, tweets Britt Ghiroli of MLB.com.  The O's designated the outfielder for assignment last week.

Aaron Steen contributed to this post.

AL East Notes: Red Sox, Yankees, Boesch, Dickerson

By | at

As regular season baseball returns, let's have a look in at some links involving the American League East, which is the only MLB division to feature four teams with winning records:

  • The Red Sox will emerge from the All-Star break down yet another bullpen arm, with reports emerging that Andrew Bailey will likely be lost for the season. In addition to making Boston's acquisition of Bailey look even less beneficial than it already did, the news could increase the likelihood that the Sox will return to the reliever market before the trade deadline. The team already moved to add two prominent names — Jose Contreras and Brandon Lyon — on minor league deals earlier today.
  • Boston GM Ben Cherington says that Bailey's loss will "move the needle" in determining whether the team will look to pick up another reliever, reports WEEI.com's Alex Speier. He did maintain that the Red Sox have adequate internal options and said that he is disinclined to do anything major. "As I said when [Andrew] Miller went down, when a guy goes down you have to replace him somehow," said Cherington. "You hope that the guys are already here internally, but you've got to keep an open mind and continue to do that over the course of the next couple days."  
  • Yankees GM Brian Cashman also discussed the deadline today, telling reporters including Jack Curry of the YES Network that his club has active in trying to work up a deal but that the trade market is "a tough one." (Twitter link.) Cashman described the market for offensive players as "an offensive offensive market," tweets Andy McCullough of the Star-Ledger. 
  • There could be a structural reason for the trouble the Yanks are finding, writes Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal. With the two-wild card system leaving more teams in contention longer, he reasons, New York is less able to utilize its deep pockets to take on late-year salary dumps.
  • The reason that the Yankees dropped injured outfielder Brennan Boesch earlier today, his agent tells Dayn Perry of CBSSports.com, is not Boesch's ability. "The Yankees' decision to release Brennan Boesch is a matter of timing, not talent," said agent Brodie Van Wagenen. "Brennan's rehab on his shoulder is going well and he expects to be full strength and able to make a meaningful contribution to a major league team in August."
  • After designating outfielder Chris Dickerson for assignment earlier today, the Orioles are hoping to work out a trade to get some value back for him, writes MLB.com's Britt Ghiroli. Manager Buck Showalter says that he believes Dickerson is a big league player who will catch on with another club. To complete a busy day for the O's, the club learned that it will likely go without backup outfielder Nolan Reimold for the rest of the year.

East Links: Harang, Span, Romero, Halladay

By | at

Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes was surprised when Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports pointed out that his new team is off the the same 2-5 start as the Marlins were a year prior. Reyes, however, isn't worried about his team's outlook: "…there’s no concern at all. There’s way too much talent on this ballclub to continue to play the way we’re playing.” Here are some more links from baseball's two Eastern divisions…

  • WEEI.com's Rob Bradford hears that the Red Sox are not interested in trading for Aaron Harang (Twitter link). Reports over the weekend linked Boston to the recently DFA'ed right-hander.
  • Offseason acquisition Denard Span has given the Nationals a "new kind of offensive identity," writes Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. The presence of Span and Jayson Werth atop the lineup forces pitchers to work, given the high volume of pitches the pair averages per plate appearance. Werth and Adam LaRoche both offer high praise for the Nats' new leadoff man, who was acquired from the Twins for Alex Meyer this offseason.
  • Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca chronicles the early work that former Blue Jays ace Ricky Romero has done so far in his attempts to rediscover his mechanics. As Dividi notes, given the $7.5MM owed to Romero in each of the next three seasons, Toronto has no reason to rush and every reason to make sure they get it right.
  • Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. told Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com that struggling ace Roy Halladay will have as long of a leash as he needs to get things sorted out: "If he needs 30 starts he’ll get it. As long as he’s healthy and he keeps working at it — as much as he needs."
  • Chris Dickerson is set to be added to the Orioles' 40-man and 25-man roster today, but speculation that it could result in a Steve Pearce DFA doesn't make sense, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports, who hears that the upcoming move won't involve Pearce.

Minor Moves: Lopez, Waldrop, Zagurski, Dickerson

By | at

We'll track the day's minor moves here…

  • The Padres have signed left-hander Arturo Lopez to a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training, MLB.com's Corey Brock reports (Twitter link).  Lopez made four relief appearances for the Padres in 2009 and has also pitched in the Mets' and Dodgers' farm systems.  The 29-year-old southpaw has spent the last two seasons pitching in the Mexican League.
  • The Pirates signed right-hander Kyle Waldrop to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports (via Twitter).  Waldrop appeared in 24 games as a reliever for the Twins over the last two seasons and posted a 3.62 ERA over 32 1/3 career innings.  Waldrop was outrighted off Minnesota's 40-man roster in October.
  • The Pirates also signed left-hander Mike Zagurski to a minor league deal that contains an invite to Spring Training.  The deal was announced by the team in December.  Zagurski made 45 appearances out of the bullpen for the Diamondbacks in 2012, posting a 5.54 ERA, an 8.2 K/9 and a 1.79 K/BB over 37 1/3 innings.
  • The Orioles announced that they signed outfielder Chris Dickerson to a minor league contract that includes an invitation to Spring Training (Twitter link). The 30-year-old appeared in 25 games for the Yankees in 2012, playing all three outfield positions. He spent most of the season at Triple-A, where he posted a .316/.417/.515 batting line in 321 plate appearances.

MLBTR's Mark Polishuk also contributed to this post

AL East Notes: Dickerson, Hardy, Orioles, Red Sox

By | at

Here's today's look at the American League East..

Mike Axisa contributed to this post.

AJAX Loader
Load More Posts
Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrows scroll to top