The Pittsburgh Pirates have traded outfielder Chris Dickerson to the Cleveland Indians for a player to be named later, or cash. Paul Hoynes reports that Dickerson will be in uniform for the Indians tonight.
Dickerson had some good numbers for the Indianapolis Indians this season, posting a .309/.407/.479 line in 236 at-bats. He also played a mentor role to Gregory Polanco while the young outfielder was in Triple-A. He could have been an outfield depth option for the Pirates later in the year, although they do have other options. One of those options is Jaff Decker, who is on the 40-man roster, and who has an OPS over .850 since the end of April, along with a lot of good defensive work in the outfield.
This seems like a move to give a veteran a shot in the majors, rather than keeping him in Triple-A. It might be different if the Pirates had an opening in their outfield, and didn’t have other outfield options available. It will be interesting to see what they get in return for Dickerson.