Twins second baseman Brian Dozier would like to stay in Minnesota for the long haul, but he realizes the rebuilding club might not feel the same way.
“You need to see after the season who is going to be our GM, which obviously plays a huge part in it,” Dozier told Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
The Twins are in the midst of a front office shakeup and are looking for both a president of baseball operations and a general manager. Interim GM Rob Antony is a candidate to take over as president, and he’s aware of Dozier’s desire to remain with the Twins.
“I know talking with (interim GM Rob Antony) he knows I’d love to be here for a very, very long time,” Dozier said. “We made that clear the past three or four years as we’ve been talking about extensions and that kind of thing. But there’s way too many (questions) and there’s a lot of other things involved that have to take place rather than just for me to say, ‘Hey, I’m open. Let’s do it.’ ”
Antony was working under then-GM Terry Ryan when the Twins signed Dozier to a four-year, $20MM extension prior to the 2015 season. That contract has been a bargain for the Twins, especially this season. After slashing .240/.322/.425 with 69 home runs and 47 stolen bases in 2,034 plate appearances from 2013-15, during which time he combined for 10.5 fWAR, Dozier’s performance has reached an higher level in 2016. The 29-year-old has belted 41 homers, becoming just the fourth second baseman to hit 40 or more in a season, to accompany a .282/.354/.577 line across 641 PAs. Dozier has also added 15 steals on 17 attempts and accumulated 6.2 fWAR, the majors’ eighth-highest total among position players.
Given both his on-field excellence and cheap remaining control (two years, $15MM), the last-place Twins will have a highly appealing trade chip on their hands if they choose to shop Dozier in the offseason. Before putting Dozier on the block, the Twins would likely approach him about an extension, according to Berardino. Not only would locking Dozier up be costly, but the possibility of the team being a fair distance from returning to contention could make retaining him for the foreseeable future all the more difficult.
“I want to win,” Dozier said. “I want to win more than ever. It’s a point in my career that I want to have everybody on the same page — to be dedicated to win and make sure to do that. That comes first.”
With the offseason approaching, plenty of opposing scouts have been on hand at Twins games this month to watch Dozier, per Berardino. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reported last week that the Twins would likely want front-line pitching in return for Dozier, for whom they have a potential successor in Baseball America’s 97th-ranked prospect, Jorge Polanco. While mostly playing shortstop for the Twins, the 23-year-old has held his own with a .294/.344/.431 line in 217 trips to the plate this season.
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Would dozier and Santana to the Dodgers for Urias, Kendrick and pederson be sufficient for both sides?
Thats such an overpay for dozier even urias alone may be too much
Urias alone? That’s not enough for Dozier. He’s an overhyped prospect. Just like most prospects
He is dominating major league hitters at 19/20 years of age.
Hasn’t he been up & down in the minors this past month?
Urias is not overhyped he has already arrived at a very young age I would not trade Urias at all. He is still just 20 years old and holding his own the sky is the limit for that kid.
are you on drugs?
I think it’s a good starting point, though the Twins would definitely need to give up at least one of their prospects.
Why would the Dodgers give up Urias and Pederson? That’s their starting CFer and a guy who’s now pitching in the majors – well – who they absolutely refused to move even for positions of need.
It would be an overpay, but dozier is a top 3 second baseman imo. Maybe Urias is a bit over the top, but if I were the Dodgers and could get a good player in a deal centred around pederson, I would in a heartbeat. He seems like a guy who has such a low floor just because of the strikeouts. And in this barren free agent market, a guy like dozier is going to have to have an offer that Minnesota will be unable to turn down. Urias might’ve been extreme, but I think it won’t be much smaller than the deal I proposed.
Not after the adjustments Pederson has made this year. The Dodgers have no significant need for Dozier. Their needs will revolve around an OF bat with power. So yes that’s an extreme overpay and it won’t happen. Kendrick is more than sufficient enough at the bottom of the lineup. Plus they could easily stick with what they have if they believe in Calhoun. So in essence Kendrick/Utley can easily fulfill a stop gap.
What Pederson provides is gg level defense with big pop at a position that you don’t expect. His BA may not be great but he walks a lot and drives the ball. Sure he’ll probably always strike out a higher clip than normal but if he develops into a 30 hr guy you can live with it and he also provides a .832 obs. It’s clear he’s growing. The beauty of this team is that up the middle they are going to play solid defense and they have pop. The Dodgers really don’t need to make any significant organizational trades to contend. They really just need to resign what they have and find a comp piece here and there.
How high r u?
Lol….really?
Idk maybe I over value dozier a bit, but he is 8th in position player War and 12th in ops plus in the entire league. Like I said Urias might be a bit much, but you are going to have to overpay to get him, and Santana would easily slot in as LA’s number three next year
But that’s the whole point right the twins need the young pitching more than the Dodgers need Dozier. You won’t see Santana in the same deal bc it wouldn’t make sense. If the twins were to trade Dozier and Santana it would probably be in separate deals to obtain multiple young pitchers. Urias has been off limits for how long why would the Dodgers now decide to trade for a player who had a career year?
Buxton, Dozier for Urius, Kendrick, Puig
I believe you’re what’s called a “homer.” What next, Puig for Fernandez straight up?
homer? i live in neither minnesota or LA , so no
Whoooo let’s step back on those homer comments. Puig had one amazing season and Dozier did also. Obviously Dozier’s power numbers are better. Are we assuming that this is the new norm for Dozier or with a lost season is this Dozier a flash in the pan? Which you can’t argue is more than a reasonable question. His ops had never flashed beyond .770 before this year and a BA never above .244. He’s had one season of a plus UZR which is more stable of a indicator in the inf than in the OF. So does one season of 30 hr at 30 years old next year dictate backing the prospect truck. Or does it indicate a career year that can never be reproduced? I’m inclined to think that Doziers performance is impressive beyond belief but at what price?
Urias is automatically the #2 on staff and eventually grow into ace status. Puig by far the best defensive of. He seems to have figure it out but is not a fit for the Dodgers. Now in that scenario we are assuming this is the Buxton scouts have been raving about and been the the injury rap and league wide scouting report guy hidden deep within the lineup kind of similar to Puig. So in what world would this be considered homerism. One that twins fans consider an indication that all will stay the same or dodger fans believe the same.
The twins may as well throw in Kepler, Sano and Gonzales while they’re at it…since the dodgers are offering up kendrick.
Smh
*Gonsalves
You asked if I was on drugs, and then left in Urias? Hypocrite much.
Why would any team want your Puig who sucks and is immature and a flat out cancer in the clubhouse
Paul
What would a decent package from the Braves look like? Albies + Jace Peterson + a higher pitching prospect?
Twins obviously need pitching and should look to trade Dozier this winter for a young controllable starter.
Dozier to Phi for Vincent Velasquez and a young stud reliever like Hector Neris. Philly is looking to add a good bat or two and Min needs good young pitching, Dozier did hit 40+ home runs this year is has a cheap contract the next two years , but he also is a .240 hitter w/ 69 home runs over 2000 at bats prior to this year, which Dozier would they be getting?
No! Philly has no need to trade core players for a guy whos had 1 good year. I think the Phillies should stay low-key this offseason. Make a few medium sized deals but they dont need that
I could see Dozier mashing in that ballpark
For Dozier, Dodgers make the most sense but I would say a package of Barnes, Sheffield and Sborz and maybe a low level guy (Edwin Rios?) would get it done. Dozier is very solid, but he doesn’t have a great track record and I personally would rather give more mid-level pieces.
Why would Minnesota want a bunch of mid level prospects.
The Twins don’t have to trade Dozier (two more years, about $10 million total) so the idea of peddling him for someone else’s mid-level prospects is laughable. Dozier remains a key player for the Twins, perhaps more valuable for them then others. The Twins don’t need outfielders or DH/1B types but they do need a front line catcher and pitching, especially starting pitching pitchers. If they are going to trade him, they can insist on a couple of high value MLB or MLB ready young starters and/or a high value catcher. No takers? Fine, he remains a Twin. Trading him without receiving exceptional value in return is unacceptable for a team that is struggling to regain the confidence of its fans.
Very well said Bernaldo
Players often want to remain with their current team but generally only if that team pays them the most.
Would love Dozier …he would balance out the lefty leaning line-up. Urias, Seager and Joc are all now the young cornerstones of the ’17 team so I don’t see any of them going anywhere.
The deal (for the Dodgers) would have to be something like JDL, one of the Tulsa 3 (Bellinger, Verdugo or Calhoun) and probably 2 more lower level prospect (Sheffield, Buheler, Diaz or Sborz) and I could see Puig dealt in the deal in Minn insisted but if Puig is in the deal I would take the Tulsa 3 off the table.