Second baseman Brian Dozier has drawn trade interest from multiple teams this offseason, but the Twins would have to be “really inspired” to even consider moving him, new general manager Thad Levine revealed to season ticket holders Tuesday (via Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press). “Teams that are trying to win immediately have a lot of interest in (Dozier) and they should,” Levine stated. “He’s an exceptional player, but we view him the exact same way. We don’t have an immediate replacement. No one’s replacing his 42 home runs. Even if he backs off a little bit from that, we don’t have an immediate replacement for that.” The Twins do have a potential in-house successor in Jorge Polanco, but the 23-year-old would have a tough act to follow in the event of a Dozier trade. In addition to the 42 homers Levine mentioned, Dozier slashed .268/.340/.546 and accounted for 5.9 fWAR in 691 plate appearances last season. The Twins don’t seem close to contending, though, and Dozier only has two years remaining on his contract. Those factors have led to plenty of speculation about Dozier’s future as he prepares for 2017 – his age-30 season.
More from Minnesota:
- New Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey announced the hiring of James Rowson as the club’s hitting coach Friday. “James is someone who possesses all of the attributes of an impact coach and he’s held in high regard by those who’ve had the chance to work alongside him. It was clear to (manager) Paul (Molitor), Thad, and myself that James is the perfect fit for our organization moving forward,” Falvey said. Rowson’s previous experience as a major league hitting coach came with the Cubs from 2012-13. He spent the past three seasons as the Yankees’ minor league hitting coordinator and will now take over for the fired Tom Brunansky.
- Falvey left room for his predecessor, longtime GM Terry Ryan, to remain with the organization in some capacity. Ryan declined, however, and he explained his decision to Berardino. “I’ve been there 30 years. I think to be fair to everyone that’s there, especially Derek and Thad, I probably need to go elsewhere,” Ryan said Thursday. The 63-year-old Ryan, whom the Twins fired in July, joined the Phillies as a special assignment scout earlier this week.
Terry Ryan was a Twins lifer and definitely had a golden era as Twins GM. He was always approachable – almost everyone I know that went down to Ft. Myers for spring training had a chance to sit and BS baseball with him. But… it was just time. The Twins organization got so stale and it was starting to become evident going all the way back to 2007 when he quit the first time.
As much as I would hate to see Brian be traded, if the Twins get a very good return for him it would make sense. The odds that the team can resign Brian after he becomes a free agent after 2018 are slim. The Twins most likely will not be competitive again before 2020 so keeping Brian makes no sense if trading him brings back a very good return in prospects.
Dozier was worth 18.4 WAR over his first 4 1/2 seasons. That averages out to nearly 5 WAR/year which is basically All-Star level. That’s got to bring them back some primo talent in a trade even if his contract’s up in two years.
Royals could be a fit? How about Brian Dozier for a package of Hunter Dozier and others in return?
Hunter dozier is not even that good of a player. Absolutely no superstar potential there. They definitely will deal him for highly regarded prospect(s) that the royals just don’t have
Seems like the Royals have a weak system. I would think it would take one to two top 100 prospects plus more. Royals have no top 100 prospects unless I’m missing it. Mondesi was but not sure he still applies. Though the Twins do need a SS, the Twins need pitching the most…by far. And none of the Royals pitching looks all that interesting.
Hunter Dozier? Are you kidding? The Twins have enough corner infielder/outfielder types. They need pitching…..from top to bottom of the organization.
Who would it take from the Cardinals to obtain Dozier?
Top shelf prospects which St Louis is usually hesitant to give up.
Probably something like Luke Weaver, Dakota Hudson, and Chris Ellis would get it done. The Twins need pitching and the Cards have always had plenty of arms.