The market for Twins second baseman Brian Dozier is heating up, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN. ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick agrees, noting increased chances of a deal before today’s 3pm central time trade deadline.
Dozier, an impending free agent, is struggling mightily with the bat this season after posting four consecutive years of above-average offensive performance. Dozier was a star from 2016-17, with his 11.2 wins above replacement trailing only Jose Altuve among second basemen. Though potential suitors like the Red Sox, Brewers, Phillies, Dodgers, and Diamondbacks have acquired other infielders, the Giants and Indians were linked to Dozier by Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press on Saturday.
The Twins’ pursuit of a possible trade suggests a reluctance to make a qualifying offer to Dozier after the season (possibly in the $18MM range), or at least a sense that they feel they can acquire players superior to the potential draft pick they could receive as compensation. That draft pick could be after Competitive Balance Round B, if Dozier signs elsewhere for less than $50MM. Such a draft pick could be in the range of #75 overall.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
The Mouse and Kinsler deals sure hurt the Twins leverage.
dozier to mariners. Gordon goes back to centre. this just makes too much sense.
second would be dozier to Indians and moving kipnis to OF.
I see the Indians, Phillies, brewers, and diamondback in the mark for a second baseman, because all these teams need a bat too with defense, and with dozier these things go up his alley
Milwaukee & Philadelphia don’t need a 2B, you’re a full week behind.
DBacks already got Escobar. Dozier isn’t a need
Why aren’t the Indians going after Dozier or any other 2nd baseman? anyone is an upgrade over kipnis, moving kipnis to the OF spot is a joke too he should be bench.
Their slash line for the year says otherwise. They’re pretty close to the same guy this year. Dozier’s got like 10 extra base hits on him. That’s it.
And Kipnis has been better in the last month. and if you count just the last two weeks Kipnis has been waaaay better.
From a source within the Indians org: the Indians have Dozier as their top priority after the Harper trade talk cooled off. Look for a deal to get done within the next couple hours. Don’t forget the Indians and Twins front offices have a close relationship given the common link of Derek Falvey who worked with the Tribe for a number of years.
It would be a convenient move for Dozier today–he’ll just have to switch locker rooms.
You’ve mentioned this multiple times and seem pretty confident. Care to elaborate on the details of a deal?
Not a problem. Twins are in desperate need of starting pitchers and the Indians aren’t willing to deal any of their top tier pitchers. Look for someone like a Jake Paulson or Sean Brady to be the arms involved.
Just got Martin so that likely rules them out on dozier.
Desperate need is not an accurate statement.
They have Gonsalves, Romero Littell, Slegers (hurt currently), Poppen (if added to the 40 man), Stewart (if they add him to the 40 man) and Thorpe all ready or near ready to contribute to this year and/or next year.
I don’t disagree that they may want to add another to the mix, but desperate need isn’t the correct way to put it. Unless they trade Odorizzi or Pineda tanks in his first year back from TJ they’ll only have one spot open next year and you could add Mejia into that list for next year (he’s already in the rotation for Lynn right now).
I only see 2 of the last 4 where he was good. I wouldn’t want my team to have him. Take my chance with other guys
It would be a complete shock if the brewers get into it. Having moose in the fold, they really need to look at pitching. I would love to see Zach Wheeler in Milwaukee. Does it project well, maybe not. I just like him as a pitcher. Im pretty sure if the price is right, Stearns will be on dozier though.
It would be a big shock to Twins fans if the Twins trade Dozier to Cleveland. Despite this year, the Twins think they can compete next year and the Indians are the only other team in the Division that will be any good. The Indians would have to overpay to get him, where everyone else (particularly an NL team) could probably do it for a lot less talent.
Get ready for it…. don’t be surprised to see Dozier go to the visitors clubhouse today at Target Field.
He’s a free agent so what does next year have to do with it?
My thoughts exactly, this would only help the Twins and (possibly) hurt the Indians in regards to next year.
Indians will be the fifth best team in the AL playoffs, with or without Dozier. And, the Twinkies will not be competitive in 2019, with or without Dozier.
Just your own stupid opinion
They’re only 7 games below .500 and suffered major injuries to two players and their two former top prospects haven’t performed and others have underperformed as well.
With the way this season has gone, I’m surprised they are that close to .500 right now. Meaning if a couple of those things go right next year they should be able to compete. And there is zero reason to not try since the Indians are the only competition.
Since Jake Lamb “may be” dealing with a serious shoulder injury, I think Arizona is more likely landing spot for Dozier.
Isn’t that what Escobar was for? They traded for him not long after Lamb was injured.
I’m a Twins fan and a Dozier fan. Both suck this year. I would applaud a trade to the Tribe that ignites both the Indians and Dozier. Regarding the Yankees and Red Sox, I hope they run them through.
I just don’t see a Dozier trade happening now. The Twins front office should realize that they are not going to get much for him now, since most of the teams that would have wanted him have made other moves. This is going to anger a lot of Twins fans, as I can see Dozier signing as a FA somewhere else after this year. He was felling pretty slighted that they wouldn’t talk to him about an extension.
I’m fine with Dozier going. It seems like 2B around his age tend to fall off. We may be seeing that already happening instead of just a down year. Or maybe all of his good stats were from eating red meat, which he cut out this offseason (joking…maybe).
I don’t expect much for him in a trade. Maybe one top 30 prospect if they’re lucky. I wouldn’t even be surprised if he’s not traded. He’s been really bad.
I’d be shocked if he got more than 3/40 or 4/40 in the offseason. The Twins don’t have much immediate MI help. It’s Gordon who is playing badly in AAA and then the guys who are already on the team. I’d like the Twins to bring back Escobar in the offseason, but they’re probably going to need someone no matter who it is.
Agreed on the point he may not be traded at this point. He’s not the type of guy you just dump to clear room. Might be a different story if Gordon was looking ready in AAA but as of now it’s either a couple top 20 guys or just hold onto him.