After finishing 17.5 games back of the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central division and one game out of the Wild Card picture, the St. Louis Cardinals made a splash this offseason by poaching Dexter Fowler from the World Series champions.
Since that point, the Cardinals were linked to Justin Turner when he had yet to re-sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and more recently, Minnesota Twins second baseman Brian Dozier. The Dodgers are believed to be in strong pursuit of Dozier, with the San Francisco Giants and Washington Nationals reportedly also interested.
Turner represented an upgrade at third base for the Cardinals, but the club would have needed to trade Jhonny Peralta. St. Louis faces a similar situation at second base, where Kolten Wong has established himself.
However, according to ESPN’s Mark Saxon, the Cardinals’ reported interest in Dozier appears to have been minor:
I'm told the #STLCards are not actively pursuing Brian Dozier. That doesn't mean there hasn't been contact at some point, of course.
— Mark Saxon (@markasaxon) December 27, 2016
Dozier batted .268/.340/.546 with 35 doubles, 42 home runs, 99 RBI and a 136 OPS+ over 155 games this past season. He set career highs in on-base plus slugging percentage (.886), doubles, home runs, RBI and OPS+.
Comparatively, Wong hit .240/.327/.355 with seven doubles, five home runs, 23 RBI and an 83 OPS+ in 121 games. His production was down significantly from 2015, when Wong batted .262/.321/.386 with 28 doubles, 11 home runs and a 93 OPS+.
He signed a five-year, $25.5 million contract with the Cardinals in March, and the club remains high on their 26-year-old second baseman. Dozier is owed $15 million over the next two season ($6 million in 2017 and $9 million in 2018).
