For the past few weeks the Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins have been connected in trade speculation involving Brian Dozier. The clubs seemingly are a perfect fit, with the Dodgers in need of a second baseman, and the Twins looking to acquire young pitchers.
Los Angeles has stockpiled plenty of arms throughout the ranks of their farm system, and appear willing to include Jose De Leon as a cornerstone piece in a trade for Dozier. De Leon entered the 2016 season rated the No. 5 right-handed prospect by MLB Pipeline.
He went 7-1 with a 2.61 ERA and 111 strikeouts in 86.1 innings pitched in 16 starts for Triple-A Oklahoma City, and made four starts with the Dodgers in September. De Leon is seemingly the type of Major League-ready prospect Minnesota is seeking.
Nonetheless, a recent report indicated the two sides weren’t on the verge of coming to agreement. That seemingly remains the case as the Dodgers and Twins are odds over who should be packaged with De Leon, per Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball:
The Dodgers and Twins have been discussing Minnesota’s star second baseman Brian Dozier for weeks now, and appear to be at a standstill at the moment, if not an impasse.
Word is the Twins have a pitching-heavy list of alternatives they’d take instead, but the Dodgers have to this point an entirely different list of prospects they’d agree to send to Minnesota.
Dozier, who was named an All-Star in 2015, 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+.
The San Francisco Giants reportedly have continued interest in trading for Dozier, though on the surface they do not make for an ideal trade partner with the Twins considering their lack of noteworthy prospects.
While the Dodgers appear to have strong interest in acquiring the 29-year-old Dozier, they reportedly are still considering Ian Kinsler of the Detroit Tigers and Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Logan Forsythe.
However, Kinsler has a limited no-trade clause, and the Dodgers are among the teams he can block a trade to. The veteran openly stated he would approve a deal in the event he’s given a contract extension — a move the Dodgers are unlikely to carry out for a 34-year-old.
