With a lack of viable free-agent second basemen, clubs looking to upgrade at the position are resorted to evaluating trade options. That’s resulted in Brian Dozier of the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler often being mentioned in trade speculation.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are among the teams seeking a second baseman, and have been connected to Dozier and Kinsler, as well as Tampa Bay Rays infielder Logan Forsythe. Although the Dodgers reportedly view Kinsler as a strong fit for their roster, trading for Dozier appears to be the most likely scenario.
While Los Angeles and Minnesota are said to be engaged in continued discussions for the All-Star second baseman, the San Francisco Giants also remain interested in Dozier, according to Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball:
giants still like brian dozier & showing some interest. but fit remains imperfect. dodgers have been most persistent on BD
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 20, 2016
Giants second basemen batted .256/.322/.377 with 35 doubles, 14 home runs, 92 RBI, a .303 wOBA and 91 wRC+. That was better than Dodgers second basemen, led by Chase Utley, who hit a combined .246/.308/.379 with 32 doubles, 16 home runs, 68 RBI and had a 20.5 percent strikeout rate.
The bulk of the production from the position for the Giants came from Joe Panik. He appeared in a career-high 127 games and hit .239/.315/.379 with 21 doubles, 10 home runs and 62 RBI.
Comparatively, Dozier batted .268/.340/.546 with 35 doubles, 42 home runs, 99 RBI and a 136 OPS+ over 155 games. He set career highs in on-base plus slugging percentage (.886), doubles, home runs, RBI and OPS+.
Considering the Dodgers are believed to have Jose De Leon on the table as the cornerstone of a trade package for Dozier, it’s difficult to imagine the Giants becoming heavily involved.
San Francisco included top prospect Phil Bickford in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers prior to the non-waiver deadline.
