Splitting time with Minnesota Twins and Los Angeles Dodgers, Brian Dozier had one of the worst seasons of his career in 2018. It came at an inopportune time as he is now among the second basemen available in free agency.
There hadn’t been much reported interest in Dozier through the offseason thus far, although that has begun to change in recent weeks.
The Colorado Rockies, who will likely be losing D.J. LeMahieu this winter, recently became linked to Dozier if he is interested in signing a short-term contract.
The Washington Nationals are also a team that has recently monitored his market, and it looks like they are not alone as the New York Mets are now entering the mix, per Jon Heyman of Fancred:
Mets are among teams to have talks regarding Brian Dozier lately, tho Nats, Rox and others seem like more logical fits. Market for him starting to warm.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 9, 2019
In 151 games between the Twins and Dodgers, Dozier hit a combined .215/.305/.391 with 21 home runs and 71 RBI. Those struggles continued into the postseason when he batted just .125/.364/.125 without an extra-base hit in 11 games.
It was revealed shortly after the World Series concluded that Dozier was playing through a knee injury for pretty much the entire season, which was a factor in him having a down year.
So it makes sense that there are multiple teams that would be willing to take a chance that he has a bounce-back season in 2019 considering he is only 31 years of age. Additionally, Dozier is just a year removed from hitting 34 home runs and two years removed from hitting 42, which is tremendous power for a second baseman.
The Dodgers are still without a clear-cut starting second baseman in place for the 2019 season, so it is a little surprising that they have not shown more interest in re-signing Dozier. Until he signs a contract elsewhere though, a reunion cannot completely be ruled out.
