Brian Dozier: I feel great

[tobi0040]

Could not edit again for some reason, but to me the words written about Dozier in he link were and are spot on. Why does it seem like so many Twins team and individual success seasons or stretches seem to be so reliant on things that are so unsustainable, be it high BABIP's of Santana/Rosario or just-enough pull-power of Dozier?

The bigger issue is you have a FO that doesn't realize it and continues to extend or sign guys on unsustainable runs. The Dozier one for example, made absolutely no sense at all. I could see the motivation at least if we got a FA year. But we didnt'.

[David HK]

Fortunately, his fielding hasn't taken the hit  ( heh-  "hit") that his offense has.  But for the love of God, Molly, get him out of the top 3 spots in the lineup!!!!  Dude- the pitchers have you figured out.  Now your job is to re-figure that figuring out and find a way to counter it.  I don't even care anymore what the issue is, or what the excuse is.  Let him work it out in the 7-8-9 hole, and stop killing the few rallies we get!   The occasional dinger from there would just be gravy, but stop letting Mr. Men-Dozier try to be the meat of the order.

 

Anybody with even half a brain would have made that move long ago-  Dozey in 1, or 2, or 3, and Plouffe in the cleanup spot- you're not even giving your team a chance, Mr. Manager.  (Oops, I almost typed "Mangler" by mistake.  Or maybe it was Freudian).

 

This team is a complete mess right now.  And continually plugging the same weary vets into the same spots in the lineup---  HELLO!!! NOT WORKING!!

 

I apologize for the CAPS.  It's late, I'm tired, and I'm in Hong Kong, so I need to shout to be heard.  And I'm just sick of it.  

[nicksaviking]

I don't defend the front office much, and I don't defend the field staff much, but man, this team is always full of players either all going bad or all going good. Look at Milwaukee and Cincinnati, they are terrible, but have some vets playing well enough to bring back some good value in a trade. The Twins are terrible and really have no movable vets. The same thing happened in 2011-14. What gives? You can look at Milwaukee and say that team should be better with Braun, Lucroy, Hill and Villar doing so well.

 

Not since 2008 could you look at a Twins roster and say, that team has guys playing better than their record would indicate.

[nicksaviking]

 

 

The bigger issue is you have a FO that doesn't realize it and continues to extend or sign guys on unsustainable runs. The Dozier one for example, made absolutely no sense at all. I could see the motivation at least if we got a FA year. But we didnt'.

 

Dozier didn't get extended though and does anyone want an extra free agent year at this point?

 

And frankly, his restructured contract looked pretty genius this time last year. Either way, it only costs money, it's not my money, and it wasn't going to be spent anywhere else anyway so I don't give two farts about his current contract.

[mikelink45]

This discussion focuses me on something else as a problem, one I have been denying up until now.  Dozier needs a manager to step up and Dozier to sit down.  Molitor is mishandling the young players and I do not know why.  Polanco, Kepler, Meyer, Berrios, Buxton...why?  If you decide to bring them up - stick with them, do not shatter fragile psyches.  On the other hand, when your vets - Plouffe, Dozier, Escobar are not meeting expectations sit them down.   If Molitor has not figured out that this is a lost season he too is in dangerous denial.

 

Why not the young relievers?  Why the inconsistency?  I expected Molitor to be more progressive.  Did I misjudge him or am I missing something?

[TheLeviathan]

 

Dozier didn't get extended though and does anyone want an extra free agent year at this point?

 

And frankly, his restructured contract looked pretty genius this time last year. Either way, it only costs money, it's not my money, and it wasn't going to be spent anywhere else anyway so I don't give two farts about his current contract.

 

That extension never looked genius IMO.  It was too soon with too little reward possibilities.  I was in the small minority saying that at the time, so this isn't hindsight.  What they agreed to I felt was acceptable, but it wasn't genius.

 

Though it was WAY smarter than some of the extension talk around this board prior to it.

[David HK]

 

This discussion focuses me on something else as a problem, one I have been denying up until now.  Dozier needs a manager to step up and Dozier to sit down.  Molitor is mishandling the young players and I do not know why.  Polanco, Kepler, Meyer, Berrios, Buxton...why?  If you decide to bring them up - stick with them, do not shatter fragile psyches.  On the other hand, when your vets - Plouffe, Dozier, Escobar are not meeting expectations sit them down.   If Molitor has not figured out that this is a lost season he too is in dangerous denial.

 

Why not the young relievers?  Why the inconsistency?  I expected Molitor to be more progressive.  Did I misjudge him or am I missing something?

I, too, thought Molly would be more progressive.  Good term.  Especially since he spent time tutoring the guys down there- thought he would have made some kind of connection.  But I agree, his handling of the youngsters has just been appalling.  I can not forgive him for gacking up the Alex Meyer Experience this year.  He basically took it upon his shoulders to ruin the guy's year.  And how many times has a guy been brought up, only to sit interminably, and then be thrust into a situation like Kepler, where he gets tossed in against a lefty, first game?  WTF is going on in that dugout?  Certainly not something that bodes well for the Twins future.  And since the Twins present is already in the toilet and swirling, he needs to go.  Like yesterday.  

[Dr. Evil]

Guys who hit .200 need to be redirected to the bench. Plouffe to the bench too, Arcia DFA and Park to AAA while you are at it.

[Otto von Ballpark]

For the record, here's the original article and discussion of Dozier's extension:

 

http://twinsdaily.com/articles.html/_/minnesota-twins-news/minnesota-twins/minnesota-twins-and-brian-dozier-sign-4-year-extension-r3476

[Shane Wahl]

 

That extension never looked genius IMO.  It was too soon with too little reward possibilities.  I was in the small minority saying that at the time, so this isn't hindsight.  What they agreed to I felt was acceptable, but it wasn't genius.

 

Though it was WAY smarter than some of the extension talk around this board prior to it.

 

Was it a small minority? I can't imagine that. Buying out seasons for legit superstars is genius. Most of everything else is probably ok to dumb. 

[Shane Wahl]

 

Guys who hit .200 need to be redirected to the bench. Poof to the bench too, Arcia DFA and Park to AAA while you are at it.

 

Arcia and Park are not nearly as bad as Dozier and especially Escobar.

[Riverbrian]

Two days on the bench and back to the everyday top of the lineup. 

 

I know it's very hard to stop being a pull hitter... I didn't expect an immediate turn around but two days on the bench and back to the top of the order and everyday is like proclaiming that he's fixed. 

 

I've been watching his hips... It doesn't matter where the ball is thrown... they are still turning so much that he's pointing at the 3B dugout.

 

Which happens to be the direction he must walk if the Twins are in that dugout after he pops up or grounds out to the SS. 

 

So maybe... Brian is just being thrifty in that sense. 

 

I'm all for being patient and I am willing to wait for Brian adjusting because I think the payoff is worth it.

 

But until he fixes his issues... He is simply not an everyday player for any major league club. Let alone... top of the order. 

[tobi0040]

Dozier didn't get extended though and does anyone want an extra free agent year at this point?

 

And frankly, his restructured contract looked pretty genius this time last year. Either way, it only costs money, it's not my money, and it wasn't going to be spent anywhere else anyway so I don't give two farts about his current contract

.

Saying he didn't get extended is a bit mis-leading. You can cut a guy on a rookie deal or in arbitration if you want. Now we owe Dozier $20m. We effectively locked in his pay for four years and didn't really get much out of it. Best case, we saved about $8M over the last 1-2 years, at a time when our entire roster looks to be in rookie or year 1 arb deals, i.e. when we could have afforded to take a payroll risk.

 

The issue is, we have seen time and tie again when the Twins hand out money, it buys that player an unlimited amount of reps and in this case a spot in the batting order.

 

We could likely get better production at this point from Polanco, who will likely rot in AAA and be traded for pennies on the dollar

[dxpavelka]

That's great Brian.  I'm happy for you.  But you hit like my grandmother.

[blindeke]

 

You can hit line drives, but if the other team can position the majority of their players to the left side of the diamond, there's an increased likelihood that they'll be caught.  

 

If you can't even try to hit the the occasional turbo-sinker to the right side of the diamond when there's runners at first and second, then you just don't get it.  

Yeah I think the extreme defensive shifting is particularly hard on him.

[Riverbrian]

 

Yeah I think the extreme defensive shifting is particularly hard on him.

 

Yeah I agree... I'm also starting to think that Dozier at the plate is a poor choice for executing the hit and run.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

For the record, here's the original article and discussion of Dozier's extension:

 

http://twinsdaily.com/articles.html/_/minnesota-twins-news/minnesota-twins/minnesota-twins-and-brian-dozier-sign-4-year-extension-r3476

i really expected John Bonnes to not be in favor of the extension. He generally has, but I suppose it's more of a case by case basis, but looking back, Phil Hughes extension and Brian Dozier's have a lot of similarity.

[stringer bell]

OK, I'm a Dozier fan. Met him personally and like how he deals with fans. From midseason 2013 to midseason 2015, he was the Twins best player IMHO. Because he was good for two years, I don't think that this is all about the league figuring him out. I do think that he has hit more balls weakly this year, lots of popups and medium fly balls.

 

I think the two years he excelled should give the team some basis for being patient. However, batting him down in the order should happen.

 

Dozier made himself a good ballplayer by adding power numbers to his other skills, the trick is keeping some of that power while using the whole field. I think he can do it, but he could be a "one-trick pony".

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Was it a small minority? I can't imagine that. Buying out seasons for legit superstars is genius. Most of everything else is probably ok to dumb. 

Judging by the discussion I linked a few posts above, disapproval of the extension was a rather small minority here.  I guess I fell in the "probably ok" camp.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Saying he didn't get extended is a bit mis-leading. You can cut a guy on a rookie deal or in arbitration if you want. Now we owe Dozier $20m.

I'd probably re-phrase that.  I don't think we'd want to "cut" Dozier today or this coming winter, even if we didn't have this contract.  His past performance was good enough, and recent enough, that we still have to approach him as a potential asset, probably for the next year or perhaps even two.

 

The contract was probably offered because the Twins viewed him as a permanent veteran fixture, rather than that status being derived from the contract, so I don't know that it would be any easier to bench/demote him without it either.

 

As an aside, Dozier does have two option years remaining, although his service time is such that we'd have to option him very soon, and for quite a while, to delay his free agency -- by my count, we'd have to option him no later than June 12th this year, and leave him in AAA for the rest of the season, to delay his free agency by another year.  But we absolutely could option him for awhile just to work on things, I know the team has previously opposed it, but I hope they continue to consider it.  Polanco absolutely deserves an extended look this season.

[tobi0040]

I'd probably re-phrase that.  I don't think we'd want to "cut" Dozier today or this coming winter, even if we didn't have this contract.  His past performance was good enough, and recent enough, that we still have to approach him as a potential asset, probably for the next year or perhaps even two.

 

The contract was probably offered because the Twins viewed him as a permanent veteran fixture, rather than that status being derived from the contract, so I don't know that it would be any easier to bench/demote him without it either.

 

As an aside, Dozier does have two option years remaining, although his service time is such that we'd have to option him very soon, and for quite a while, to delay his free agency -- by my count, we'd have to option him no later than June 12th this year, and leave him in AAA for the rest of the season, to delay his free agency by another year.  But we absolutely could option him for awhile just to work on things, I know the team has previously opposed it, but I hope they continue to consider it.  Polanco absolutely deserves an extended look this season.

Cut is a harsh word. But locking a guy into a contract like that versus year to year certainly removes many options.

[nicksaviking]

 

That extension never looked genius IMO.  It was too soon with too little reward possibilities.  I was in the small minority saying that at the time, so this isn't hindsight.  What they agreed to I felt was acceptable, but it wasn't genius.

 

Though it was WAY smarter than some of the extension talk around this board prior to it.

 

Again though, it wasn't an extension. I didn't want him extended and I think the majority here didn't. This time last year it looked like the Twins were contenders and had a AS 2B on a below market deal so they'd have extra money to spend when needed. Now he's not an AS 2B and they aren't close enough to contention to worry about the money savings. Not a big loss. Except to the Pohlad's wallets.

 

And he's a batter, not a starting pitcher. He can be hidden on the bench if/when he gets bad enough. Dozier as a utility/bench bat isn't the worst thing in the world.

[Mike Sixel]

Eno Sarris, from Fangraphs today:

 

1:47 Is this the real Brian Dozier now?
Eno Sarris
1:47 Talked to him, and he says he's working on letting the ball travel a little further so he's not so extreme on the pull thing. I see better times coming.

1:58
Just realized that I have a Story interview I haven't done, I talked to Buxton about the leg kick, and I want to write that Dozier thing. I guess I'll get one done.

[tobi0040]

Again though, it wasn't an extension. I didn't want him extended and I think the majority here didn't. This time last year it looked like the Twins were contenders and had a AS 2B on a below market deal so they'd have extra money to spend when needed. Now he's not an AS 2B and they aren't close enough to contention to worry about the money savings. Not a big loss. Except to the Pohlad's wallets.

 

And he's a batter, not a starting pitcher. He can be hidden on the bench if/when he gets bad enough. Dozier as a utility/bench bat isn't the worst thing in the world.

Don't you worry about the Twins track record with regards to players on contracts? I don't see us having an 6-9m bench utility player in 2018/2019

 

Funny that you accurately point out that we don't need the cost savings. And here is Anthony speaking to "cost-certainty"

 

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/114591020/twins-brian-dozier-signs-4-year-20-million-contract

[Winston Smith]

 

I'd probably re-phrase that.  I don't think we'd want to "cut" Dozier today or this coming winter, even if we didn't have this contract.  His past performance was good enough, and recent enough, that we still have to approach him as a potential asset, probably for the next year or perhaps even two.

 

The contract was probably offered because the Twins viewed him as a permanent veteran fixture, rather than that status being derived from the contract, so I don't know that it would be any easier to bench/demote him without it either.

 

As an aside, Dozier does have two option years remaining, although his service time is such that we'd have to option him very soon, and for quite a while, to delay his free agency -- by my count, we'd have to option him no later than June 12th this year, and leave him in AAA for the rest of the season, to delay his free agency by another year.  But we absolutely could option him for awhile just to work on things, I know the team has previously opposed it, but I hope they continue to consider it.  Polanco absolutely deserves an extended look this season.

IMO it is the time to send him down. He needs to be fixed even if he doesn't think so. Give Polanco a month or so, you get better idea if he can play and maybe Dozier will get fixed or at least mended a little.

[TheLeviathan]

 

Again though, it wasn't an extension. I didn't want him extended and I think the majority here didn't. This time last year it looked like the Twins were contenders and had a AS 2B on a below market deal so they'd have extra money to spend when needed. Now he's not an AS 2B and they aren't close enough to contention to worry about the money savings. Not a big loss. Except to the Pohlad's wallets.

 

And he's a batter, not a starting pitcher. He can be hidden on the bench if/when he gets bad enough. Dozier as a utility/bench bat isn't the worst thing in the world.

 

There was a pretty vocal group that thought between 6/40 and 6/52 was a good idea.  

 

There are a variety of problems with this analysis that were pointed out at the time - whatever money the Twins "saved" was going to be a tiny fraction of payroll.  Now, not only are we not saving money, it looks like a sinkhole.  And that contract may be the only reason Brian Dozier is not in AAA right now.  

 

But the biggest problem is the idea that it is ever genius, or even a good idea, to extend guys you have 3-4 years of control on unless they are a truly unique talent.  Let their arb. years play out and spend money when you need to.

[TheLeviathan]

 

Was it a small minority? I can't imagine that. Buying out seasons for legit superstars is genius. Most of everything else is probably ok to dumb. 

 

There was a good chunk of us that thought it was too soon and unnecessary, but the board had routine threads suggesting we extend him.  

[tobi0040]

There was a pretty vocal group that thought between 6/40 and 6/52 was a good idea.

 

There are a variety of problems with this analysis that were pointed out at the time - whatever money the Twins "saved" was going to be a tiny fraction of payroll. Now, not only are we not saving money, it looks like a sinkhole. And that contract may be the only reason Brian Dozier is not in AAA right now.

 

But the biggest problem is the idea that it is ever genius, or even a good idea, to extend guys you have 3-4 years of control on unless they are a truly unique talent. Let their arb. years play out and spend money when you need to.

Cue the quotes from the extend Gibson thread about 2 months ago. Oh my.

[mikelink45]

How is Byung Ho Park feeling?  Personally, I look at his spot in the lineup now and do not feel very positive. 

[ShouldaCouldaWoulda]

 

Eno Sarris, from Fangraphs today:

 

1:47 Is this the real Brian Dozier now?
Eno Sarris
1:47 Talked to him, and he says he's working on letting the ball travel a little further so he's not so extreme on the pull thing. I see better times coming.

1:58
Just realized that I have a Story interview I haven't done, I talked to Buxton about the leg kick, and I want to write that Dozier thing. I guess I'll get one done.

I don't know that letting the ball travel deeper is going to help BD and I haven't seen much of a leg kick from Buxton at all since in the majors (saw it in AAA HR videos, but not in any of his promotion at bats.) Dozier is dead to me. He might figure things out a bit and be an average hitter again, but doubt  he's ever a top 10 2B again.