Another infielder is reportedly off the free agent wire with Brian Dozier agreeing with the Washington Nationals on a one-year, $9-million deal, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Thursday.
Free agent second baseman Brian Dozier is in agreement with the Washington Nationals on a one-year, $9 million deal, league sources tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 10, 2019
Report: Brian Dozier Agrees to One-Year Deal with Washington Nationals
Dozier saw repeated success with the Minnesota Twins, becoming an All-Star in 2015 and winning a Gold Glove in 2017. In his All-Star campaign, Dozier launched 28 home runs and drove in 77 runs while slugging over .440. He added 39 doubles as well. Those numbers increased during his Gold Glove showing, increasing to 34 homers, 93 RBI, and a .498 slugging percent.
Dozier’s stats dipped last year along with being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers. His batting average dropped to .215 and his slugging fell to under .400.
With the Nationals trading Daniel Murphy to the Chicago Cubs before the deadline in 2017, they were looking to fill a hole in the middle infield. This signing adds to an already successful off-season for Washington as they added right-hander Brandon Kintzler to the bullpen. The Nationals also re-signed Howie Kendrick and Matt Adams and invited Edwin Jackson to spring training in an effort to look for a five-man rotation.
Dozier, 31, is looking to have a bounce-back year in the nation’s capital. In LA, there were too many guys, pushing Dozier to the bench in many situations and preventing him from ever really getting into a rhythm behind the plate. Additionally, he may have gone through some emotional issues last year that affected his play, from the various nagging injuries to the Twins reportedly not wanting him on the team. After playing with a team for as long as he did, and as well as he did, this can have a much larger impact on a player than fans know.
The Nationals open up the spring campaign on February 23, and all eyes will be on the veteran to see how he can improve the team.
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