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Speculation surfaced earlier this month that the Minnesota Twins were discussing a contract extension with second baseman Brian Dozier, and that came to fruition Tuesday morning with news that the two sides have agreed to a four-year, $20 million deal. The deal covers this season and Dozier’s three years of arbitration eligibility, and he’ll still become a free agent when he originally would have after the 2018 season at age 31.
Dozier has emerged as one of the best second baseman in the American League, and arguably all of baseball, over the past two seasons. After a breakout 2013 season (18 home runs, 66 RBI and 14 stolen bases), he topped all three of those numbers last year (23 home runs, 71 RBI, 21 stolen bases) while also finishing second in the majors with 112 runs scored. Some people may see Dozier’s mediocre batting averages (.244 in 2013, .242 in 2014) as a black mark, but a low BABIP in each of the last two seasons (.278 in 2013, .269 last year) hasn’t helped and he gets on base at a good clip (.345 OBP in 2014).
The Twins get cost certainty during Dozier’s arbitration years, and he gets a $2 million salary for 2015 after being originally slated to make $590,000. This new four-year deal for Dozier compares favorably to recent contract extensions signed by second baseman, as Jason Kipnis and Matt Carpenter are each due to make $22 million over the first four years of the six-year deals each signed around a year ago.
Locking up a key player at a reasonable rate through his theoretical prime is a great move for the Twins, and if Dozier is able to maintain somewhere close to his recent level of production going forward he would be in position for what is likely to be an out-sized contract. The Twins are unlikely to compete for Dozier’s services when he hits free agency, and frankly they shouldn’t want to when he enters his early to mid-30s and a possible decline.
The Twins should have someone in their minor league pipeline ready to take over at second base once Dozier’s new contract is done, so I have a feeling both sides will be prepared to move on at that point. But for now the contract is mutually beneficial, and it’s further proof the Twins don’t deserve any manufactured criticism about their unwillingness to spend money.
Brad Berreman is a Columnist and Senior Writer at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter.
