Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Dodgers trade for a second baseman, and it's not Brian Dozier

The Los Angeles Dodgers traded prospect pitcher Jose DeLeon to the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday for infielder Logan Forsythe.

This puts complete fini to the speculation that the Dodgers would deal for the Twins' Brian Dozier. Not only do the Dodgers now have Forsythe to plug into second base, but DeLeon -- who was supposedly to be the key (or, perhaps, only) return for the Twins -- is gone.

Nobody on the outside can be completely sure what the asks in the Dodgers-Twins talks were, but supposedly the Dodgers were insistent that it be one-for-one. That's what they wound up with for Forsythe. And Forsythe, while a decent infielder with some pop in his bat, isn't nearly the player Dozier is.

The Twins correctly wanted more than DeLeon, who has never thrown as many as 115 innings in a season, for Dozier. If that's all the Dodgers would offer, the Twins were right to walk away. The Dodgers wound up with a lesser player, but gave up less than they would have to get the better one. They may have been right to stand their ground too.

Bottom line: Unless something is going on below the surface, Dozier is going to be a Twin in 2017. That is not, repeat not, a disaster.

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