Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports After falling out of playoff contention, the Minnesota Twins have reportedly traded star second baseman Brian Dozier to the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to ESPN's Jerry Crasnick. According to Jon Heyman of Fancred, Los Angeles will send utility man Logan Forsythe, outfielder Luke Raley and left-hander Devin Smeltzer to Minnesota. The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal and Dan Hayes first reported a deal was close. The Twins were a surprise playoff team last season after winning just 59 games in 2016. They started this season with high expectations because of that postseason appearance and signing starting pitcher Lance Lynn and closer Addison Reed to shore up the pitching staff. Dozier has been a mainstay for the Twins since his MLB debut in 2012. The 31-year-old made the All-Star team in 2015 and set an AL record in 2016 by hitting 40 of his 42 homers while playing second base. From 2014 to 2017, Dozier ranked second among all second basemen with 18.8 FanGraphs wins above replacement. His offense has taken a step back this season with a .224/.305/.402 slash line for a Twins team that has disappointed with a 49-56 after making the postseason last year. With Dozier being in the final year of his contract, the Twins were forced to decide if they wanted to play out this season before trying to re-sign him or add long-term assets they can build around in the future. Video Play Button Videos you might like Dozier is not an old man and is still in the prime of his career. He has hit all over the lineup in the past, primarily leading off for the Twins, so he gives Dodgers manager Dave Roberts more versatility in a lineup that also includes the newly acquired Manny Machado and Cody Bellinger. The Dodgers got off to a slow start this season, so they needed to do something if they hoped to get back to the World Series. With Dozier's potent bat in their lineup, they have the depth to hold off the Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies and San Francisco Giants in the National League West.<doc-sep>The Minnesota Twins have explored a trade for Brian Dozier several times over his last couple seasons in Minnesota. This trade deadline was the right time. The Minnesota Twins punctuated their fire sale at the trade deadline with a trade that sent fan favorite and vocal clubhouse leader Brian Dozier to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The trade has created a variety of responses ranging from disbelief in a player of his talent simply being sent away. To many also wondering why a Dozier trade didn’t happen earlier. There will always be irony in the fact that after about two years of Dodger-Dozier rumors the trade finally happened. What doesn’t make sense is how there seems to be a strong voice that suggests that the Twins should have traded Dozier two years ago. From what we know, there would have been great disappointment if that 2016-2017 offseason version of the Dozier to the Dodgers swap would have been completed. If we go back to that offseason we will remember, Dozier was coming off a season in which he hit .268/.340/.546 and slugged 42 home runs. He also had two years remaining of a team friendly contract. Everything seemed good, besides the fact that the Twins had just gone 59-103 and needed to do something to turn things around and inject life into the franchise. The easiest path to making a big change to the roster was to try to trade Dozier for a package of players that included an impact starting pitcher. That 2016-2017 offseason became the offseason of Dozier rumors. As we now know, nothing would happen and the only real deal that seemed to be available was a swap with the Dodgers for prospect pitcher Jose De Leon. De Leon was coming off of a season at Triple-A where he tossed 86.1 innings in 16 starts and held a 2.61 ERA and an 11.6 K/9. That was enough to create lots of excitement around the young right-hander even after a rough major league debut where he made four starts, had good results with a 2-0 record, but held a 6.35 ERA and 7.9 K/9. De Leon had performed well enough to create excitement, but there were still plenty of question marks surrounding how De Leon would continue to develop. So without any other offers and the Dodgers unwilling to include a second player in a trade, the Twins passed and the Dodgers instead acquired current Twin Logan Forsythe from the Tampa Bay Rays. Since being traded to the Rays, De Leon has only been able to pitch 41.0 innings as he has struggled with injury and is currently recovering from Tommy John surgery. He is also now approaching his 26th birthday causing him quickly to become “old” by prospect standards. By not trading Dozier, the Twins were able to benefit from his 2017 performance of .271/.359/.498 and a .856 OPS as well as 34 home runs and 30 doubles. That all was part of a season that ended with a second half surge that helped the Twins earn wild-card spot. The value of Dozier’s 2017 performance at this point appears much more valuable than what De Leon would have provided the Twins. That paired with the fact that the Twins are building up a farm system with some potential impact arms in the way of Fernando Romero, Brusdar Graterol, and Stephen Gonsalves of their own makes helps make the trade look even better. De Leon still has time to become a quality major league pitcher, but the Twins certainly aren’t missing him at this point. Apply to Puckett's Pond. Start your application process by filling out the fields below While it always looked like the Twins could or should have cashed on Dozier’s perceived trade value a couple offseason ago, the reality was there just wasn’t much on the table. It is the age-old saying, “it takes two to tango.” The front office did the right thing by hanging on to him and getting one more good season out of the second baseman. And the trade deadline deal to the Dodgers still netted them two prospects that they can develop or trade in the next several seasons.<doc-sep>
The Minnesota Twins have traded second baseman Brian Dozier to the Los Angeles Dodgers. MINNEAPOLIS - The Minnesota Twins have traded second baseman Brian Dozier to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Major League Baseball non-waiver trade deadline was 3 p.m. Tuesday. The Twins announced the deal in a press release just before 4 p.m. forsythe , raley and smeltzer go to twins for dozier — Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 31, 2018 In exchange for Dozier, the Twins are getting veteran second baseman Logan Forsythe, minor league outfielder Luke Raley and minor league pitcher Devin Smeltzer. Dozier marked the fifth player the Twins have traded in the last five days, including Eduardo Escobar, signaling their shift in focus to the future amid a disappointing season. Brian Dozier has been traded to the #Dodgers. Deal is done. @Ken_Rosenthal reported close. — Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) July 31, 2018 Dozier joins a Dodgers team that's in a tight race with Arizona in the NL West, aiming for a return trip to the World Series. Dozier's production has dropped off this year, but he has some of the best power numbers in baseball for players at his position. Dozier was an All-Star in 2015. He hit 42 home runs in 2016, a record for a second baseman in the American League. The 31-year-old has spent his entire career with the Twins. Many Twins fans took to social media to vent about the trade. And the firesale continues...expect the Twins to suck for years to come — p. head (@phead54693153) July 31, 2018 His contract is up after this season and they aren’t bringing him back nor should they because he’s just not very good so why not get something for him? Only made sense. — Jones (@Jones07505943) July 31, 2018