Minnesota Twins: Would a Brian Dozier extension be wise?

Why to do it?

Certainly, many reasons can be made for extending Dozier, but we’ll take a look at a few of the better ones:

Leadership

Dozier’s not the elder on the team, or even in the lineup, but with Joe Mauer also a free agent after the 2018 season, securing one of the two significant leaders from the current young lineup for beyond 2018 could have some value.

Beyond just the leadership in the lineup, Dozier has established himself as a locker room leader and even a vocal leader among all players within the game. After an ugly incident in New York, Dozier was quite vocal about the need to extend nets in all ballparks. He was also recently interviewed by Star Tribune and discussed the proposed pitching clock change to MLB this upcoming season.

His willingness to be outspoken and take the media discussion is important as an example to younger players as they step up to be leaders in the community and in the game of baseball as a whole in how to handle the media.

Stability

While it’s a “boring” reason, certainly one reason that makes sense to retain Dozier’s services would have to be that he lends a layer of stability to a team with plenty of youthful volatility. What the team will get from players like Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton, Eddie Rosario, Max Kepler, Jorge Polanco, and Mitch Garver is certainly not known.

Having a sure bat, especially at the top of the lineup, even if Dozier doesn’t hit quite to the level of 2016-2017, would be a nice thing to have as the team moves forward with their young core.

Market

One of the biggest reasons to do this right now could be the market this offseason and how prices have been deflated across the league for all players.

It would be certainly feasible that the Twins could make an offer for 4-5 years at $17-22 million per season and pull in Dozier without problem, even though coming into the offseason, many were looking at Dozier as a guy who could easily pull in 9 figures on a contract.

It’s possible that the Minnesota Twins may have to get close to 9 figures to get that 5th year on the deal, but if they don’t go for the 5th year, it will likely mean a higher annual average value.

While many expected Dozier to command between $20-25 million annually in a deal, it’s quite possible that annual value could be reduced this offseason with some worry due to the current market and it possibly extending into next offseason as well.

So we have a good idea why to sign him – why would an extension be a bad idea for the Twins?

Next: Reasons Not