The Washington Nationals have agreed to terms of a one-year, $9 million contract with free agent second baseman Brian Dozier. The contract is a simple one-year deal that allows the Nationals to try to capitalize on their closing window as well as keep some salary set aside as they continue to pursue Bryce Harper. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that the teams were close, followed by Jeff Passon of Yahoo Sports with the financials.
#Nationals close on free-agent 2B Brian Dozier, sources tell The Athletic.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 10, 2019
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
The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired Dozier from the Minnesota Twins at the trade deadline this past year and brought him onto a club prepped to make a deep postseason run where they lost to the Red Sox in the 2018 World Series. Dozier’s featured a .215/.305/.391 slash, with 21 home runs and 72 RBI’s over the course of his 2018 regular season.
This signing means a couple of things, Dozier is gonna try to have a better year this year and then hit the market again next year in hopes of a better contract. Dozier’s contract is in the same range as Ian Kinsler and Jonathan Schoop, making just a bit more than both of them. It seems like this deal is a move by the Nationals to get a quality second baseman but also maintain enough funds to be a top suitor in the Harper sweepstakes.
