Article: Brian Dozier Learned from 2012, Looks Forward to 2013

[Seth Stohs]

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1348-Brian-Dozier-Learned-Lots-from-2012-Looks-Forward-to-2013!

[DAM DC Twins Fans]

Good article--thanks Seth. I hope Brian makes it--I think he can be productive middle IF (not all-star but solid) in MLB. I hope that Gardy decides early in camp where his future is (SS, 2B) and leaves him there and lets him learn lots more.

[jimbo92107]

Twins are depending on a lot of long shots this year, but I don't consider Brian Dozier to be one of them. I think Dozier is going to be about what he looked like - Nick Punto with more pop. If he can get his average over .250, we've got a good middle infielder for the next several years.

[Seth Stohs]

I'm optimistic for a .680-.700 OPS this year from Dozier. I think he can hit .270ish/.330ish/.360ish. He could get to double-digit home runs. If he can have that IsoD around .060-.080, he would be fine in that #2 spot in the lineup.

[70charger]

I'm optimistic for a .680-.700 OPS this year from Dozier. I think he can hit .270ish/.330ish/.360ish. He could get to double-digit home runs. If he can have that IsoD around .060-.080, he would be fine in that #2 spot in the lineup.

 

That would be great. What are the odds he's a 2B vs. a SS?

[Brock Beauchamp]

Pretty candid answers from Dozier. Here's to hoping he can turn that into results.

[stringer bell]

I'm pulling for Dozier. He's the only candidate for a middle infield job that has a chance to be above-average offensively. He has enough range, hands and arm to be a good defender although he wasn't good last year. While I was hoping he would be the 2013 SS, the tea leaves seem to be pointing toward second base.

[glunn]

I love Dozier's attitude. Also, his analysis as to where he went wrong last year makes sense. Hopefully he has now figured it out.

[Shane Wahl]

For me it is the brains here that makes me think Dozier can improve. He has always struck me in that way. He cares about improving and can learn from things. The Twins did him NO favors in 2012.

[snepp]

I so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so want Brian to become the quality, long-term middle infielder that this team has been seeking (ignoring?) for the better part of two decades.

 

Please Brian, for the sake of all our sanity and all that's good in this world, be a quality player, for multiple years.

 

 

And if you do in fact become a quality player that gets traded for a bag of peanuts (aka, a couple of ****ty relievers), let that trade forever curse the moronic front office responsible.

[Badsmerf]

Dozier was left out there too long. It was clear to everybody his approach had changed. When he came up he was fairly patient and took advantage of bad pitches. Hopefully he can adjust get back on track.

[diehardtwinsfan]

I'm glad to see he recognized a lot of this... He seemed overwhelmed last season... nice to see he has a good enough head on his shoulders to be able to take a step back and recognize this.

 

The kid OPSed over .800 in AA two years ago. Here's to hoping he can translate that to the big leagues. It would be nice to have a middle infielder with an above average bat... even if his defense is only average. The 2014/15 team doesn't have a good middle infield prospect. It would be nice if Dozier could hold down one of those spots.

[Shane Wahl]

It amazes me how so many people are wrapped up in instant gratification culture, though, and this applies to minor leaguers who arrive at the Show and are written off if they aren't good immediately. There is no way this kind of attitude existed 20+, 10, or even 5 years ago. Technology is warping our expectations in seemingly unrelated areas.

[Brock Beauchamp]

It amazes me how so many people are wrapped up in instant gratification culture, though, and this applies to minor leaguers who arrive at the Show and are written off if they aren't good immediately. There is no way this kind of attitude existed 20+, 10, or even 5 years ago. Technology is warping our expectations in seemingly unrelated areas.

 

Oh, I think it has always been this way. As long as I can remember, people have written off prospects as bums the moment they began to fail. The Internet has definitely sped up our desire for instant gratification but it has always been there.

[Seth Stohs]

It amazes me how so many people are wrapped up in instant gratification culture, though, and this applies to minor leaguers who arrive at the Show and are written off if they aren't good immediately. There is no way this kind of attitude existed 20+, 10, or even 5 years ago. Technology is warping our expectations in seemingly unrelated areas.

 

 

completely agree. If the internet and blogosphere would have been around when Hank Aaron and Willie Mays and MIckey Mantle and any of history's great players played, people would have realized that they weren't always great, they had slumps, they stuggled. IF may have been worse back when guys like KIllebrew had to spend their teen years in the big leagues rather than develop.

[glunn]

I so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so want Brian to become the quality, long-term middle infielder that this team has been seeking (ignoring?) for the better part of two decades.

 

Please Brian, for the sake of all our sanity and all that's good in this world, be a quality player, for multiple years.

 

 

And if you do in fact become a quality player that gets traded for a bag of peanuts (aka, a couple of ****ty relievers), let that trade forever curse the moronic front office responsible.

 

Thanks, Snepp. Your post is beyond awesome.

[panolo]

Thanks for the article Seth!

 

I really hope Dozier takes the bull by the horns and is starting in the MI on opening day. I think of our current cast of players he has the offensive upside to help us win games.

[Nick Nelson]

It amazes me how so many people are wrapped up in instant gratification culture, though, and this applies to minor leaguers who arrive at the Show and are written off if they aren't good immediately. There is no way this kind of attitude existed 20+, 10, or even 5 years ago. Technology is warping our expectations in seemingly unrelated areas.

I think that in this case, the fact the many people were iffy about Dozier's prospect stock to begin with plays a part. But yes, fans are generally too quick to jump to conclusions one way or another.

[PseudoSABR]

It amazes me how so many people are wrapped up in instant gratification culture, though, and this applies to minor leaguers who arrive at the Show and are written off if they aren't good immediately. There is no way this kind of attitude existed 20+, 10, or even 5 years ago. Technology is warping our expectations in seemingly unrelated areas.

Maybe this is my own misperception, but Twins prospects the past decade or so have generally taken at least one or two years to develop; beyond Mauer, I'm having trouble thinking of one player who produced really well in his rookie year or at a young age.

[Seth Stohs]

Maybe this is my own misperception, but Twins prospects the past decade or so have generally taken at least one or two years to develop; beyond Mauer, I'm having trouble thinking of one player who produced really well in his rookie year.

 

Liriano and Neshek, but again, they are by far the exceptions.

[CDog]

Maybe this is my own misperception, but Twins prospects the past decade or so have generally taken at least one or two years to develop; beyond Mauer, I'm having trouble thinking of one player who produced really well in his rookie year or at a young age.

 

Was Diamond still considered a rookie last year? And I thought Duensing was pretty good right away, but I didn't bother to look it up.

 

Just to keep myself on the topic of the thread a little.... I've said I think Gibson's performance this year (both quality and quantity) is a rather large wild card, but I'm starting to think that Dozier could be even more so. If he were to be even OK at either position and the plate, that would be a huge benefit compared to the alternative(s). My guess is the other options (or lack thereof) led to him being brought up at all and given as much rope as he was.

[diehardtwinsfan]

Morneau was pretty good when he got called up... It was his sophomore season that was utterly disappointing.

[twinsnorth49]

If he truly has learned from last year and commit's to the disipline in his approach this year, then he's capable of pulling off a .680-.700 OPS, which really isn't that much to ask. Other than that he just needs to make the plays the team needs him to make in the field, not much else.

 

He's really the only hope at the plate this year in the MI from a SLG standpoint, he just needs to work a few extra AB's consistently and we're good.............and then there's Pedro.

[bird]

Isn't Span a pretty good example of a player fans gave up on? He fell completely off a lot of top 40 Twins prospect lists when his stats looked pedestrian. Hopefully, Dozier is another one of those guys who has the potential to be more than what meets the eye of the fans.

[LaBombo]

Isn't Span a pretty good example of a player fans gave up on? He fell completely off a lot of top 40 Twins prospect lists when his stats looked pedestrian. Hopefully, Dozier is another one of those guys who has the potential to be more than what meets the eye of the fans.

 

The good news is that Span is an excellent example of a player who seemed to have hit a low ceiling after several years in the minors, and then suddenly turned into a quality major leaguer. The bad news is that when most people think of that kind of player, they're going to think of Span because of how rare an occurrence that is.

 

But Span is probably an encouraging comp in one way, which is that he had about the same number of plate appearances in the minors as Dozier does when Denard finally saw the light. Dozier is older than Span was because of playing college ball, but the experience levels are similar.

 

The James projection for Dozier in the majors in 2013 is roughly .250/.300/.370. If he can really manage that and play a passable short and second, he'll be an affordable utility guy for several years.

 

If he can add a tick of power or OBP to that and play a little above average d at short by working on smart guy things like positioning, he'll be a poor man's Jason Bartlett minus the freakish season.

 

If he hits a little worse and plays ok at second, he's Steve Lombardozzi senior, a guy who won't kill you but who never lets you stop thinking about how to replace him. Either way, he seems like a sharp kid, and I'll be pulling for him to have a major league career of some stripe.

[fairweather]

I have absolutely no faith in Gardenhire or his group of flunkies to develop a decent middle infielder. To the best of my recollection it hasn't ever happened under Gardenhires tenure.

[SweetOne69]

I have absolutely no faith in Gardenhire or his group of flunkies to develop a decent middle infielder. To the best of my recollection it hasn't ever happened under Gardenhires tenure.

 

The failure to develop a MI is NOT on Gardenhire it is on the Minor League coaches. Generally by the time the reach the majors they should be mostly there and just need a little polishing/fine tuning.

[ashbury]

But Span is probably an encouraging comp

 

Encouraging indeed, because finding merely an average CF or SS is not that easy to do. Dozier doesn't need to become a star in order to have a huge impact on his team, much like I always viewed Greg Gagne as crucial to the championship teams.

[diehardtwinsfan]

The failure to develop a MI is NOT on Gardenhire it is on the Minor League coaches. Generally by the time the reach the majors they should be mostly there and just need a little polishing/fine tuning.

 

I agree, but I would restate what fairweather said. I have no faith in Gardenhire to acutally want to keep a decent middle infielder when they come along. I can think of two decent SS that this team has had since Guzman, and both were traded for meager returns in large part because Gardy didn't like them.

[SweetOne69]

I agree, but I would restate what fairweather said. I have no faith in Gardenhire to acutally want to keep a decent middle infielder when they come along. I can think of two decent SS that this team has had since Guzman, and both were traded for meager returns in large part because Gardy didn't like them.

 

I assume that that the 2 you are referring to were Hardy and Bartlett. With both of those, I don't recall Gardy disliking either of them.

 

He did have an issue with Garza and he and Bartlett were packaged to bring in Young, but I don't think that Gardy had an issue with Bartlett.

 

Gardy on the other hand did have in issue with Hardy, and that he was too slow and often injured.