The Angels and free agent infielder Hunter Dozier have agreed to a minor league contract, reports Jon Morosi of MLB.com. The Warner Sports Management client will be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee this spring. Dozier was released by the Royals back in May during the third season of a four-year contract. Kansas City still owes him $9MM for the upcoming season plus a $1MM buyout on a 2025 option. As such, the Angels would only owe Dozier the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the big league roster. That sum would be subtracted from what the Royals still owe to him.
Now 32 years old, Dozier was the eighth overall pick in the 2013 draft, though that lofty selection by the Royals was made in part to cut an under-slot deal that allowed them to draft left-hander Sean Manaea 26 picks later. (Manaea was traded to the A’s for Ben Zobrist before ever appearing in Kansas City.) Dozier was still a well-regarded prospect himself, to be clear, but he struggled in the early stages of his pro career before a 2016 breakout between Double-A and Triple-A.
As was the case in the upper minors, Dozier struggled in his first few big league looks. He broke out in 2019 with a career-high 26 home runs and a hearty .279/.348/.522 batting line. We know now that the 2019 season was riddled with anomalous performances due to that season’s juiced ball; a ridiculous 58 players hit 30 or more home runs that season — and Dozier might’ve made for a 59th had he not spent more than three weeks on the injured list.
That 2019 breakout was followed by a diminished but respectable .228/.344/.392 batting line in 2020 that was right around league average, by measure of wRC+ and OPS+. Add that output to his 2019 success, and Dozier touted a .267/.347/.492 batting line and 32 homers through a sample of 772 plate appearances. That was enough for Kansas City to commit to a four-year, $25MM extension with a fifth-year option, guaranteeing one free agent season (2024) and giving the Royals an option over a second (2025).
The contract looked regrettable almost immediately, however. Dozier turned in a dreary .216/.285/.394 slash in 2021 and carries an overall .222/.286/.384 batting line in 1134 trips to the plate over the past three seasons. He did not sign with another club in 2023 after getting cut loose by Kansas City in late May.
The Angels will hope that Dozier can recapture some of his 2019-20 form, providing depth at all four corner spots. Dozier’s most frequent position in the Majors has been third base (1941 innings), but he has more than 1000 innings at first base and in right field as well (plus another 176 frames in left field). He’s a right-handed bat who hit lefties well in 2022-23 even as he struggled on the whole.
Since that 2019 breakout, Dozier has a .244/.338/.429 batting line when facing left-handed opponents. He gives the Angels some depth at first base behind 2023 first-round pick Nolan Schanuel, who skyrocketed to the majors in less than two months last summer. It seems unlikely that the Halos would push Schanuel, a polished college bat, into a platoon role, but Dozier’s righty bat is a complement to the lefty-swinging Schanuel. Dozier and fellow first corner infielder/outfielder Trey Cabbage could vie for a bench job this spring. Cabbage posted a massive .306/.379/.596 line in a hitter-friendly Triple-A setting last year and is on the 40-man roster, both of which surely would give him an edge. He does, however, have minor league options remaining.
Anaheim is a Chump team. You can ask anybody. Verducci, Slusser, Rome, Rosenthal, Jaffe, etc.
Plaschke, Adande, Page, Ryan, Slusser, Cowlishaw.
Stark, Blum, Plaschke, Passan, Axisa, etc.
Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, Starr, etc.
Larry, Curly, Moe, Beavis, Butthead, etc.
Canuckleball fit for the win!
Either Best or Clarence for the fifth one
Clarence used to write all their songs, and taught the boys how to pic out their afros!
Lenin, Stalin, Kruchchev, Brezhnev, Gorbachev, Putin.
modern dems
Geller, Bing, LaFay, Tribbiani, Green
Most of you people know nothing about the Angels.
What are they suppose to do? Bring in a starter who may not be any better than Silseth? How about pay 100 million for a player and replace a young player who might actually be better than they player they bring in.
There are two things the Angels can do. Bring in a top of the rotation starter and/or rebuild the pen. And there is still plenty of time to do both.
The Angels have to figure out what they have. And who gives a leap what those people think.
A bunch of available pitchers came off the board this week. The options are getting thin. And there is no way Moreno will agree to offer Snell the 7 or 8 year deal he is seeking. So we are stuck settling for pitchers who are willing to take a 1 to 2 year deal. Those pitchers are not difference makers.
And I would not bet anyone are going to be much better than Silseth. So what’s the point?
halo – “There are two things the Angels can do. Bring in a top of the rotation starter and/or rebuild the pen. And there is still plenty of time to do both.”
My comment was in response to that. No “top of the rotation” starter will sign for 1 or 2 years. Nor would any BP pitcher who would make a difference.
@Prov, Let’s say the Angels build a pen. A top of the rotation starter can make a huge difference if only one or two position player moles pop up.
With this bullpen, a top of the rotation starter won’t make a bit of difference even if no moles pop up.
There is a 3rd thing to do, and I’d put it 3rd on the list. Sign a DH that can play 3rd, as we all know why. Can u say Justin Turner anyone. He could be had for 1 year and fairly reasonable.
MORENO SELL THE TEAM!!!!
that would be quite the sucker punch
Totally agree. I like the rotation potential more than the BP.
In 2023, We were ranked 4th for blown leads and tied for 2nd in blown leads in the 9th. That’s all BP.
Someone should sign him. Those that metoo’d his situation are rancid POS
Halo – I understand a top of the rotation starter would be great after we fix the BP. My point is, what top of the rotation starter would agree to a 1, maybe 2 year contract? That’s all that Moreno will approve for a pitcher as evidenced by the last 20 years. We will forever have the same pitching issues until Moreno changes that philosophy.
Why are you assuming a one or two year deal?
But if that’s the premise, only Bauer.
Because that’s the only deal Moreno hands out to pitchers with few exceptions. Anderson has been one of the few over 20 years who got more than 2 years. Who else?
The Angels offered Cole a lot of money. I don’t make your assumptions.
Arte signed CJ Wilson, Kelvim Escobar, Bartolo Colon to long term contracts, and extended Jered Weaver.
Let the kids play!
MC. Except build a bullpen and add a top of the rotation starter, that’s pretty much all they can do.
Halo I know You’re right.
I’ve argued the bullpen is the by far #1 problem.
I’m just so down i can’t think straight i guess
They need to atleast bring back moore, urshela, and let it ride. Gio would be the starting third baseman after Rendon gets hurt can play shortstop better than rengifo. That would put them around what they finished last year with hopefully better with coaching maybe close to the playoffs/ eliminated in the first round. The starting pitching can turn it without the script, and a coach that’s not sleeping in the dugout. Plesac could be a nice emergency 5th or Anderson.
A utility infielder as a plan B. Ok. It is not exactly going to push the needle.
Halo and Rex…Thanks for talking me off the ledge guys
@Rex
Ive been wanting Urshela back.. but apparently NOBODY in the MLB wanted him, because he’s playing for a team in the DR at the moment.
At this point do you think they will sign anyone that would push the needle. Sounds laughable and that’s probably pushing the expectations of what’s going to happen.
Rex, No. However, if they do build a pen and get a top of the rotation starter, depending on how many of these question marks are answered in the affirmative, it could be a fun season.
I’m actually looking forward to the first six innings of every game. I’m not looking forward to the struggle of the last three innings.
He might be trying to get reps in, haven’t seen anything but he’s still #2 behind Chapman at 3rd base/ utility, and he wasn’t bad it might push Nolan schanuel out of the lineup for a month until someone gets hurt. He can play shortstop in a pinch because angels currently have nothing after neto
Angels sign Hunter Dozier and the Astros are trying to sign Josh Hader. Business as usual.
I’m on a plane to Toronto now to ask them their expert opinions.
Jealous yet, Shoehi??!!! Take that!!!
***SHOHEI
I remember watching him when we played the royals. Big hype prospect who never panned out. Maybe the angels can re create the guy and get something out of him. Decent depth signing
Nope. Not happening.
I can’t think of a single player that got better after coming to the Angels.
I dunno where a friend of mine heard it, but he said the Angels training facilities are some of the worst in the league..
Our spring training facility is the worst in the Cactus League. Our major league team has primarily been using the minor league facility for everything other than games the last two years.
Arte has historically skimped big time on minor league housing, meals, and coaching. Several reports say Perry has gotten the minor league coaching salaries up to industry average and improved the meal plans and housing from an abomination to just below average.
I think Perry realizes this and it shapes his drafts. He always goes for a guy who needs very little development and fast tracks him to MLB.
Eppler, however, drafted raw athletes and planned on developing them into baseball players; a strategy that was doomed for all the reasons above.
LambchoP – The Angels tend to suck the life out of players, not re-create already below average players.
@HHJJ
Thought it was because the players in the farm system were so crap and he was trying to just get guys up faster so the team could be better, sooner. But if this is the case, it makes even more sense. The sooner Arte sells the team, the better it will be for everyone.
That’s my theory. There’s probably a little bit of both in there as he needed to try to win during the Ohtani window.
But, yeah, he’s gone very heavy on college players and promoted them very quickly. Almost like he doesn’t want them messed with much.
Agreed kellin, it’s more of what u have than JJ. Drafting older and more ready now 1st rounders has more to do with Ohtani’s window shrinking on the Angels the last couple years.
The 2nd most likely reason why over there sub par facilities is, Perry’s a$$ is on the line, with his time running out as GM to win.
Other than the fact the Angels suck at player development, I can’t comment.
How are any of us suppose to know why they suck at player development.
It doesn’t take a scout to know that Bachman short arms the ball and wasn’t going to make it as a starter with that arm slot. It doesn’t take a scout to know that the only way Schanuel will develop power is to change his swing. It doesn’t take a scout to know that Rengifo has bad defensive foot work.
But how do any of us have a clue how to work with them to change their mechanics. For me, that’s a bridge too far.
@H11
I’m perfectly ok with Schanuel not being a power hitter. We need players to get on base so the power hitters CAN drive them in. Swinging for the fences all the time isn’t really a good offensive plan. Looking back on the 2002 season, they had a decent offense, but they allowed the least amount of runs against of any team in the AL.
Agreed Kellin, for the first time in a long time, Halo11 was on a roll in this blog, until his above one. 1st, Schanuel is just fine with his big OBP and bat to ball skills.
2nd, Rengifo can improve on his D, if Mr. Washington can’t fix him, then we’ll just have to officially call him a bat only IF.
3) I’m also fine with Bachman as just a RP, if it plays out that way. As long as he turns out to be a back end, high leverage pitcher. We’re good!
I’m perfectly fine with Schanuel being a high contact/high OBP guy. Hopefully his defense at first is adequate.
Bachman has wicked stuff. Late inning and multi inning relievers are valuable. I’d like to get more from a first round pick, but I’ll take that.
I have zero issue with Schanuel and his lack of power. Get on base at a 400 clip and that’s a useful player. But I could tell right away that swing was not going to generate power and some fans had a problem with it.
If he’s going to hit for power, that swing has to change, and honestly, that’s a disaster waiting to happen. Be happy with who he is. Don’t mess him up.
Plug, you misunderstood my point about Schanuel. .
He’s a high floor low ceiling player. The Angels could have done much worse.
And I not fine with Bauchman being an RP. To date, he’s the highest pick the Angels have had this century. That’s not where you draft RPs.
He heard it anywhere they report baseball. The worst spring training facilities in baseball. Worst conditions for minor league players. They treat their scouts like crap. And I’m beginning to think their treatment of us fans isn’t any better.
The problem is that first is a power position. They need to get power from somewhere other than Trout. With Rendon penciled in at third– I don’t think he’s even going to hit 15-HRs. You have two corner spots way below league average. Houston has Alvarez– we have Schanuel. It’s a problem.
I think they are going to try and stretch Bachman out as a starter. I expect him to go to triple-A and wait to be needed. I do think Silseth is the most talented and most competitive pitcher they have. He is the one I think has a chance to break out and be a dominating starter. Detmers needs coaching and eventually I think he becomes solid. He actually eluded to the fact he got to the majors too soon and spoke about the uncertainty he faced accommodating Ohtani’s schedule. Sandoval has a problem between his ears and until that’s fixed he’ll never be more than he is– a #4. I think they might still try to move him in a package for a younger starter from the Marlins with more upside. Canning is not durable.
Carl, Add all Angels employees and former long term employees that were fired during Covid to that list.
Arte used to treat his people and Alumni well.
Long gone
Ohtani became better. After coming to the Angels. Remember when Doyer fans were saying he was a bust!
Schanuel isn’t the problem he’s only 21 years old he hits for a average when he gets stronger, he develops some power
Rendon is definitely the problem we would be lucky to get 50 games out of Rendon lucky to get 10 home runs that was the year the Angels were going after Cole signed with the Yankees instead of spending it on pitching what did Moreno do goes for a Rendon any amenity handpick him
Arte Moreno the bigger problem of all we had the best two players in baseball Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani and didn’t build around them
If only Joel Zumaya would of stayed healthy he was Nasty multi-inning guy who was so God Damn dominating and effective.
Shohei the money!
man after 2019 I thought he be a good one. baseball is so hard.
Since the Angels are a minor league team now why not move them to Fresno?
TheyLive, As long as Trout goes to the Dodgers, I don’t care at this point. Fine by me.
Fresno doesn’t seem to be asking for them.
Fresno doesn’t have a say in the matter. They will comply if directed.
Since the Angels have gone back to being a minor league team…
fixed it.
Fresno?
Angry territorial Giants on line 1….
All the more reason to move the Angels to Fresno.
What did Fresno ever do to you?
They live, I understand it’s just sarcasm.
If you know California there are far worse and dangerous places in the great central valley.
But no need to insult them.
What good is Fresno?
Provide the nations food?
Gateway to spectacular mountains, Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National parks?
Aaron Judge’s Alma Mater?
Maybe Arte Moreno will move the team to Fresno should have sold last year took the money and run now he will get $.50 on the dollar for the sale of the Angels
Your Mike Moustakas replacement (only RH)
Exactly– why not just get Moustakas who was good?
Moustakas was not good.
OPS+ of 68. Negative .5 WAR.
Dude, I’m joking.
Cool. Who knows with people?
I would take Moustakas over Randon
I would take any owner over Moreno
I guess this the angels new starting third baseman would’ve preferred moose
Kansas City still owes him 1 penny up front, $9,999,999.99 Deferred.
I feel like the Angels never talk offense WAR anymore not because they’re on to the next frontier of analytics but because their numbers are so bad. A few negative numbers in there. Take away Ohtani’s 6.6 from lat year and its a team WAR of 9.6 this year. Ranking them 26th.
Skip, The next “frontier” of analytics will be time travel. I don’t think there is anything left in between.
Good thing the Angels aren’t in a war, and they just play a kids game on a baseball field. 😉
What are Rendon, Rengifo, Moniak, Adell, O’Hoppe, Schanuel, Neto and Ward going to do this year?
What about Canning, Detmers, Sandoval and Silseth?
Fans want the Angels to play whack-a-mole, yet no one knows what mole to whack.
The bullpen has no hope. It’s the only area the Angels don’t have to play whack-a-mole.
They can also add a top of the rotation starter. But other than that, they need this to play out.
In 2025 they’ll have a much clearer picture which mole to whack.
Play what out? They needed to add at least two front line starters and I could argue three. We’ve been playing this out with Sandoval and Canning for FIVE seasons — this is their sixth. Anderson is no option whatsoever. Detmers and Silseth should be our #4 and #5. Sign Snell or Montgomery. Then they could even sign Clevinger and Ryu on one year deals. That’s a pretty formidable 1-3 to go with Detmers and Silseth. Canning is the long man and spot starter. Trade Sandoval. Or keep Sandoval and start Silseth at triple-A for depth. But that is an affordable rotation. Add two bullpen pieces. One bat– either Justin Turner or Rhys Hoskins to DH and play first. All of these moves or similar moves is very doable and affordable. This team would suddenly be relevant without destroying the future. I know exactly what we are going to get from Adell– a 40% strike-out rate. It’s what he did in high-school, the minors and majors. Why would it be different now? He doesn’t hit lefties well, so what good is a platoon with Moniak?
You said Adell had a 33 rate at AAA and it was 26%.
I’m glad you know who all these players are. I don’t.
You must make tons of money in Vegas.
I say continue the course and let the youth mature. And if it happens this year or next year then great. The 2023 Rangers should’ve reminded fans that it can happen in any year if a front office just allows their youth to develop, and then jumps on any chance to supplement to lock those players in now so the team is ready, they’re ready. But of course it proved to speed up their timeline faster than anyone expected. You could say that’s how the 2002 Angels happened. Because that’s the way teams often did it 20 years ago.
This idea that we need tons of rotation help is baffling. Detmers, Canning, Sandoval, and Silseth ALL had ERA’s better than league average. They are young, cheap, and healthy. They have upside. A smart organization would ride those four as long as they could.
The 5th starter is Anderson, who has a career ERA+ of 103. Yes he struggled last year. He is what he is – a veteran back of the rotation guy. Even the beloved Dodgers are searching for a 5th starter – right now theirs is Evan Sheehan.
The area of need, and many have pointed this out, is the bullpen. It projects to be..awful. That being said, bullpens are highly volatile, and maybe a guy like Washington can figure out how to push the right buttons.
They are volatile due to small sample sizes. That’s why tools are so important.
Our pitchers don’t have the tools.
Yes you are probably correct
That’s due to a massive amount of injuries. And if you look at playoff teams, they tend to have the most players with WAR in the 2’s and 3’s. Not 5’s, 6’s, 7’s or higher, because those players are hard to come by any way. And that just shows what Bill James said a long time ago during an interview on MLB Network, without having to into analytics: “You need to have league average or better at as many positions as possible to be a winning team.” A fancier way of saying teams need depth.
,All those minor league signing by other teams and we get this one?
Inspiring
Thought they were going to bring back john McDonald, so I guess it was inspiring
Oh good. I think I’ll get in line for playoff tickets now.
What line? I don’t think there’s a line for regular season games. Angel tickets have the same value as Confederacy currency.
Peary WTF? The Embarrassing offseason continues… what a miserable time to be an Angels fan.
It appears they are going with the young guys, and hopefully they don’t need the depth. I still would’ve gotten a third baseman that could hit over .220.
It appears they’ve given up. The silent rebuild is frustrating. Stop saying you’re not rebuilding, and just announce it. They look Pathetically inept.
They had the most injuries in our history and led MLB. Their entire proposed four outfielders were injured and closed the season on the IL except for Moniak. Their shortstop and 3rd baseman finished on the IL. Their catcher missed 3/4 of the season while their other catcher missed the entire season. Drury missed six weeks. Their first baseman mist a huge portion and then hit. .1.25T before they released him. The Angels should stack depth three deep at every position because this group is fragile.
Insert Emoji of hand hitting forehead here.
Oh goodie, the Angels just added another minor league player.
An old shiiiity one at that!
Maybe (and I’m really reaching here) Perry thinks Dozier can be a platoon guy, as both Moniak and Schanuel struggled vs lefties.
Beyond that, I don’t understand this even as AAAA depth piece.
Evan White, Willie Calhoun, Hunter Dozier….the Salt Lake City Bees will have former prospects who went bust all over the diamond.
They seem to be hoarding failed 1st round draftees
If Ohtani made no difference, who else in the world could they add to do so?
This is a systemic issue that a few added players cannot fix.
I think the Angels should try ISO 9001 or something. Need discipline and finally develop a PLAN
Haters,
They will be a .500 team or close to it, not even close to a AAA. That is still not good enough for the 2-3 million fans who USED to show year after year..
This is a .500 team based on what? They finished with 73 wins two years ina. row with Ohtani. Losing him is losing two players– our best pitcher and best hitter. You might be right if this team can stay healthy, but what makes you think rendon entering his 5th season with us will? Trout? Moniak? Ward? How can this group of pitchers that if you look at them statistically finished at the bottom of baseball compete? Canning and Sandoval are entering their 6th seasons. Detmers his 4th. Silseth is a rookie. Bachman is coming off shoulder surgery. Anderson was horrible. The bullpen is worse than last year and last year it was bad. Who is replacing Moore and Lopez? Estevez couldn’t save anything the last two months.
Carlafong, “They will be a .500 team or CLOSE to it”
+/- within 10 games of .500 is something close to me. 81-73 = 9.
This is certainly not a 100 loss team like some people are making them out to be here.
I don’t know the exact number of blown saves in the last 2 years. But as Halo11 brought me back to reality, having a good bullpen would have probably put them better than 73 wins the last 2 years+.
I agree 100%
The Angels are the only team in baseball to never lose 100 games and in fact, they have never lost more than 95.
I’ve been a fan since the 60s and there is some talent on this team. But the bullpen is more like than arson squad of the 70s than an actual bullpen.
Halo, wow interesting. Never have lost 100.
Now there’s one I’ve never read about.
Thanks for the trivia.
Yeah, I can’t watch after the 7th anymore.
Too frustrating
Never losing 100 games is also a byproduct of a long history voting to win now. They’ve never actually done a full rebuild in their history. The closest was the early 90’s, but even then, Mark Langston and Chuck Finley kept them at least a 90 loss team at their worst while waiting for Tim Salmon and company to arrive.
*trying to win now
Gotta have that starting pitching.
Even the bullpens the Angels had after 2005 were not very good behind Shields and K-Rod. They had trouble finding a seventh inning arm and by 2009 it was obvious since they lost K-Rod to free agency and Shield to what I believe was a knee injury.
If you go down the list of free agent relievers they signed from 2005 onward, you’ll see similar results as free agent relievers they’ve signed over the past few years. Esteban Yan, JC Romero, Hector Carrasco, Justin Speier. Darren Oliver was really the only one who was good for them.
Having that Shields/K-Rod combo went a long way, closing out a lot of games that most teams would’ve lost. But at the same time, their rotation was always at or near the top of the AL in innings pitched. So that also covered up weaknesses in their bullpen later during that run.
Notice how the Angels were in it more when Matt Moore and Carlos Estevez had microscopic ERA’s. So at that point, still battling for a WC spot was due to a rotation that was wasting 100 pitches by the fifth inning.
What the Angels really need is another pipeline of Lackey, Weaver, Santana, and Saunders. Preferably with a Bartolo Colon and Kelvim Escobar coming in off the open market.
A guy can dream. But that’s what it will take. That’s what they’ve needed for the past 5-6 years.
I think it’s to their credit they don’t throw in the towel before the year has started.
To me, this is a year of “lets see what we have.”
I do hate our pen. The only guy down there that does a few things well is Soriano. What he doesn’t do well is throw strikes. Their current closer, doesn’t throw strikes, allows hard contact, is a fly ball pitcher and can’t get called strikes.
You have to be a moron to think he’s the answer. Not with those peripherals.
I don’t think Adell/Moniak will be successful, but you have to let them play. As well as Ward, Neto, Schanuel, O’Hoppe, Rendon and even Rengifo as the primary DH.
As well as the starting pitchers. If 2025 is not a disaster, then work on what needs to be replaced in 2026.
Sign Bower and Uriais. (SP)
Trevor Bauer cleared his name and MLB still blacklisted him. Guess the MLB doesn’t want you to realize that they made a mistake, bye convicting Bauer before his time in court
Bauer was a imbecilic prima donna. He has a lot of company.
It should not preclude him from pitching.
I don’t know if you’re serious or not, but I would certainly sign Bauer– he deserves the opportunity. He was investigated and found to not have commited a crime. They could probably get him for a million. The Dodger players asked management not to release him– so he wasn’t a cancer there.
Arte would have to be gone for Bauer to come.
They are still shopping at the Good Will. Vintage bargains
WHAT AN OFF-SEASON FOR THE HALOS. INE OF THE BEST OF ALL TIME
THIS SIGNING WOW.
BOOK RHE PARADE AND CANCEL MY SEASON TICKETS OR INVEST IN BROWN PAPER BAGS FOR MY GAMES. FIRE EVERYBODY!!!
After 46 yrs of season tickets I’m gone until Arte the Clown is gone. The Angels should be folded into the A’s and stop embarrassing their former fans. Dumpster diving isn’t worth any continued investment in the Angels with Shohei just up the 5 a bit.
Tigers could’ve gave him a minor league deal considering their IF situation.