Sitting at 55-43 on the season heading into the unofficial start of the second half, the Milwaukee Brewers are firmly in the National League Playoff race.
Unfortunately for the Brew Crew, they finished the first half losers of six consecutive games and are now 2.5 games behind the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central. Needless to say, the team has been in the market for reinforcements.
That previously included All-Star Manny Machado, who was officially traded from the Baltimore Orioles to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday.
After missing out on Machado, the Brewers are now reportedly setting their sights on Minnesota Twins infielder Brian Dozier.
Among the players the #Brewers are expected to target now that they have lost Machado: #Twins 2B Brian Dozier. Team also will explore pitching upgrades as well.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 19, 2018
Given that starting second baseman Jonathan Villar is currently on the disabled list and doesn’t pack the same punch from the plate as Dozier, this interest seems to make a lot of sense.
Dozier, 31, is in the midst of a down season for the Twins. He’s hitting just .230 with a .314 on-base percentage. This comes on the heels of the former All-Star posting a .271 average with 34 homers in 2017. He also belted 42 homers and drove in 99 runs back in 2016.
As Ken Rosenthal notes, Milwaukee is in the market for pitching help. Minnesota has assets in that regard in the form of starters Jake Odorizzi and Lance Lynn as well as closer Fernando Rodney.