Fresh Start in San Diego

A few years ago, Brian Dozier looked like a budding star. A slugging 2nd baseman with the Twins, he looked like he'd be a Minnesota mainstay. But after a 34-homer season in 2017, his numbers dropped off, and he bounced from the Twins to the Dodgers and last year was a regular with the World Champion Nationals. But they chose not to bring him back. And there wasn't much interest in him elsewhere through the winter.

Now, he gets an opportunity to turn things around in San Diego. After trying and failing with another veteran 2nd baseman last year, Ian Kinsler, the Padres have a nice pool of talented kids, such as Fernando Tatis Jr., to go along with their 2019 free agent prize Manny Machado. So, a veteran looking for a bounce-back season, who will only cost $2 million if he makes the team, is a gamble worth taking -- especially for a club that wants to make a run at a Wild Card.

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