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Infielder/outfielder Hunter Dozier has been launched by the Angels, in keeping with his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He had signed a minor league cope with them in January however will now return to the open market seeking his subsequent alternative.
It’s comprehensible why the Halos took a shot on Dozier. He’s nonetheless being paid by the Royals as a part of the extension he signed with that membership a few years in the past, so it was basically a free take a look at a man who was as soon as a succesful massive league hitter.
Sadly, they didn’t see a lot to love in that free look. Dozier took 214 plate appearances for the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees whereas lining up in any respect 4 nook spots however struck out in 29.9 p.c of them. He did hit seven residence runs however solely walked at a 5.6 p.c clip.
His .222/.268/.394 batting line is unimpressive in a vacuum and much more so within the hitter-friendly context of the Pacific Coast League, because it interprets to a 56 wRC+.
That’s a major drop from the place he was a number of years in the past. With the Royals in 2019, Dozier hit 26 residence runs and walked at a 9.4 p.c fee. That’s now referred to as the “juiced ball” season when home-run tallies had been up all throughout the league, however his .279/.348/.522 slash line was nonetheless thought-about 23 p.c higher than the league common in that surroundings.
Within the shortened 2020 season, his energy seemingly corrected a bit with six homers in 44 video games, however he additionally elevated his stroll fee to 14.5 p.c after being at 9.4 p.c the 12 months prior.
The Royals seemingly felt that Dozier was within the strategy of a breakout they usually determined to spend money on him. Going into 2021, which was his age-28 season, Dozier and the Royals signed an extension that assured him $25M over 4 years. It additionally contained a $10M membership possibility for 2025 with a $1M buyout.
However his manufacturing cratered from basically the second the ink was dry on that contract. He hit .226/.289/.391 over 2021 and 2022 whereas placing out 26.7 p.c of the time and strolling at only a 7.4 p.c fee, with that mixed manufacturing resulting in an 84 wRC+.
Final 12 months was even worse, as his strikeout fee jumped to 31.9 p.c and he produced a line of .183/.253/.305 in 91 plate appearances earlier than getting launched on the finish of Could.
Dozier hasn’t been in good kind for some time, however the Royals are nonetheless paying him for the remainder of the 12 months. Maybe one other membership will comply with the Angels’ lead and provides him a minor league deal, hoping to catch lightning in a bottle.
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