Colorado Rockies rumors: Interest in a second base free agent option?

According to Thomas Harding of MLB.com, the Colorado Rockies are interested in a second base free agent option…but it is not DJ LeMahieu.

On Sunday night, Thomas Harding of MLB.com reported that the Colorado Rockies are interested in free agent second baseman Brian Dozier on a short-term deal.

As Harding noted in his column for MLB.com, the Rockies are interested in a short-term deal for Dozier, in part, because the Rockies “have to balance the pursuit against payroll concerns.”

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Personally, I think that the Rockies interest in Dozier is a bit … interesting. He’s not a fit for the team in many ways. First off, the aforementioned payroll issue. The Rockies are going to be paying Nolan Arenado north of $25 million this season in arbitration, Charlie Blackmon $21.5 million, Wade Davis $18 million, Ian Desmond $15 million, new signee Daniel Murphy $10 million, both Jake McGee and Bryan Shaw $8.5 million, and Mike Dunn $7 million (you can check out the entire Rockies payroll here). Especially if a deal for Dozier would be a 2-year deal, that could provide the Rockies with a problem in 2020 if they decide they want to try to resign Arenado.

Secondly, the Rockies have some young infielders that have a little bit of major league experience or are at Triple-A. These include Ryan McMahon, Garrett Hampson, and Rockies top prospect Brendan Rodgers. If the Rockies were to sign Dozier, he’d be playing second base and, as a result, McMahon, Hampson, and Rodgers would all be in Albuquerque or on the bench in 2019.

I do understand being interested in Dozier to improve the offense. He was injury plagued in 2018 and after he was traded to the Dodgers by the Twins, his playing time significantly diminished but in the previous four seasons, he averaged 32 home runs and 85 RBI with an OPS+ of 120.

Dozier still played in 151 games in 2018 but, as Harding noted in his column, Dozier had a severe right knee bone bruise in April, and the pain remained throughout the season. He cites his weighted on-base percentage and hard-hit percentage drops in 2018 as possible evidence to show that Dozier was playing hurt for much of the season.

Any way you slice it, Dozier is not a great fit for the Rockies. However, in recent memory, the Rockies have tried to fit squared pegs into round holes (e.g. Ian Desmond)…and it has not had much success.