Brian Dozier: New Member, Mt. Rushmore of Twins Sluggers

The Minnesota Twins now have a new member in their historical 40 Home Run club in Brian Dozier. Talk about exclusive, that is now a party of TWO. The Top 4 players on the All-Time franchise, single-season records plateau now features Harmon Killebrew (49 twice in 1964 and '69), BD (40 and counting in 2016), Josh Willingham (35 in 2012), and Bob Allison (also 35 in 1963).

A fantasy which would have gotten you ridicule in 2012 -
a sort of "which one does not belong"-type of thing!

 As a not-so-small side note, this episode truly underscores the enduring magnificence of Killebrew, who topped the 40 barrier in a pitching-dominated era -  not once, not twice, but seven times in his career (see "Twins Top 20 Chart" below), and almost scored an eighth (39 in 1966). It's noteworthy for a player to reach that plateau now in the post-steroid era, but for someone to have averaged that for 12 years running is beyond belief (wait for stat box to pop up - a neat one to behold!).

"Todd Walker this,
Todd Walker that,
bula, bula, bula!"

In a season punctuated by the crushing disappointment of a losing ballclub, Brian Dozier has been a beacon of interest and a pleasant surprise for Twins fans after a disappointing start to his year. It's hard to imagine a more unlikely addition to the team Home Run Mt. Rushmore. He was the 21st pick in the 8th Round by Minnesota in the 2009 June Amateur Draft out of the University of Southern Mississippi, six picks after Paul Goldschmidt of Arizona. In fact, if you were a Twins fan in 1996, and Marty McFly just showed up on your doorstep proclaiming, "You know, that Todd Walker rookie of yours at second base? He's going to be producing Harmon Killebrew-like homer and slugging totals at some point in the future," it would have been a plausible claim, given the Minor League buzz he'd generated. And Brian Dozier? Um, no, not so much. Life is strange that way...

He had hit 16 homers in 4 Minor League seasons, and had a memorably putrid rookie season in 2012, with essentially one highlight - and that not necessarily of grandiose proportions. All signs pointed to a player destined to be a serviceable utility player or middle infielder. He had been named the team's Minor League Player of The Year in 2011, but came crashing down to Earth later in that rookie year with a demotion to AAA Rochester. But his run production and power has steadily progressed since 2012, and his low-ish batting average, power and good fielding comps him in team history with Tim Tuefel. But he has moved far beyond that, becoming on par with the best second basemen in baseball. Further, he has now surpassed Alfonso Soriano's 39 home runs as a second baseman, set in 2002.

Perhaps hoping to avoid the uncertainties of market salary escalation and arbitration, the Twins signed him to a 4 year, $20 million contract in March, 2015, with annual payouts of $2 M, $3 M, $6 M and $9 M in 2018. In essence, his production has made him an incredible bargain; and with each homer and stellar fielding play from now until the season's end in 2016, talk of him being trade fodder for starting pitching prospects seems more ridiculous by the day.

ALL TIME TWINS TOP 20 SINGLE-SEASON HOME RUN LEADERS

Rk	Player	HR	Year	Age	G	PA	AB	RBI	BB	SO	OBP	SLG	OPS
1	Harmon Killebrew	49	1969	33	162	709	555	140	145	84	.427	.584	1.011
2	Harmon Killebrew	49	1964	28	158	682	577	111	93	135	.377	.548	.924
3	Harmon Killebrew	48	1962	26	155	666	552	126	106	142	.366	.545	.912
4	Harmon Killebrew	46	1961	25	150	656	541	122	107	109	.405	.606	1.012
5	Harmon Killebrew	45	1963	27	142	596	515	96	72	105	.349	.555	.904
6	Harmon Killebrew	44	1967	31	163	689	547	113	131	111	.408	.558	.965
7	Harmon Killebrew	41	1970	34	157	665	527	113	128	84	.411	.546	.957
8	Brian Dozier	41	2016	29	140	624	553	94	56	117	.352	.577	.929
9	Harmon Killebrew	39	1966	30	162	677	569	110	103	98	.391	.538	.929
10	Josh Willingham	35	2012	33	145	615	519	110	76	141	.366	.524	.890
11	Bob Allison	35	1963	28	148	626	527	91	90	109	.378	.533	.911
12	Justin Morneau	34	2006	25	157	661	592	130	53	93	.375	.559	.934
13	Kent Hrbek	34	1987	27	143	566	477	90	84	60	.389	.545	.934
14	Gary Gaetti	34	1986	27	157	661	596	108	52	108	.347	.518	.865
15	Jimmie Hall	33	1963	25	156	571	497	80	63	101	.342	.521	.863
16	Michael Cuddyer	32	2009	30	153	650	588	94	54	118	.342	.520	.862
17	Tom Brunansky	32	1987	26	155	614	532	85	74	104	.352	.489	.841
18	Tom Brunansky	32	1984	23	155	628	567	85	57	94	.320	.460	.780
19	Bob Allison	32	1964	29	149	594	492	86	92	99	.404	.553	.957
20	Tony Oliva	32	1964	25	161	719	672	94	34	68	.359	.557	.916

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used

Generated 9/14/2016.

And, oh, by the way...

TWINS 3-HR GAMES - REVISED!!

Rk	Player	Date	Tm	Opp	Rslt	PA	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	SO	BOP
1	Brian Dozier	2016-09-05	MIN	KCR	L 5-11	5	5	3	3	3	4	2	1
2	Max Kepler	2016-08-01	MIN	CLE	W 12-5	6	6	3	4	3	6	0	3
3	Justin Morneau	2007-07-06 (2)	MIN	CHW	W 12-0	5	5	3	3	3	6	0	5
4	Tony Oliva	1973-07-03	MIN	KCR	L 6-7	5	5	3	3	3	3	0	3
5	Harmon Killebrew	1963-09-21 (1)	MIN	BOS	W 13-4	5	5	3	3	3	5	1	4
6	Bob Allison	1963-05-17	MIN	CLE	W 11-4	5	5	3	3	3	6	1	4

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used

"David Price AND Benitendi for
Dozier? What are we waiting for?"

Credit needs to be given to Twins management for sticking by Dozier during his prolonged slumps that marred the second half of 2015 and the beginning of the 2016 season.  And, of course, hitting coach Tom Brunansky, and Dozier himself should be given props for making changes to his approach at the plate that resulted in him being more productive and stronger in the second half. As per trades, no one on the Twins 40 man roster or minor league stable should be off limits - with a notable exception of a couple players or three - if the "offer that can't be refused" comes across the wires for the new GM and President of Baseball Ops.

But it had better be nigh unto perfect to part with a building block player like Brian D.

"So long, everybody!" - Herb Carneal