Minnesota Twins: Even When Times Are Tough, Brian Dozier Does It the Right Way

Brian Dozier sat by his locker. The sign above him had his name and number.

Tomorrow, that plate will be removed.

“We made a roster move,” said manager Ron Gardenhire.

“We optioned Dozier. We selected [Pedro] Florimon.”

Dozier waited until the media was finished interviewing Josh Willingham, a veteran player that had just hit his 30th home run—a career milestone.

He stood up and waited for all the cameras to be turned on and all the recorders and microphones to be shoved in his face.  

“It’s pretty tough to be honest with you,” the Fulton, Miss., native said in a sweet, Southern drawl, “but I know that I haven’t been playing good baseball.”

Dozier is batting .234/.271/.332 in 84 games this season. He also has 15 fielding errors and made a play in Monday’s contest against Tampa Bay that may have cost the Twins the final game of the series.

“[That] might be a good thing for me to go down there and get some confidence.”

Gardenhire was too emotional to discuss the demotion in the press conference.

“You know what? (Assistant GM Rob Antony) is sitting right out that door,” he said, pointing across the room, “and he said he would talk about everything.

“That’s a little easier for him than [it is] for me.”

As promised, Antony was right outside the door, waiting for the media.

“Well first off with Brian, he’s a rookie,” said Antony of the 25-year-old shortstop.

“He’s had his good days, he’s had his tough days and basically he just needs to go down and play every day.”

He was specific about what Dozier was going to be focusing on in Triple A.

“He’s got to work on his defense,” said Antony. “There have been certain things he needs to work on—cutoffs, positioning, that sort of thing.

“[He] also needs to be a little more consistent offensively.”

The Twins organization believes that Dozier can be an everyday shortstop.

“We want him to go down and play every day,” Antony continued, “because we believe he has an opportunity to be a starter for us up here.”

Antony made it clear that recent events, namely the play in Game 3 against the Rays, did not force the organization’s hand.

“It was a lot longer process,” he said.

“We were really trying to be patient because we know with a young player and a rookie he’s going to have his ups and downs, but it just got to a point where we felt it was better for him…to go down to Rochester to try to get his game in order.”

Dozier echoed Antony, saying it will be helpful for him.

Asked if he saw it coming, he said yes and now.

“I’d have sent me down because I haven’t been playing the way I know I’m capable of doing,” he admitted.

“That’s what—can I say sucks?”

He paused to chuckle.

“That’s what sucks because I know what I’m capable of, especially being up here for a few months now. I know my style, my game and everything and it’ll be fine.”

There is some question of if he can hit for average, how much power he’s got, if he’s always in the right position and whether he made the right decision on Monday.

All those are questions that will be answered over the next couple of months.

One thing is for certain though.

Brian Dozier plays the game the right way.

All quotes were obtained first-hand.

Tom Schreier writes a weekly column for TheFanManifesto.com.

Follow @tschreier3