ramblings

It now appears that Brian Dozier will be staying in Minnesota. For sure he won’t be traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have acquired Logan Forsythe from Tampa Bay to play second base in 2017. Dozier, the former Southern Miss standout, has said all along that he wants to stay with the Twins, though the team, which won only 59 games in 2016, isn’t likely to be a contender anytime soon. Dozier hit 42 homers – an American League record for second basemen — in 2016, to go with a .268 average, 99 RBIs and 104 runs. He is under contract for two more years. … Ole Miss product Drew Pomeranz has pronounced himself fit for 2017 and eager to win a job in Boston’s rotation. The left-hander’s ERA was 4.59 last year for the Red Sox after they acquired him from San Diego, where he had a 2.47 and was an All-Star. Pomeranz recently told reporters that he had elbow pain late last year, an ailment that has been treated with a stem cell shot. The Red Sox’s rotation is stacked at the top with Rick Porcello, David Price and Chris Sale. Competition for the other two jobs will be stiff. “In my head, I always feel like I’m competing for something,” Pomeranz said in an mlb.com article. The well-traveled Pomeranz also has experience as a reliever. … Expectations are that Jarrod Dyson will play regularly in left field and bat leadoff for Seattle, which traded for the Southwest Mississippi Community College product earlier this month. Regular time was hard to come by for Dyson in Kansas City, where, over seven seasons, he batted .260 with 176 steals and played excellent defense, something Seattle was seeking. … DeSoto Central High alum Austin Riley was rated the No. 8 third base prospect in the minors by MLB Pipeline. Riley played at the low Class A level in 2016, batting .271 with 20 homers in his first full year in Atlanta’s system. Ex-Mississippi Braves star Ozzie Albies was rated the No. 2 second base prospect and Travis Demeritte, expected to play in Pearl this year, was pegged at No. 5. Demeritte may be shifted to third base.