Free-agent second baseman Brian Dozier and the San Diego Padres reached agreement on a minor league contract with an invitation to big league spring training.
Dozier, 32, has played in the World Series the past two years. He hit 20 home runs with 50 RBI for the champion Washington Nationals last season, and was with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2018 after getting traded from the Twins that July.
Dozier was a 2015 All-Star with the Twins and hit 42 home runs in 2016.
The Padres have several players vying for time at second base, including newcomer Jurickson Profar and Ty France.
Rodeo Bumgarner
Arizona lefthander Madison Bumgarner has been competing in rodeo events under the alias Mason Saunders and even won $26,560 in a team-roping competition in December, according to a story published by the Athletic.
Bumgarner told the website he has discretely competed in rodeos for a while, including in March of last year two days before pitching for San Francisco in spring training. He has been roping since he was 15 or 16 years old and said he's been at it so long that "it's just part of who you are."
The 2014 World Series MVP agreed to an $85 million, five-year contract with the Diamondbacks in December, about two weeks after winning a rodeo competition in Wickenburg, Ariz.
Bumgarner, a righthanded roper, said he is often recognized at events but has used the alias to keep his profile low.
Etc.
• Boston put 36-year-old second baseman Dustin Pedroia on the 60-day injured list Sunday, further putting in doubt whether the 2008 AL MVP will play again. He has played in only nine games over the past two seasons.
• Mookie Betts made his Cactus League debut for the Dodgers, going 0-for-2 with a sacrifice fly. "The baseball's the same," the former Red Sox star and 2018 AL MVP said.
