Los Angeles Angels and former Cincinnati Reds shortstop Zack Cozart have agreed to a $38 million, three-year deal on Friday. The 32-year-old spent his entire MLB career with the Reds and comes to the Angels after an All-Star season in 2017.
“It’s just going to be a fun team to be around,” –said Cozart. “[Left fielder Justin] Upton is already texting me. From what I hear about the clubhouse, it seems like it’s my type of team — a bunch of good grinder guys that want to get after it and win.”
But, there is one catch to adding Cozart to the Angels exciting line-up. He had to be willing to switch positions, twice. Since the shortstop position is occupied by the Gold Glove winner Andrelton Simmons, team’s GM Billy Eppler wanted Cozart as a second baseman. In the meantime, he managed to get second baseman Ian Kinsler on Wednesday. So, Cozart became an option for a third baseman.
“He said, ‘If this is going to help us get into October, I’m all for it,’” – revealed Eppler. “That right there made me feel extremely good that not only did we get the right player from an ability standpoint, but we got the right player from a character standpoint.”
Zack Cozart was surprised by the Angels’ wishes but eventually decided to go along with it due to his wish to win.
“I’ve been on some bad teams lately,” – added Cozart. “When I found out the Angels were interested, that was one of the big things for me. It should be a really good team to join, so I was on board. When I found out [about playing third base], I was a little shocked because everything was happening so quick. But at the end of the day, I want to win.”
Cozart comes to Angels after 7 years with the Reds in which he had .254 batting average, 703 hits, and 82 home runs.
