General Manager Billy Eppler today announced the Angels have agreed to terms on a three-year contract with INF Zack Cozart. Per club policy, no financial terms of the agreement will be announced.
Cozart, 32, set career highs in 2017 with a .297 batting average (130/438), 80 runs scored, seven triples, 24 home runs, 55 extra base hits, 240 total bases and a .933 OPS, while also matching his 2013 career high with 63 RBI. He earned his first All-Star selection after being chosen as a starter for the National League via fan balloting. He became the third Reds shortstop to earn a fan election, joining Dave Concepcion and Hall of Famer Barry Larkin. Cozart finished the year leading all N.L. shortstops in triples, home runs, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. His 24 home runs were the second highest single-season total by a shortstop in Reds history, trailing only Larkin's 32 homers in 1996.
A native of Memphis, TN, Cozart joins the Angels after spending all 11 of his professional campaigns with Cincinnati (last six seasons in Majors). With the Reds, Cozart compiled a career clip of .254 (703/2,767) with 375 runs, 143 doubles, 22 triples, 82 home runs and 280 RBI in 743 games. His 82 career home runs rank third in Reds history for players whose primary position was shortstop (Barry Larkin 198, Dave Concepcion 101). At shortstop, he has logged a .980 career fielding percentage, finishing as a Rawlings Gold Glove finalist in 2014.
Cozart was selected by the Reds in the second round of the 2007 first-year player draft out of the University of Mississippi. He signed a one-year contract through 2017, avoiding arbitration, January 13, 2017.