2:10pm: St. Louis will receive $3MM in the trade, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets. But $2MM of that is contingent upon the Cardinals declining Broxton’s 2016 option, meaning that Milwaukee will effectively be picking up $1MM of Boxton’s remaining 2015 tab.
11:13am: The Cardinals have officially acquired reliever Jonathan Broxton from the Brewers, as Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com first reported on Twitter. Outfielder Malik Collymore is going to Milwaukee in the deal, and there will be an unknown amount of cash headed with Broxton to St. Louis (via Adam McCalvy of MLB.com, on Twitter).
Broxton represents yet another turnaround reliever candidate acquired by St. Louis in recent years, including Steve Cishek just days ago. The Cardinals had been rumored at times to be seeking starting pitching depth, but ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick notes on Twitter that the team may have elected instead to deepen its pen. That should not only provide additional options as the club waits for the return of Jordan Walden, but will also reduce the burden on its rotation.
The 31-year-old owns an unappealing 5.89 ERA on the year, but his fastball is still averaging better than 94 mph and his peripherals are more encouraging. Broxton has compiled 9.1 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 and a 49.5% groundball rate. SIERA grades his contribution at a promising 2.89 ERA estimation.
Broxton is playing in his eleventh big league season, and he’s racked up 576 innings of 3.25 ERA pitching along the way. He no longer posts quite the gaudy strikeout tallies of his youth, and has had some rough seasons along the way, but all said it’s an impressive overall body of work.
Of course, another significant issue with the veteran is his contract. Broxton is owed $9MM this year as well as a $1MM buyout on his $9MM option for 2016. It remains unknown how the financials will shake out, but St. Louis will likely receive some money along with the right-hander.
For the Brewers, moving salary was undoubtedly the primary motivation in striking the deal. The club has now shipped out a variety of veteran players, adding prospects and saving money along the way. It still has several possible trade pieces in its holster, including first baseman/DH Adam Lind and closer Francisco Rodriguez.
In Collymore, Milwaukee adds a 20-year-old outfielder who has played exclusively in the low minors over three years in the St. Louis organization. He’s only compiled 347 total plate appearances in that span, putting up a .286/.360/.429 slash, though he has not hit well in limited time in the Appalachian League this season. His stronger output in Rookie ball last season did earn him the 27th ranking on Baseball America’s pre-season Cardinals prospect list. BA says that he has some upside and raw power, but he has yet to show much in-game pop (at least in terms of home run tallies) and is still somewhat without a home on the defensive side of the equation.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Widest man in baseball
True. CC a close 2nd
Good news for Pirates. Bucs have owned him over the years.
Contingent on St. Louis paying off his tab at the Milwaukee Western Sizzler. Cash considerations always get deals done…always
Bingo…..it’s for an unknown amount of cash. Guess we’ll just have to wait for the Western Sizzler audit report. That is unless the restaurant manager wants to speak to the press
Probably for $1. Hopefully St. Louis gave us a prospect, but i doubt it will be a good one.
Please let this one be true!
Wow. Melvin is a genius.
not sure why, but ok
Broxton is healthy, throws hard, and resembles a pitcher.
Can he hit?
Yay, more low hanging fruit. And who cares if the fruit is rotten?
NOW BATTING… MATT…… STAIRS………..
Eh. I’ve seen worse moves. But then, i’m old and there have been lots of moves through the years.
Is he going to hit HR’s?
Because the Cardinals need a dude who’s gonna hit HR’s. And preferably hit .300. Or above .250.
You know, because it ain’t the pitching that’s been consistently letting the team down.
Well, there will be dingers when he comes into the game, for sure
He’s like the 5th best reliever on the team. He’s very good for what he’ll be used for. It’s not his fault Cincinnati and Milwaukee thought he should be pitching high leverage situations.
He’ll be good for St.L. He’s been good everywhere but Milwaukee.
Erm… NO. Ask a Dodger fan about that. He was horrible here in LA.
OK to eat innings, but in high leverage situations he would melt down time after time.
Well in MKE it didn’t take a high leverage sitchu for him to melt down, just a baseball in his hand.
Funny how the bad appearances get burned into our brains. Then you go back and look at the numbers and remind yourself he was really good before the injuries in those last two seasons with LA. Not sure how he got that huge contract though.
The Birds need to go after a power hitting first baseman like Jack Parkman. Trust me…I should know.
Not the guy I wanted from the Brewers. Can be an okay deal if the Cardinals don’t give up much.
Then why did you make the deal, John Boy?
I got drunk last night. Thought I texted that I wanted Adam Lind. Melvin replied that he would take Collymore so of course I said yes.
Should have asked for Jose Lind too
Adam Lind should have been part of this deal
That’s what I was expecting to happen when the rumors of Broxton to the Cards started. Figured the deal was going for Lind and Milwaukee was making them take on Broxton’s contract in order to trade him in the division.
That would have been nice, but our struggling offensive is getting no help
Reportedly, the Brewers wanted Gonzalez & Reyes for Lind. Do you want him that bad? I sure don’t.
This is a nice trial. If the Cardinals use devil magic and turn him into a nice reliever again it is a very nice addition. If he continues to suck, no big deal.
Surprised they didn’t give up Reyes here. Since the Cards have been without the aid of other team’s scouting reports, their trade history has been a bit shaky…
Why assume they’re not still getting other team’s scouting reports?
‘Cause I dont think any other team’s report would’ve suggested that Moss was worth giving up Kaminsky.
I like it. A lot of young starters pitching for the Cardinals. Having a deep bullpen will help late in the season and (hopefully) into the playoffs.
Parkman was a catcher
So cardinals need offense but get a reliever which they don’t really need? Who goes down? Who goes down when Walden comes back.. Going to carry 13 pitchers and 12 batters that makes a lot of sense.
He can’t have #51 or #50, but there may be a few Ray King #56 jerseys still in the back for him.
I don’t think it’s a bad move at all…he didn’t cost too much and Milwaukee sent cash too…over his 11 years in the MLB he hasn’t been bad….perhaps a change of scenery and playing for a contender versus a last place team will get him back on track….he still has 94 mph heat.