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Keon Broxton

Brewers, Keon Broxton Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Brewers have signed outfielder Keon Broxton to a minor league deal with an invite to major league spring training camp, per a team announcement.

The Brewers were down a man in their outfield after exchanging Trent Grisham in a pre-Thanksgiving swap with the Padres. For Broxton, this signing will represent a welcome homecoming after a headache of a 2019. It was roughly eleven months ago that the Brewers traded Broxton to the Mets for Adam Hill, Felix Valerio and Bobby Wahl, beginning the outfielder on a three-team odyssey that would see Broxton flame out in New York, Baltimore, and Seattle. All told on the season, the 29-year-old hit .167/.242/.275 with six homers in 228 plate appearances across three organizations.

That said, Broxton isn’t far removed looking like a totally viable big league piece with Milwaukee. Between 2016 and 2017, Broxton slashed .227/.318/.424 (94 wRC+) with 29 homers and 44 steals in 707 plate appearances. Of course, that roughly average production, though buttressed with power and speed, was always haunted by a seriously spooky strikeout rate. Broxton K’d at a 37.2 percent clip during that time with the Brewers, with that rate ballooning to a near-unthinkable 41.2 percent since the beginning of 2018. Still, Broxton did rate as a solid defensive regular across all three outfield spots in ’19, with 3 Defensive Runs Saved and a 2.2 UZR in over 500 innings on the grass.

Ryon Healy, Keon Broxton Elect Free Agency

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Mariners corner infielder Ryon Healy and outfielder Keon Broxton both elected free agency rather than accept an outright assignment, the team announced. Both players went unclaimed on waivers and will be free to sign with any club this winter.

Healy, 28 in January, underwent August hip surgery that was expected to sideline him for four to six months. That makes the decision to outright him all the more understandable, though he’d have been at risk even if he were healthy. The OBP-challenged slugger spent two seasons in Seattle but managed just a .236/.280/.423 batting line with 31 home runs in 711 trips to the plate after being traded to the A’s in a now-regrettable deal for righty Emilio Pagan. (Oakland also cut bait on Pagan and traded him to Tampa Bay, where he blossomed into one of the league’s best relievers in 2019.)

A clear timetable on Healy’s return to baseball activities isn’t known, but he could draw interest from clubs looking for some right-handed pop this winter. Healy doesn’t walk often (just 4.7 percent of the time) but also doesn’t strikeout at an egregious rate (22.2 percent in his career). He has experience at both infield corners but is best-suited for first base/designated hitter work, making him a bit redundant for a Mariners team that has Daniel Vogelbach on the big league roster and first base prospect Evan White looming in the upper minors.

The 29-year-old Broxton, meanwhile, played on three different teams this season but couldn’t find success with the Mets, Orioles or Mariners. Broxton turned some heads with the Brewers back in 2016-17 when he showed an intriguing blend power, speed and center field defense while hitting .227/.318/.424 (including a 20-20 campaign in 2017). But strikeouts have been an enormous issue for Broxton, who punched out in an astonishing 45.6 percent of his 228 plate appearances this past season. Given that lack of contact, his ensuing .167/.242/.275 slash is hardly surprising.

Broxton has 17 Defensive Runs Saved, a 9.6 Ultimate Zone Rating and rates in at a whopping 34 Outs Above Average, per Statcast, over the past four MLB seasons. There’s little doubt that his glove is outstanding, but his 61.4 percent contact rate is the second-lowest among all MLB hitters in that same span.

Mariners Claim Keon Broxton

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The Mariners have claimed OF Keon Broxton, reports Greg Johns of mlb.com. The 29-year-old was designated for assignment Sunday by the Orioles.

It’s the third team this season for Broxton, who was acquired in the offseason by Mets and jettisoned after a miserable to start to the season. In 142 plate appearances for New York and Baltimore, the righty’s slashed .188/.244/.289 with a shocking 43.0% strikeout rate. Swing-and-miss has always been the undoing for the speedy outfielder, who again has posted stellar, if not elite, defensive and baserunning numbers.

Broxton’ll look to squeeze his way into a hobbled Mariner outfield that’s currently without Mitch Haniger and Domingo Santana. Centerfielder Mallex Smith hasn’t been able to replicate his breakout 2018 campaign, so perhaps Broxton will be in the mix there. A corner spot may also be up for grabs – rookie Dylan Moore hasn’t offered much in his sporadic action, either.

Quick Hits: Scherzer, F. Vazquez, Broxton, Reds

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The Nationals are expecting ace Max Scherzer to return from the injured list by Thursday or Friday, Byron Kerr of MASNsports.com reports. Scherzer, out since July 13 with right shoulder bursitis, threw a full bullpen session Monday and offered an encouraging assessment afterward, per Kerr. The Nationals have maintained a playoff spot during Scherzer’s absence, but the three-time Cy Young winner is their MVP and someone they likely can’t go without for much longer. The 34-year-old Scherzer was amid another all-world season before hit hit the shelf, with a 2.30 ERA/2.02 FIP, 12.6 K/9, 1.6 BB/9 and 5.5 WAR in 129 1/3 innings.

More on a few other clubs…

  • Back on July 1, Pirates general manager Neal Huntington downplayed the possibility of trading closer Felipe Vazquez. The Bucs have lost 10 of 16 since then, putting them six games out of playoff position, but Huntington’s mind hasn’t changed. He once again made it clear Sunday that the Pirates expect to push for contention in the near future with Vazquez on their roster (via Adam Berry of MLB.com). On a potential Vazquez trade, Huntington said: “If we were expecting to lose 100 games next year, then it’s a different approach. But our expectation is to be right back in this — if we don’t get there this year — to be right back in this next year, and to have a guy like that in the back end is really important.” The Pirates haven’t made the playoffs since 2015, the year before they acquired the electric Vazquez, and appear as if they’ll extend their drought this season. Vazquez is controllable through 2023, giving the Pirates time to take advantage of his presence; on the other hand, Vazquez’s team-friendly contract is one of the reasons he’d bring back so much in a trade. Huntington appears to have no interest in giving up one of the greatest acquisitions of his tenure, though.
  • When the Orioles designated center fielder Keon Broxton for assignment Sunday, manager Brandon Hyde suggested the O’s would lose him, saying (via Joe Trezza of MLB.com): “I’m hoping he’ll get picked up by somebody, especially someone who needs outfield defense and baserunning for the postseason. I wish Keon the best.” It appears Broxton will indeed end up elsewhere in the coming days, as Trezza reports “a few teams” have checked in on the 29-year-old. Broxton can run and defend, as Hyde noted, though horrid hitting has torpedoed his value in 2019. Broxton has struck out in 43 percent of his 165 plate appearances, thus limiting him to a .184/.244/.289 line (42 wRC+). With no minor league options left, both the Mets and Orioles have given up on the once-promising Broxton this season.
  • The Reds put right-hander Tyler Mahle on the injured list Monday with a left hamstring strain and recalled fellow righty Sal Romano from Triple-A Louisville. The 24-year-old Mahle’s IL placement came after a pair of rough starts that saw him allow a combined 14 runs (10 earned) in 9 2/3 innings in losses to Colorado and St. Louis. Mahle has now mustered a 4.93 ERA in 102 1/3 innings, though he has also logged a much better 4.32 FIP, posted 9.32 K/9 against 2.29 BB/9 and notched a 45.6 percent groundball rate.

Orioles Designate Keon Broxton For Assignment

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The Orioles announced today they’ve designated outfielder Keon Broxton for assignment. Right-handed reliever Branden Kline is up from Triple-A Norfolk to take Broxton’s place on the active roster.

So continues a lost season for the 29-year-old Broxton, who enters DFA limbo for the second time in three months. A former third-round draft choice of the Diamondbacks, Broxton was most famous for his time in Milwaukee, where he totaled 796 plate appearances between 2016 and 2018, showing flashes of plate discipline, power and elite defense in center field. The Brewers’ outfield depth, combined with concerns about Broxton’s huge swing-and-miss tendencies, led the club to flip him to the Mets in January for a package of three fringe prospects.

Broxton’s strikeouts have gotten completely out control in 2019, though, leading the Mets to send him to Baltimore in May for cash considerations. Those problems have gotten only more worrisome since, leading the Orioles to cut bait on the out-of-options outfielder. It’s not out of the question he’ll draw some interest around the league given the tools he’s shown in the past, but his .184/.244/.289 slash line and 43% strikeout rate make it seem more likely he’ll clear waivers for the first time in his career.

As for Kline, the 27 year-old rookie has gotten off to a slow start to his big-league career. Like seemingly every Oriole pitcher, Kline’s been plagued especially by the home run, allowing 2.49 HR/9, en route to a 6.75 ERA, with a 21.6% strikeout rate and 9% walk rate in 25.1 innings.

Orioles Acquire Keon Broxton, Claim Chandler Shepherd

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The Orioles have acquired outfielder Keon Broxton from the Mets and claimed righty Chandler Shepherd from the Cubs, per a club announcement. $500K in international signing bonus slots are headed to the Mets in the swap.

Those additions created a need for two 40-man slots. To do so, the team moved starter Alex Cobb to the 60-day IL and designated fellow righty Yefry Ramirez for assignment.

Broxton, 29, obviously drew some interest since it took a non-trivial trade return to add him. He’ll need to stay on the active roster since he’s out of options. It’ll be interesting to see whether the O’s give him an extended audition in center field. While the results just haven’t been there for Broxton at the game’s highest level, he also has not had much of a chance to get going since the 2017 campaign.

This year has been a wreck so far for Broxton, who saw action in 34 games but took only 53 plate appearances with the Mets. He struck out 22 times in that span while delivering just one extra-base hit. Broxton did still manage to swipe four bags and figures to be a strong contributor in the field and on the bases.

As for the 26-year-old Shepherd, he’s on the move again just days after being claimed by the Cubs from the Red Sox. The right-handed hurler has been hit exceptionally hard this year at Triple-A, allowing 33 earned runs on 53 hits (eleven of them long balls) in 29 2/3 innings. But he had previously been a solid performer in the upper minors. The O’s are in need of innings and may have some ideas for getting him sorted out.

In any event, the organization obviously preferred Shepherd to Ramirez, who has had his own struggles this year. In 10 1/3 MLB frames, Ramirez has issued nine walks against eleven strikeouts while coughing up eight earned runs. Though it had never been an issue in the minors, he also struggled with the free passes last year in the majors.

Mets Designate Keon Broxton

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The Mets have designated outfielder Keon Broxton for assignment, Tim Healey of Newsday reports on Twitter. That opens the door for Carlos Gomez to join the club’s MLB roster for the first time since his debut season with the club way back in 2007.

Gomez’s ascension was reported previously, so it comes as no surprise. Of course, something came up the last time we thought it was inevitable we’d again see him in a Mets uniform. (He instead landed with the Astros; it’s fascinating to consider the alternate universe.)

In other moves, also largely anticipated in advance, the Mets recalled righty Paul Sewald and placed outfielder Michael Conforto on the 7-day concussion injured list. Conforto’s injury is a concerning one for the team; it’s still not clear what kind of absence is anticipated.

Broxton came over from the Brewers in the offseason after failing to fill the center field opening created by Gomez’s departure. The defensively proficient 29-year-old seemed to be somewhat redundant with Juan Lagares already on hand, but the Mets evidently thought his upside was worth a chance.

Things just haven’t worked out at all for Broxton. He saw limited action in New York and struggled badly when he did get in the lineup. In 53 plate appearances this season, he carries a .143/.208/.163 batting line with 22 strikeouts. Though it’s still possible he’ll be snagged on the waiver wire, his appeal is limited by the fact that he is out of options.

Mets Notes: Lowrie, Roster Crunch, Frazier

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The latest out of Citi Field….

  • Jed Lowrie’s official Mets debut will wait a few more days, as the infielder will play in more minor league rehab games through the weekend rather than be activated off the injured list on Friday.  (Mike Puma of the New York Post was among those to report the news.)  Lowrie has yet to play this season due to a capsule strain in his left knee, though his extended rehab stint isn’t due to any sort of health setback, but rather simply the fact that the Mets want to give the veteran infielder more time to get ready.  Lowrie missed almost all of Spring Training due to the injury, and he has only two hits in 25 plate appearances during the six rehab games he has already played.  The 35-year-old Lowrie signed a two-year, $20MM contract with New York as a free agent over the offseason.
  • With Lowrie’s return delayed, the Mets will get a bit of extra time to figure out a bit of a roster crunch situation.  As MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo writes, demoting either J.D. Davis or Dominic Smith would cost the Mets a productive player, though Davis could at least benefit from playing every day as a left fielder at Triple-A.  If not Davis or Smith, the team could also designate veteran Adeiny Hechavarria for assignment, though that would leave the shortstop position thin behind Amed Rosario.  Lowrie has a lot of shortstop experience, of course, though he has played only two games at the position since the start of the 2016 season.  DiComo doesn’t think that Keon Broxton (who is out of options) is a candidate for DFA limbo when Lowrie joins the 25-man roster.
  • Todd Frazier also won’t be moved to make room for Lowrie, as a source tells Newsday’s Tim Healey.  With just a .143/.160/.265 slash line through 50 plate appearances, Frazier has yet to get on track following his own Spring Training injury, an oblique strain that kept him out of action until April 22.  The injury continued a frustrating stretch for Frazier since joining the Mets, as he was hoping to rebound from a subpar 2018 season.  New York’s crowded infield will likely lead to less playing time for Frazier, who is cognizant of the situation but still confident that he can regain some of his old form.  “I don’t know if this will be my last year with the Mets. I know I’m a free agent after this year, so I want to put my best foot forward and make an impact on this team again,” Frazier said.  The 33-year-old is still owed roughly $7.2MM of his $9MM salary for the 2019 season, making him an expensive cut if the Mets decided to part ways with him entirely.
  • In other Mets news from earlier today, Steven Matz was placed on the 10-day injured list due to radial nerve discomfort.

NL Notes: Epstein, Cubs, Broxton, Braves, Dodgers

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The Cubs’ reported lack of spending capacity has been the offseason’s main storyline out of Wrigley Field, though in a recent radio interview on 670 The Score (partial transcript here), president of baseball operations Theo Epstein dismissed the idea that the Competitive Balance Tax is “dictating any of our actions or inactions this winter at all.”  In regards to the $206MM threshold, “there are times when strategically you want to make sure you’re under it or where you don’t mind going above it. This isn’t one of those offseasons where strategically it makes a heckuva lot of difference to us,” Epstein said.  “It’s just sort of traditional budgeting. You spend what you have. You don’t spend what you don’t have….We have more than enough resources to win, and that’s the way we’re going to continue to approach it.”

It should be noted that the Cubs are already over the CBT threshold, as Roster Resource calculates a luxury tax figure of slightly under $228.5MM for the current 40-man roster.  If crossing the $206MM line altogether isn’t a concern for Epstein and his front office, a bigger issue could be the $246MM threshold, which would trigger a larger tax payment for the Cubs and a ten-position drop in the first round of the 2020 draft.  If this estimated $17.5MM of payroll space is what the team really has to work with, it still doesn’t leave room for a major addition like Bryce Harper, who has been rumored as a target if the Cubs can shave some more salaries off the books.

Here’s more from around the National League…

  • The Brewers’ deep outfield and Keon Broxton’s out-of-options status made him a trade chip for the club, GM David Stearns told reporters (including the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Haudricourt) in the aftermath of the trade that sent Broxton to the Mets.  “Teams are smart, so they looked at our outfield situation and saw we had a couple of out-of-option players who are talented,” Stearns said.  “Teams have been poking around on Keon since the end of the season. We discussed scenarios with different teams and this is the one that finally went over the (finish) line.”  In regards to any outfield additions, Stearns said the team will do its due diligence, but overall, “we are comfortable with the options we have at this point.”
  • “There’s no timetable for a resolution” in the dispute between the Braves and first-round draft pick Carter Stewart, Gabriel Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes.  As detailed by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (subscription required) in early October, the MLBPA filed a grievance claiming that Stewart failed to reach an agreement with the Braves after his physical turned up ligament damage in his wrist, and he’s now seeking to be declared a free agent by Major League Baseball. The grievance alleges that the Braves did not offer Stewart 40 percent of his slot value, which is the minimum offer that must be made to a player in order to receive a compensation pick in the following year’s draft.  Stewart was the eighth overall pick in the 2018 draft, so Atlanta stands to be picking ninth overall in the 2019 draft unless Stewart’s grievance results in a favorable ruling for the young right-hander.  Needless to say, it would be a big setback for the Braves if they missed out on such a high pick and received no compensation whatsoever, so this situation is certainly worth monitoring in the coming weeks or months until some decision is finally reached.
  • “The degree to which the Dodgers pursue [Bryce] Harper will say a lot about where they are headed as a franchise,” Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times opines.  The Dodgers have been rumored to be suitors for Harper all winter, particularly since the team created outfield space and luxury tax space in the Yasiel Puig/Matt Kemp trade with the Reds.  Rather than a long-term mega-deal for Harper, however, the Dodgers have reportedly been more interested in offering shorter-term contracts with a higher average annual value, though Hernandez wonders why money is suddenly an object for a big-market franchise that spent freely for years.  Hernandez argues that L.A. fans won’t be impressed by a sudden restraint in spending, particularly after a season that saw the Dodgers duck under the luxury tax threshold and thus perhaps leave themselves short-handed for the World Series.

Mets Acquire Keon Broxton

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Per releases from both teams, the Mets have acquired OF Keon Broxton from the Brewers for righty Bobby Wahl and minor leaguers Adam Hill and Felix Valerio.

Broxton, who’s one of the league’s flashiest defenders in center field, has been a fixture on the rumor mill since the back half of last winter, when the Brewers traded for Christian Yelich and signed Lorenzo Cain in a matter of days. Plate appearances in Milwaukee were scarce last season for the 28-year-old, who returned to Triple-A for the fourth time, slashing a below-average .254/.323/.421 over 334 plate appearances in one of the minors’ most hitter-friendly yards. In 89 big-league trips to the plate, Broxton managed just a .179/.281/.410 line, though he did post a ridiculous 11 DRS in just 134 center-field innings, a total which bested all but four full-time players at the position.

The former Diamondback and Pirate farmhand, who remains under club control for four additional seasons, has long been beset by an alarming propensity for the swing and miss – in 2017, when he accumulated a robust 463 plate appearances for the Crew, Broxton’s 37.8 K% was the highest in baseball among all near-full-time players; in 2016, he struck out over 36 percent of the time. The totals, though, are somewhat offset by a willingness to work counts and an especially-discerning eye vs. left-handed pitching – in 252 career plate appearances against lefties, Broxton sports an excellent 15.5% BB rate, and should represent a quality weak-side platoon option for New York at any outfield position, should Brandon Nimmo or Michael Conforto sputter against same-side arms next season.

For the Mets, the move goes a long way toward addressing the team’s outfield depth, one of its few remaining offensive holes. Juan Lagares, who profiles almost identically to Broxton, as a late-twenties, right-handed, light-hitting quality defender in center, was the penciled-in starter at the position, but the longtime Met has found it almost impossible to stay healthy for a good portion of the season, appearing in just 203 combined games since the outset of the 2016 season. Yoenis Cespedes, who underwent a second heel surgery in October, has also been routinely shelf-ridden, and may miss the entirety of 2019. The other two spots are locked down by Nimmo and Conforto, but the club had precious little depth aside. Such a move likely removes A.J. Pollock from the team’s offseason table, though New York had lately seemed a fringe-at-best candidate for his services anyway.

The Brewers, as mentioned, were dealing from an outfield surplus: in addition to reigning All-Stars Cain and Yelich, the club also sports Ryan Braun and Eric Thames as corner options, and just moved one-time regular Domingo Santana for another, left-handed outfielder Ben Gamel. The 2019 outlook for Broxton didn’t figure to brighten, so dealing the soon-to-be 29-year-old seemed prudent indeed for the defending NL Central champs.

Wahl, 26, will bring his highly-touted fastball/slider mix to one of the league’s deepest bullpens. Acquired by New York in a midseason deal that sent righty Jeurys Familia to Oakland, Wahl spent most of his time at Triple-A Nashville last season, where he sported a prodigious 14.75 K/9 over 39 2/3 innings. The flamethrowing righty has struggled with an array of injury issues in the past, including a thoracic outlet procedure in 2017, but looked mostly healthy last season. Command has also been a problem – in short big-league stints with the A’s and Mets, Wahl has walked a troubling 5.54 men per nine, and Steamer projects the total at 4.36 for the upcoming campaign.

Hill, 21, was the Mets’ 4th-round selection in the 2018 draft. In 15 short-season A-ball innings, the 6’6 righty struck out a promising 26 batters in just 15 1/3 IP. Baseball America’s pre-draft scouting report lauds Hill’s “heavy” fastball and projects mid-rotation upside, with the caveat that his secondary offerings can be “inconsistent” and his command “at times erratic.” The South-Carolina born product checked in at #24 on FanGraphs’ latest ranking of the New York farm.

Valerio, 18, was signed in early 2018 as an international free agent from the Dominican Republic. The now-shortstop stands just 5’7 but showed well in his initial professional exposure, slashing .319/.409/.433 for the Mets’ Dominican Summer League affiliate.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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