Reds Sign Jonathan Broxton- 3 Years, $21m; 4th Year option

[Strikes Out Looking]

If the Reds are moving Chapman to the rotation, who are they dealing?

[CySeymour]

Originally Posted by Strikes Out Looking

If the Reds are moving Chapman to the rotation, who are they dealing?

Possibly no one. You still need depth.

[bucksfan2]

Originally Posted by CySeymour

Don't think I feel real good about paying out big cash for a closer. Just as well to try Hoover there I think.

Remember when we all thought that Jared Burton was the next closer?

[traderumor]

Originally Posted by Strikes Out Looking

If the Reds are moving Chapman to the rotation, who are they dealing?

Punt Leake to the pen as backfill is the worst case scenario. He'd be an upgrade to Ondrusek.

[CySeymour]

Originally Posted by bucksfan2

Remember when we all thought that Jared Burton was the next closer?

You can't say that about every young reliever. It would be like saying about every promising young hitter that comes up, "remember them saying that about Brandon Larson?"

[_Sir_Charles_]

Originally Posted by WildcatFan

That seems like way too much for him. We're not far removed from the Cordero contract, and we know how that worked out.

Yeah we do. 1 poor season IMO. He stabilized the bullpen for the duration of his contract. Sure, he was frustrating at times, but overall he was pretty darned good during his tenure here. I might be in the minority in that though.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Originally Posted by Strikes Out Looking

If the Reds are moving Chapman to the rotation, who are they dealing?

Leake to AAA I'd assume. I don't see any of the starters going to the pen. Keeping Mike on a regular schedule should make it easy to bring him up as needed.

[RedEye]

The best news about this? Chapman --> rotation. The worst news? Less $ to sign him with if he does well. Or to sign anyone else for that matter.

In other news: my heart leapt into my throat when I saw the first few words of the thread title from the home page. "Reds in Serious Talks With..." Can't say "Jonathan Broxton" is what I hoped to see when I clicked on the ORG, but I'm not too upset either.

[Benihana]

I'd much prefer trying a younger, cheaper option like Hoover or even an existing option like Marshall at closer, but at least this means that Chapman is moving to the rotation.

Sign Broxton and trade Leake and Cingrani for Myers. BOOM!

(I really hope they're not giving Broxton more than $15MM - over any length of time. I just don't think he's worth it.)

[RedsManRick]

Originally Posted by Benihana

I'd much prefer trying a younger, cheaper option like Hoover or even an existing option like Marshall at closer, but at least this means that Chapman is moving to the rotation.

Sign Broxton and trade Leake and Cingrani for Myers. BOOM!

(I really hope they're not giving Broxton more than $15MM - over any length of time. I just don't think he's worth it.)

I would not be at all surprised to see Leake headed to KC in a Myers deal...

[PuffyPig]

Originally Posted by WildcatFan

That seems like way too much for him. We're not far removed from the Cordero contract, and we know how that worked out.

For everything said about Cordero's contract, he had a decent save percentage with us and made our bullpen very strong.

Sure we overpaid for that, but other UFA's weren't lining up to play for us.

And when he left and eventually became Houston's closer he promptly blew consecutive saves to us.

We've had worse deals than Cordero.

[edabbs44]

Originally Posted by dougdirt

If Broxton the Reds is the one signing the deal, I am on board. If Broxton the Royal is signing the deal, I will pass. Again though, it seems like the Reds are going to be willing to pay an absolute premium for a "closer", something small market teams should never consider.

The Reds aren't as "impoverished" as they used to be. And they are good.

[Redhook]

Color me unimpressed with Braxton overall, but if this signing finally allows Chapman to give it a go at starting, then I'm all aboard.

[traderumor]

Originally Posted by dougdirt

If Broxton the Reds is the one signing the deal, I am on board. If Broxton the Royal is signing the deal, I will pass. Again though, it seems like the Reds are going to be willing to pay an absolute premium for a "closer", something small market teams should never consider.

I don't think this is axiomatic. They are paying for a good back of the pen reliever. They gave a very similar contract to Marshall and their 9th inning guy last year has a premium contract. It seems intuitve to me that money allocated to the pen ought to be spent on the guys who are going to pitch the "money" innings, while you try to fill the other spots with young cheap arms. You gotta pay to play, "never pay premium for a closer" sounds like an excuse more than a strategy.

[757690]

This is because of Baker.

Jocketty with the Cards went into many seasons without a veteran closer. Baker needs a veteran closer, and wants a well defined bullpen with a proven guy in every slot.