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

[AmarilloRed]

I'm not convinced this will affect the Reds offseason much. There was a good chance we might have paid this money to Madsen before his injury, we'll be paying that money to Broxton now. I think that money was slotted for a reliever all along.

[klw]

Madson is getting $3.5MM in guaranteed money, plus $2.5MM in roster bonuses and $1MM in incentives for games finished.

Details of deal
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/1...an-madson.html

So in at least year one, Broxton will be cheaper than Madson (assuming Madson gets over 5k of his bonuses)- not including the money going to Madson on the buyout..

[mattfeet]

Wow. Im glad we're not paying that contract for a recovery season. Makes the Broxton deal look even better, IMO.

[Blitz Dorsey]

I like it.

[camisadelgolf]

I think it's mildly interesting that Broxton is younger than Sam LeCure.

[Rojo]

Good deal, less than I thought. Although I know a wise man who recommended signing Broxton last off season. I know him real well.

Originally Posted by Kc61

With Bray gone and Chapman to the rotation, the bullpen is overwhelmingly righty.

Marshall is the only lefty in the bullpen.

I can live with that. Quality arms is top priority. My bigger concern is that Simon and Arrendondo are pumpkins. But, while I'm not a fan of building an entire pen from a Spring Training potluck, it's an ok strategy for adding the 10th/11th/12th guy to your staff.

[Kc61]

Originally Posted by Rojo

Good deal, less than I thought. Although I know a wise man who recommended signing Broxton last off season. I know him real well.



I can live with that. Quality arms is top priority. My bigger concern is that Simon and Arrendondo are pumpkins. But, while I'm not a fan of building an entire pen from a Spring Training potluck, it's an ok strategy for adding the 10th/11th/12th guy to your staff.

Reds won't live with one lefty reliever. They'll add somebody. Either Cingrani or an acquisition, probably the latter.

Simon is ok for longer relief.

I think Simon, Marshall, Broxton, Lecure, Hoover will be there.

Other two spots can go various ways, I think one will be a lefty, but a number of possibilities.

[RedLegsToday]

Is Masset still a Red?

[redsmetz]

Originally Posted by RedLegsToday

Is Masset still a Red?

As of right now, seems to me he still has another year on his contract.

[Vottomatic]

Since the Reds have obviously decided Chapman will be a starter, I like the signing of Broxton.

I'm just not sold on Chapman as a starter. 2 pitches. Relies on a fastball hitting 100 mph, which the more pitches he throws slacks to 95 mph. Durability issues. Has never pitched mlb starter innings for a season. Has command issues from time to time. This has the potential to be a huge mistake. If it's a success, I don't see it being a huge one. As a closer, he could breeze through an inning on 9 or less pitches, and simply blowing people away. As a starter, it's hard to fool hitters for 5 or more innings with just a fastball and occasional slider.

[Brutus]

Originally Posted by Vottomatic

Since the Reds have obviously decided Chapman will be a starter, I like the signing of Broxton.

I'm just not sold on Chapman as a starter. 2 pitches. Relies on a fastball hitting 100 mph, which the more pitches he throws slacks to 95 mph. Durability issues. Has never pitched mlb starter innings for a season. Has command issues from time to time. This has the potential to be a huge mistake. If it's a success, I don't see it being a huge one. As a closer, he could breeze through an inning on 9 or less pitches, and simply blowing people away. As a starter, it's hard to fool hitters for 5 or more innings with just a fastball and occasional slider.

Jocketty has said he also has a changeup (and in fact he used it a few times later in the year). I imagine part of the pitch selection is merely knowing they don't need to fool hitters as much late in the game. There's not a lot of time to catch up to a fastball.

If he's used as a starter, I'm sure you'll see the Reds call a bit more diverse a game for him.

[edabbs44]

Originally Posted by Blitz Dorsey

I like it.

Yes. I agree. Been saying it for years, these guys know what they are doing. Especially in the FA market.

[membengal]

Originally Posted by westofyou

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/ar...rticleid=19015

Thanks for this woy, I hadn't seen that before.

Seems to me likely the Reds got enough of a look at that first hand to help make this decision easy. Add in that it is a pretty darn reasonable contract AND that it finally allows the move of Chapman to the rotation and this a pretty great day to be a Reds fan.

[Vottomatic]

Originally Posted by Brutus

Jocketty has said he also has a changeup (and in fact he used it a few times later in the year). I imagine part of the pitch selection is merely knowing they don't need to fool hitters as much late in the game. There's not a lot of time to catch up to a fastball.

If he's used as a starter, I'm sure you'll see the Reds call a bit more diverse a game for him.

This is not meant to be a serious analysis comment.

On my I-Phone, I have the "9 Innings" baseball app. A really, really, really good, fun MLB (officially sanctioned by MLB) game to have on your phone. You can control everything, but I typically just control hitting and pitching. The pitching is fun because you get to see what pitches these guys throw. And it's interesting because some of our best pitchers don't have many pitches, and other guys like Leake, Arroyo, LeCure are more fun because they have like 4 or 5 in the game. For Chapman, they have a 2-seam, 4-seam, slider, and changeup. It's almost comical to throw Chapman's changeup because it's not much slower than the fastball or slider.

I even changed my batting lineup and moved Votto to hitting second. Last season, I missed the playoffs by a hair with Joey batting third, and this season I made them with Votto hitting second. Not real world, I know.........but it worked in this game.

Something else I found interesting, Marshall throws a Circle Change in this game. I don't think he actually throws it in reality. He has a slider, 4-seam, nasty curve, and a circle change according to them.

Cueto only throws a 4-seam, slider and changeup. I think Bailey throws a 4-seam, splitter, curve, slider and changeup. This is per this MLB sanctioned game, I remind you.

Anyway, it's a fun game. Does anyone else play it? I probably play one game a day when I have the time. Maybe waiting for a doctor's appointment or oil change, or waiting on my kids or something.

I had a no-hitter going the other day, and I laughed at myself because going into the 6th inning, I got nervous. LOL.

[Vottomatic]

I got some feedback from a friend of a friend who works for the Reds.

Broxton told he'll be a late innings reliever, but possibly close, because if the Chapman starting experiment doesn't work out, he'll move back to closer.

I wonder if this inhibits any starters being traded, in terms of being cautious?