Royals To Sign Jonathan Broxton

[NV]

MLBTR-

The Royals announced that they have agreed to sign Jonathan Broxton to a one-year deal, pending a physical. The deal is worth $4MM and includes $1MM in incentives based on games pitched for the 27-year-old right-hander, who will be Kansas City's setup man in 2012.

“We are delighted to add someone as talented as Jonathan to our bullpen,” Royals GM Dayton Moore said. “He will be used in a setup role to closer Joakim Soria and will help solidify what we feel is a young and talented bullpen.”

Broxton’s 2011 season ended in May after just 12 2/3 innings with a 5.68 ERA and nearly as many walks (9) as strikeouts (10). He had arthroscopic elbow surgery in September and was expected to begin an offseason throwing program this month. A dominant reliever for the Dodgers from 2006 to the early part of 2010, Broxton will look to rebuild value on a one-year contract in Kansas City.

Other than the Royals, the Mets, Rangers and Rays pursued Broxton most intently, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (Twitter links). Overall, at least ten teams expressed interest in Broxton, who's represented by B.B. Abbott of Jet Sports Management.

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported the agreement (Twitter link) and Jon Heyman of SI.com added the terms of the deal (Twitter links). Dan Mennella explains the fantasy baseball implications of the move at CloserNews.com, the destination for all reliever-related fantasy baseball news and analysis.

If he can return to form he's a great pickup for any bullpen.

 

[WHO-DEY-BENGALS_18]

Royals just keep getting better and better...

 

[RipCity32]

Damn, a Broxton to Soria combination could be pretty nasty.

 

[Mexi]

well lets wait

2nd half 2010 and his month in 2011 was pretty awful
he was throwing 92, 93 when he used to be at 99, 100, 101

hopefully he's healthy. good luck to him. i always liked him, even after the 2008 and 2009 NLCS'

but im in the minority. other dodger fans hate his guts. he could do no right for them. i hope he proves them wrong

 

[The Guid]

If he somehow returned to closer form, doubt he'd throw 99-101 again but 95-97 would be fine, they could even move Soria to the rotation.

 

[Elite]

He got Proctor'd by Torre.

He's probably done as a dominant reliever.

 

[WHO-DEY-BENGALS_18]

I don't know but the Royals really worry me, that team is young and has a ton of talent.

 

[Giantmetfan07]

I wouldn't be too worried about them yet. Maybe in 2 years they'll be a team to worry about when some of their younger players like Moustakas develop a bit more.

 

[Barcode]

RP are generally a mixed bag, so a positive turn w/ Broxton does two things. Makes him a good mid-season flip option and shortens the end game. Greg Holland & Aaron Crowe were great values and covered up a sloppy Soria season.

 

[WJF7]

I like the pickup, with Crow moving to the rotation they needed to add pen help.

 

[NCSportsfan21]

The Royals still aren't ready, imo. This year they'll be a average-middle of the pack team that can have some games where they look really dominant, but those will be few and far in-between. They need their SP prospects to come up before they can really turn the corner.

Montgomery will be filthy and Odrizzi looks to be a stud. Guys like Wil Myers and Bubba Starling still need to develop.

 

[RipCity32]

I don't think the Royals will ever be ready lol. Just don't have the funds.