The Brewers today traded away another surplus outfielder, with Keon Broxton joining Domingo Santana on the way out:
RHP Bobby Wahl, RHP Adam Hill and INF Felix Valerio have been acquired from the New York Mets in exchange for OF Keon Broxton. pic.twitter.com/nl20vYfRUM
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) January 5, 2019
Wahl, 26, has been very good in relief in the upper minors, but hasn’t yet translated it to the big leagues. Hill, 21, is a 2018 4th round pick about whom I won’t pretend to know much of anything. Valerio, 28, is a small second baseman who put up great numbers in rookie ball.
Seems like a nice and reasonable return for Broxton.
Broxton, 28, was putting together a great partial season in 2016 when his year ended with a broken wrist at Wrigley Field in September. You could say he’s not been the same since that .242/.354/.430 (111 wRC+) season, but rather than blaming the injury, I’d probably point to the insane high-30s% strikeout rate he’s carried in the big leagues (including that season), which you just can’t survive as an everyday player short of being the most prodigious power-hitter in the league. And Broxton ain’t that.
Instead, what he probably is for the Mets is a nice, complementary outfielder that can offer good speed, great defense, and not kill you at the plate. He’s also still pre-arbitration for another year, so he’ll be quite cheap. This will help the Mets cover the outfield in the absence of Yoenis Cespedes, and hey, perhaps Broxton will lower the K rate enough to become an average bat at the plate (making him a nice player overall).