Broxton Rocked Today

[deansdaddy]

Jarrett Hoffpauir greeted Broxton with a tying home run leading off the sixth inning. Broxton, trying to rebound from a bad second half last year, didn't retire any of the five batters he faced, allowing three hits with a walk and a hit batter. He came into draft season with a fair amount of risk, but a few more outings like this and his value might drop even more. I think if you draft Broxton - you really need to think about handcuffing Kuo to him at this point.

[bahamamike]

I will say this again, its spring training don't overreact

[deansdaddy]

Mike - come on - work with me here.

And I would tend to agree with you - except this is Broxton we are talking about, so you can't just dismiss a complete meltdown like today's.

From a fantasy perspective, for me at least, this has meaning. I have an NFBC Sat draft on Tues and there are leagues drafting left and right over there this time of year. Is it possible Broxton slides a round or two on Tues because of this? I say yes. Could that provide a potential buying opportunity? Perhaps.

In these leagues, most of the closers in waiting get drafted as everyone is searching for cheap saves in the reserve rounds. Kuo is one of the names on this list with Motte, Gregerson, League, Uehara, Chapman etc. So every Broxton ST meltdown alters each of their values to some degree. For me injury and ST performance news is just one more thing I put into the mix.

Look at the Mock draft. Chase Utley gets a shot in the knee and dropped a round.

Cory Hart can't swing a bat and has piercing pain in his side. No one would touch him til 3 or 4 rounds later than normal.

Kinsler is hitting the cover off the ball - he became a 2nd rounder in this draft.

It's draft season - for me I take this stuff, and while not overreacting to it, don't ignore it completely when it comes to valuing players at the draft table.

[da_big_kid_94]

Guys .... c'mon now ....we over value this stuff because, right now, it's all we have. Does anyone even remotely recall the studs and duds from last year's sporing training at this time? Or any prior year's spring training for that matter? The season is still three weeks away. People look at this outing for Broxton and say here we go again. Yet you have a guy like Papelbon who showed real signs of problems during the regular season last year, and no one says boo.

To me, there are a grand total of two guys who spring training is showing as a possible precursor to their season - and they're both Cubs. Welcome back to the norm, Carlos Silva, and glad to see your batting eye hasn't changed that much, Carlos Pena. Everybody else? Barring injuries, wait till the bell rings.

[deansdaddy]

One thing that I think gives ST news more weight than ever before is the emergence of the Draft Champions format at the NFBC and WCOFB. In these leagues you draft 50 rounds. They are draft and hold leagues - so there are no trades, no free agents. What you draft is what you get for the year. Your late round picks in these leagues can often make the difference between winning and losing.
The keys to these leagues is obviously getting guys who are going to play. Late in these drafts you often speculate on guys who might not see AB's til July. ST can give us a window into the future of some players for this format. Remember Tyler Colvin last year in the Spring? He tore it up - but was assured of nothing when it came to playing time.

I remember Chris Johnson, 3B, HOU last year when he tore it up in ST, making the Opening Day roster. I drafted him in a league I had Lance Berkman in. I cut him a couple weeks later when he got sent down. But in the NFBC, if you draft a rookie they stay in the FA pool. I was able to get him for $1 in June - a couple weeks before he got called up again and he was a nice contributor. So his ST performance put him on my radar, gave me the confidence to draft him, and helped make the decision to grab him later in the season easier.

I remember that Jose Bautista whacked 5 HR's last Spring. While he wasn't drafted in many standard drafts - he likely was in every DC league.

You could put a guy like Lonnie Chisenhall in this category for 2011. He is having a great ST for the Indians. They have a glaring hole at 3B with Nix and J Donald keeping his place warm. His ST has him on my radar.

So noise or news, it's up to you to decide. But for fantasy players the landscape keeps changing. New formats exist where a 40th round pick (that's where Bautista went in my DC last year) can win a league for you- so don't be so quick to pour ice water on this year's ST sensations.

[bahamamike]

Ryan, I was just giving you a hard time. No I do believe that you have to pay attention to Spring Training, just you can't give too much credence to it. After Broxton's struggles last season, I would pay attention to this, and probably move Kuo up a round or two, or if you are in an Auction a buck or two.

[deansdaddy]

No worries Mike - I knew you were just busting balls.

Something I read about Broxton today on the HQ boards today that I found interesting was where one poster said the thing he's noticed is the lack of velocity (and thus K's) for Broxton thus far.

Any of the MB staff on the ground in AZ have anything to report on Broxton.

[SteveB]

In my keeper league I am a as a three (4?) year Broxton owner and I am totally avoiding him this year. I think there is definetly something wrong with him. It will not surprise me in the least if he
is hiding an injury of some sort.

[ravenmad]

I hear his fastball is sitting at 91. If so, that's a problem and possibly an injury. Avoid. I got Axford 4 rounds after Broxton went in a draft today. For the price he commands, he's not worth it.