MLB Trade Rumors: St. Louis Cardinals Acquire Jonathan Broxton

The St. Louis Cardinals have bolstered their bullpen as they have acquired reliever Jonathan Broxton from the Milwaukee Brewers, according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN. The move has since been confirmed by Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.

Jonathan Broxton going to #STLCards in a trade.

— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) July 31, 2015

RHP Jonathan Broxton has been traded to St. Louis for minor league OF Malik Collymore, who will be assigned to Rookie @helenabrewers.

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) July 31, 2015

Broxton, 31, is an experienced former closer who will give the team another arm out of the bullpen. A former closer, the heavyset Broxton has not had a good season. Through 40 games, he owns a 5.89 ERA in 36-and-two-thirds innings. So the Cardinals will hope that a change of scenery enthralled within a playoff race will help rejuvenated Broxton.

As mentioned, Broxton is a former closer who saw his greatest success while wearing a Los Angeles Dodgers uniform. During his seven-year stint in LA, Broxton made two All-Star teams and once saved 36 ballgames in 2009. However, he has not recorded a save since last year while he was pitching for the Cincinnati Reds. He also has not been a full-time closer since 2012 with the Kansas City Royals.

The one thing that Broxton still has going for him is his lively arm. Despite the unsightly ERA, his average fastball velocity still sits over 94 mph, as noted by MLBTradeRumors. Another thing to watch is how his remaining salary is handled. He is making $9 million this season and holds a $2 million buyout on his $9 million salary for 2016.

It would be fair to expect the Brewers to send some cash the Cardinals way in this transaction.

As they were in the market for relief help, Broxton is the second former closer that St. Louis has acquired. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, the Cardinals acquired fellow right-hander Steve Cishek from the Miami Marlins. With both of those pitchers wearing Cardinal red, the team will hope they can soar back to their prior success and increase their chances at winning the National League Central, a division in which they sit in first place.

For the Brewers, they receive 20-year-old Canadian outfielder Malik Collymore. He was the Cardinals 10th round draft pick in 2013, but has not made it out of Rookie Ball yet. Thus far in 2015, Collymore is batting a meager.216 with two HR and seven RBI in 23 games. So the Brewers are not receiving much in terms of prospects in return.

[Image by Mike McGinnis/Getty Images]