Kuzul

The Cincinnati Reds are looking to win the National League Central and make a deep playoff run in 2013, so it's time to evaluate the team's offseason moves.For the second straight offseason, the team stayed put at the winter meetings. Just like last year, the Reds made some major moves after the meetings wrapped up.Aroldis Chapman will try to move from closer to the rotation, but that move won't be evaluated because of his impact as closer. However, it could end up being the biggest decision of the offseason.Cincinnati had three glaring needs entering the offseason: leadoff man, center fielder/left fielder and adding to the bench. A reliever was also part of the list, but the team had bigger needs to fill.It's unclear if third baseman Scott Rolen will return or retire, but it would be a good addition if he accepted a bench role. He's a clubhouse leader and ...

So, reports have surfaced that Jonathan Broxton has signed a three-year/$21 million deal. MLB.com's Mark Sheldon confirmed the deal yesterday with this tweet.Now it seems to be a pretty foregone conclusion that Aroldis Chapman will be the team's fifth starter. This decision carries major implications both for the Cincinnati Reds as a team and for Aroldis Chapman's future as a pitcher.The first concern regarding Chapman's move to the starting rotation is it's effect on the Reds' bullpen.The team had arguably the most dominant bullpen in the Majors in 2012. Reds' relievers finished with the best team ERA in baseball (2.65) while finishing first in saves (56), third in BAA (.219), third in OPSa (.639) and second in K/9 (9.90). Removing Chapman from this bullpen and replacing him with an inferior Jonathan Broxton dilutes the effectiveness of the bullpen. Chapman didn't record his first save until mid-May and he still managed to ...

Even though the San Francisco Giants are fully focused on their game tonight against the St. Louis Cardinals, there will baseball beyond 2012.Whenever it is that the Giants enter the off-season, they will need to carefully consider the annual crop of free agents to decide who can best give them a chance to win in 2013.Here are three candidates worthy of San Francisco's attention. Begin Slideshow

The MLB trade deadline came and went with a flurry of deals. Such excitement was bound to have some hilarious fallout. The biggest mistake wasn't from a team overpaying for a pitcher, or a down-in-the-dumps team selling off top talent—it was from a news agency being duped by a fake Twitter account. Deadspin caught a humorous gaffe by WCPO.com. which included two tweets from @Brox4AllStarz, a fake account for former Royals pitcher Jonathan Broxton, in its article about the trade. The big man who blows away hitters from the mound was just traded from the Royals to the Cincinnati Reds, and this ABC affiliate was no doubt eager to get word from the man being sent out of town. Here is a screen capture of the initial report, which has since been amended. Look to the bottom and you can spot the hilarious rants of a faux Twitter account. It's less of a real pitcher's thoughts and ...

The Cincinnati Reds made a relatively small splash before today's MLB trade deadline by acquiring relief pitcher and Kansas City closer, Jonathan Broxton, according to Jerry Crasnick on ESPN.com.In return, the Reds send minor league pitchers J.C. Sulbaran and Donnie Joseph to the Royals. Sulbaran has continued to put up solid numbers but is still a ways away from earning a shot in the bigs, while Joseph is a flame-throwing reliever that is expected to be in a Reds uniform later this season.Broxton joins an already impressive collection of arms in the Cincinnati Reds bullpen, that has seen Aroldis Chapman put up ridiculous numbers as Cincy's closer. With that being said, one must begin to wonder just what Broxton's role will be?Chapman is and will remain the Reds' closer for the time being, so Broxton will join Sean Marshall and Logan Ondrusek in the revolving door for set-up man and most likely be the ...

When Brian Wilson got hurt in April, Bruce Bochy had a big decision to make.Would he choose Sergio Romo, the star reliever whom righties can't hit? Would he choose Javier Lopez, the left-handed submariner whom lefties can't hit? Or would he choose Santiago Casilla, the hard-throwing righty who can be very erratic.Surprisingly, Bochy chose Casilla. It seemed to be the right move, as Casilla converted 20 of his first 21 save opportunities.Then, the wheels came off.In just eight short appearances, Casilla blew five saves, as his ERA went from 1.32 to 3.34. In four of those eight outings, Casilla allowed two or more runs, and he cost the Giants a win in two of those games. Bochy even said recently that the Giants will rethink the closer situation (h/t Will Brinson of NBCBayArea.com).However, San Francisco doesn't have that many other options. Romo has balky knees and elbow problems, and he ...

Last night against the Miami Marlins the Cardinals came back to win a game in which they trailed in the eighth inning for the first time this season. They were 0-26 in those situations until Monday night.However, the Redbirds' bullpen tried their best to punt the game to the Marlins in the seventh as Fernando Salas got just one out while allowing runners to reach second and third. Scatter-armed Eduardo Sanchez followed and walked three men in a row—the first intentionally with the other two coming Rick Ankiel-style.The Cardinal relievers walked eight batters on the night in 10 innings.Fortunately for St. Louis, Heath Bell and the Marlins' bullpen have had continuing struggles of their own and blew a four-run lead in the ninth (but at least they forced the Cards to, you know—hit the ball).Jason Motte was fortunate that Jose Reyes' scorching liner to center was right at outfielder Shane Robinson to end ...

As we head into the dog days of August, Jays fans are just now starting to get excited over the prospects of this team.Usually around this time of year, it's the lull in the schedule where teams usually just try and play out the string until September, but for the Jays, things look completely different.The Jays are fighting game in and game out, and are 57-55 in 102 games this season. The team was expected to maybe win at most 75 games this season, so they are definitely ahead of expectations.If the Jays had the ability to close out games with more ease, they could likely have seven-10 more wins than they do this season.But with that said, the Jays are expected to fall out of contention soon as they remain 11.5 back in the wild card and 12.5 back in the AL East. Their playoff hopes are fading fast, ...

In all likelihood, Bud Selig won't be hosting your fantasy baseball draft this year—but that doesn't mean it's not a big deal. You probably wouldn't be reading this article if you weren't in it to win it, and while it's tough to win a league if your top picks don't deliver, the best way to truly separate yourself from your fantasy league opponents is by nabbing some late-round value picks. The key to uncovering late-round draft day steals is to get a sense of what types of players tend to be undervalued in the fantasy marketplace. As I've detailed elsewhere, in reasonably shallow leagues sometimes it is the injury-prone player who can dramatically outproduce his draft slot while healthy.  Sometimes it is the former superstar many managers wrongly assume is now washed up.  Sometimes it is the famed "post-hype sleeper," a relatively ...

Everybody loves Brian Wilson because of that crazy beard. Mariano Rivera is…the…best…closer…ever. However, the closer position, perhaps more than any other position, provides more value picks. Average Draft Positions are from Mock Draft Central.Jonathan Broxton, Los Angeles Dodgers: Broxton had just 22 saves last year, and even lost his gig to Hong-Chih Kuo, but was one of the top closers in 2009 when he saved 36 games and struck out 114 batters in 76 innings. He has the closer gig back, and if he can hold onto it, a return to 30 saves with 90 strikeouts is a strong likelihood. His ADP is 164, making him the 15th-ranked closer, though he has top-five potential.Brad Lidge, Philadelphia Phillies: Lidge bounced back last year to save 27 games and post a 2.96 ERA. With the Phillies four aces, he should get plenty of save opportunities. With an ADP of 192 he’s a terrific value. Francisco ...