Brewers Purchase Contract of INF Will Middlebrooks; Option OF Keon Broxton to AAA

The roster turnover continues for our local nine, as they have announced yet another move over the holiday weekend. Following today’s game the Brewers announced via Twitter that they had optioned outfielder Keon Broxton to AAA Colorado Springs and purchased the contract of infielder Will Middlebrooks. To make room on the 40 man roster, Chris Capuano has been transferred to the 60 day disabled list.

Keon Broxton has been back and forth from AAA to the big leagues this year and has mostly struggled in The Show, working to an overall .125/.253/.188 batting line with one home run and seven steals in 75 plate appearances. With the emergence of Hernan Perez as an option in the outfield corners, the Brewers had the flexibility of being able to option Broxton without worrying about shortening their outfield depth.

Middlebrooks got off to a dreadful start in AAA this season, but has come on strong of late and was hitting .283/.307/.510 with 10 home runs (108 wRC+) through 262 plate appearances in Colorado Springs at the time of his promotion. Middlebrooks was at one time one of the game’s top prospects with the Red Sox, but his production had fallen off considerably in the last few seasons before signing a minor league contract with the Brewers prior to 2016. His deal contained a July 1 opt-out clause, so it’s quite likely that that combined with his resurgent play offensively played a significant role in the Brewers promoting him to the big leagues rather than lose him to free agency.

The 27 year old Middlebrooks has experience at both first and third base, where two of Milwaukee’s most plausible trade chips in Aaron Hill and Chris Carter happen to be playing everyday. If Middlebrooks can bring his hot bat with him to the big leagues he could potentially work himself into some regular playing time for the Brewers by the time the trade deadline has come and gone and get an extended chance to re-establish himself as a legitimate regular.

Statistics courtesy of Fangraphs