Could the Rays make a splash and sign Broxton?

The Rays have had a busy couple of days, dealing John Jaso for Josh Lueke yesterday and signing Jose Molina today. Could the Rays be looking to make a bigger signing soon? Jerry Crasnick tweeted today that he thinks the Rays could be one of the teams interested in Jonathan Broxton. He also tweeted that Broxton is looking for a one year deal to re-establish his value.

This could be an interesting move for the Rays. They just bolstered their bullpen a little bit yesterday, getting Josh Lueke in the Jaso deal to be a middle reliever. But Broxton would be a different kind of signing. He would be a great addition to an already strong back of the bullpen of Joel Peralta and Kyle Farnsworth. Signing a guy of Broxton’s caliber would bring the bullpen up to the level of the starting rotation, making the Rays pitching staff into one of the best in baseball.

Broxton has had a rough last two seasons, struggling in 2010 before losing his closing job and running into injury trouble last year. He appeared in only 14 games, posting a 5.68 ERA after posting a 4.04 ERA in 64 games in 2010. Before that, though, he was one of the elite closers in baseball for the Dodgers, saving 36 games in 2009 and saving 22 in 2010 even though he struggled. If he could put up those kind of numbers again in a Rays uniform, or even anything remotely close, he would be great for the Rays.

The chances probably are not very good for this deal since the Rays won’t be willing to spend a lot of money on a guy like Broxton, since they already have two really good back of the bullpen guys. Also, this was just Crasnick guessing on who could be interested. But if the Rays do make a power move like this they could turn their pitching staff into one of the best in baseball. Now all they need is some offense.