Pirates to promote Keon Broxton

The Pirates are set to promote outfielder Keon Broxton now that Indianapolis' season is over, Tim Williams reports. This news broke yesterday; my apologies for missing it.

Anyway, I'm happy to see this. Broxton would have been eligible for minor league free agency after the season, and would likely have been one of the most sought-after minor league free agents if the Pirates had let him walk. I'm not sure he'll be a great player, but he's way too interesting for the Pirates not to keep around.

Broxton is fast, with 39 stolen bases and 12 triples this year. He has a good reputation defensively and can play all three outfield positions. He's also hit for good averages and on-base percentages in both his years in the Bucs' system, and he has a bit of pop. He struck out 156 times this year, and that's a tendency big-league pitchers might be able to exploit, but there's more than enough here to hope Broxton can be a good fourth outfielder in the majors.

The Pirates tend to entrust bench spots to veterans, but I'd love it if Broxton could win a roster spot out of camp next year. There isn't much time left for him to play in 2015, but he could be a cheap, effective bench option in 2016.