The Milwaukee Brewers dealt their ace this offseason when they sent Yovani Gallardo to the Texas Rangers in exchange for prospects, but that didn't signal an effort to begin a rebuild. Milwaukee is looking to bolster its bullpen, an emerging trend among teams that are planning on contention, and they have Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon in their crosshairs.
Sources: Milwaukee in serious discussions with Phillies to acquire Jonathan Papelbon. Unclear if Brewers are on Papelbon's no-trade list.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 23, 2015
Unlike the Brewers, Philadelphia is in full rebuilding mode and looking to sell off their veteran players to contending clubs. The effort hasn't been smooth at times though, since general manager Ruben Amaro hasn't been willing to take less than full value on some players such as Cole Hamels.
At the moment there's little information on what the Phillies expect in return for Papelbon, but despite advancing age his performance has remained steady. In 66.1 innings in 2014 Papelbon was 2-3 with 39 saves, a 2.04 ERA and 0.90 WHIP.
After experiencing a sharp drop in strikeout rate in 2013 though, his 2014 K-rate remained in line with the 2013 numbers while his walk rate ballooned to 2.04 per nine innings. Papelbon also saw a slight drop in velocity for the second straight season per Pitch F/X data.
Papelbon's adjusted somewhat to the changes in his ability by throwing more sliders and fewer fastballs, which led to an increase in his groundball rate.
Should the Brewers succeed in landing him, he will join an impressive stable of relief pitchers that includes Jonathan Broxton and Jim Henderson, both of whom have closing experience.
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