Rex Brothers: What to do next?

The Colorado Rockies selected Rex Brothers out of Lipscomb University in Tennessee in the summer of 2009 with the 34^th pick overall in the Amateur Baseball Draft. Five years later, the lefty is at an early crossroads in his big league career.

The 2014 campaign wasn’t one for the ages for Brothers. In fact, it was downright horrendous when compared to his 2013 season, in which the lefty boasted an impressive 1.79 ERA in 72 games along with collecting 19 saves for the club while filling in as a closer for the injured Rafeal Betancourt.

Compare that to 2014 when Brothers saw his ERA implode to 5.54 in 74 games, along with 3 blown saves, and you can see where the frustration lies. Now the big question seems to be: what will the new front office do about Rex Brothers?

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Finishing with one of the league’s worst pitching staffs in all of baseball, many are calling for a complete overhaul. With moves coming quickly and swiftly with the new GM Jeff Bridich, both Bo McLaughlin and Jim Wright have been fired from their respective duties. The good news for Rex Brothers is he does not take up a large amount of money with his salary coming out to just $502,000 for a year. The bad news is he’s on his last year of that deal and won’t be eligible for arbitration until the 2015 season concludes.

The plan for Brothers? Return to form and do it now.

Obviously the talent level for the Colorado Rockies pitching staff is below par. Boone Logan went to the DL 3 times last year and Latroy Hawkins is just well…old. Obviously, as a power lefty from the pen, Brothers is somebody the Rockies would like to be able to keep. In my opinion, Hawkins needs to retire, and Brothers should be moved into the closing role, where he spent much of the 2013 season when he was pitching at his peak.

This offseason cannot only be good for this club; it must be great. With all the firepower on offense that this team can boast (when healthy of course), and a hopeful addition of another great starter, as well as two key relievers, the Rockies could be a competitive team. Too many times last year I watched as Jorge De La Rosa exited the game in the 6th inning with a two run lead only to watch it quickly turn into a two run deficit from the pen. Brothers can be a closer, evidence of that was shown in 2013.

In any case, this may be Rex Brothers’s last opportunity with the organization. If put in situations where he can succeed, things may work out for the young man.

With that being said, if he returns to the form of 2014, it may not be such a bad idea to package him in a deal where the Rockies could pick up a reliable veteran who can not only bring leadership but the element of winning baseball to a bullpen that has seen nothing but failures in recent years.

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The Colorado Rockies selected Rex Brothers out of Lipscomb University in Tennessee in the summer of 2009 with the 34th pick overall in the Amateur Baseball Draft. Five years later, the lefty is at an early crossroads in his big league career.

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The Colorado Rockies selected Rex Brothers out of Lipscomb University in Tennessee in the summer of 2009 with the 34^th pick overall in the Amateur Baseball Draft. Five years later, the lefty is at an early crossroads in his big league career.