Broxton intent on staying focused
PHOENIX – It’s safe to say that Keon Broxton was shocked when he heard the Milwaukee Brewers acquired outfielders Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain within a couple of hours on Jan. 25.
Broxton certainly wasn’t pleased about what those moves meant for him. As the incumbent centerfielder, it wasn’t good news on the job front.
“The first couple of days, it was tough to deal with,” Broxton said Saturday morning before the Brewers’ workout at Maryvale Baseball Park. “I don’t think anyone saw that coming.”
Showing an ability to look past his own nose, Broxton did understand how impactful the moves would be for the Brewers.
“I can’t say I’m happy about it but it’s good for the team,” he said. “Those are two solid players. I can’t be happier for the Brewers organization for picking those guys up. It definitely makes the team, as a whole, a lot better.
“I always think about myself and how everything plans out. I have to accept it’s a business. Those guys played better than me throughout my career. They’ve had a lot of success. So, I really can’t be mad. I have to take it for what it is and make it my duty to get better.
“I know if I played better, this probably wouldn’t have happened.”
Broxton, 27, was one of a handful of 20/20 (home runs, steals) players in the majors last season, flashing the rare combination of speed and power. But he was wildly inconsistent over the 146 games in which he played, batting .220 with a .299 on-base percentage and 175 strikeouts, one of the highest totals in the major leagues.
Had Broxton not been so erratic, the Brewers might have passed on at least one of the pair of Cain and Yelich, though the opportunity to reel in two of the best all-around outfielders in the game was franchise-changing. And it’s difficult to see where he fits in an outfield picture that also includes Ryan Braun, Domingo Santana and Brett Phillips.
Broxton has a minor-league option remaining, putting his status on the club in real jeopardy. Manager Craig Counsell wanted to make sure Broxton’s head was in the right place, so he met with him shortly after arriving in camp.
“We just acquired two really good baseball players,” Counsell said. “There’s no questioning these guys as far as what they’ve accomplished and where they’re at in their careers. From Keon’s perspective, you’re not happy about it and it doesn’t make you feel great.
“But then you’ve kind of got a decision to make in, ‘How do I approach that?’ Keon’s still at a place in his career where I think he knows that improvements have to be made. He’s also accomplished a lot and come a long ways in the last three years.
“So, it’s a little bit of the lens you put on it. As the player, he has to decide what lens does he want to put on it and, frankly, I think he’s in a pretty good place with it. He understands it. These are really high-caliber players that do make his road tougher, no question.
"But now it’s how you move forward from there. It’s happened. He’s proven his worth at the big-league level. I just feel like, at this point, we’ve got guys that are a little better than him at that position. He’s processed it and he’s going in the right direction with it.”
Counsell stressed that all players have bumps in their careers and it’s how they deal with them that leads to success at the top level.
“It’s certainly human nature to be disappointed initially,” Counsell said. “And what guys do is you take that initial disappointment and then you figure out where to go with it and what’s next. What’s the next challenge? That’s how these guys think. That’s what gets you in the room, is thinking like that.
“They’ve had disappointments before. Keon’s had a long road of disappointments, really. He’s persevered through a lot of challenges in his baseball career.”
To hear Broxton tell it, that’s his plan once again. There’s no way to know how this will shake out for him over time, but he’s determined to stay focused on playing the game and not fret about the big picture.
“You can’t think about that,” he said. “If you do, you’re going to try to do more and put yourself in a worse spot. I’m going to be the same guy I’ve always been – an upbeat guy who cares about his teammates.
“I’m going to work hard every day like I always have and something will pop, like it always does.”