Cards acquire RHP Broxton from Brewers

The Brewers will receive minor league outfielder Malik Collymore in the trade.

Baseball’s non-waiver trade deadline arrived Friday afternoon at 3 p.m., and several contenders radically altered the look of their teams in the past week.

This season for the Brewers, Broxton has a record of 1-2, an ERA of 5.89, 0 saves, and 37 strikeouts with a WHIP of 1.39.

To make room for Broxton on the 25-man and 40-man rosters, the Cardinals optioned reliever Miguel Socolovich to Class AAA Memphis and designated pitcher Marcus Hatley for assignment. That will stretch out the Cardinals’ bullpen, which is already relatively strong with guys like Seth Maness and Kevin Siegrist toward the back end with Cishek and Rosenthal.

The Cardinals are generally a team that stays pretty quiet at the deadline, but they also usually add a couple bullpen arms when they’re competitive.

Frankly, I am surprised by the Broxton deal. His contract includes a $9 million club option for 2016 that will likely be bought out for $2 million.

Collymore was a 10th round draft selection by the Cardinals in 2013 who has been playing for rookie-level Johnson City this season. 286 with four home runs and 44 RBIs over three seasons (96 games). The Cardinals aren’t sure what to do with Walden at this point, although reporting to Jupiter, Fla., for more rehab is a possibility. It’s a big hole to fill.

Broxton has 118 career saves and once had dominating stuff. His fastball still averages better than 94 miles per hour. He has struggled so far this season batting just.

“Just another great weapon for us to have, kind of like we talked about with Cishek”, Matheny said.

Cole Hamels explains in a farewell Philadelphia news conference why he’s happy to go to Texas, saying he thinks the Rangers are close to being ready to compete for a playoff spot.