With every indication that the Dodgers are on the verge of backing away from the absolutely ludicrous Kenley Jansen sweepstakes that will net the soft-spoken 29-year-old Willemstad, Curacao native something in the five-year / 80 million range, there are a couple of very low-cost options available to the four-time consecutive NL West champions. The catch is that Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Farhan Zaidi have to be willing to roll the dice on a huge gamble; a gamble which, to this point, they have always avoided like the plague.

Tucked away in the Dodgers farm system are two very capable potential future major league closers – right-handers Joe Broussard and Josh Sborz – both of whom enjoyed tremendous success during the 2016 season.

Broussard, a 25-year-old right-hander selected by the Dodgers in the 15th round of the 2014 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Louisiana State University, spent time between Advanced Single-A Rancho Cucamonga and Double-A Tulsa before being promoted to Triple-A Oklahoma City for the final week of the 2016 season. In his combined 50 relief appearances, the New Orleans, Louisiana native posted a 4-2 record and 1.80 ERA while converting nine of his 11 save opportunities on the season – one at Rancho, seven at Tulsa and one at OKC. In his combined 70.0 innings of work, Broussard struck out 81 while walking 16 and posted an impressive 1.029 WHIP and .220 batting average against.

Broussard was also selected for the prestigious 2016 Arizona Fall League, where he posted an 0-1 record and 1.59 ERA in 11 relief appearances with the Glendale Desert Dogs, while converting five of his six save opportunities.

With the realization that Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen may be lost to free agency, Dodgers minor leaguer Joe Broussard has proven himself a worthy closer in his own right. His five saves in the recently-concluded Arizona Fall League were tied for the most in the 2016 AFL.
(Photo courtesy of @joe_boo21)

Sborz, a 22-year-old right-hander selected by the Dodgers in the second round of the 2015 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Virginia, split time between Advanced Single-A Rancho Cucamonga (20 games/19 starts) and Double-A Tulsa (10 games all in relief) posting a combined 8-5 record and 2.81 ERA. And even though 19 of the Washington D.C. native’s 29 total games were starts and he projects out to be a starter, he did convert his one and only save opportunity, so there’s that. But more importantly and the real reason to keep a very close eye on him going forward is that Sborz was named the 2016 California League Pitcher of the Year.

Although he finished the 2016 season with the Double-A Tulsa Drillers as a reliever, Josh Sborz was named the 2016 California League Pitcher of the Year as a starter.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

While many can and will argue that Sborz is still way too young and inexperienced to be MLB-ready (let alone to be an MLB closer), by every indication Broussard is getting close to being MLB-ready. And though there is no way that you can even include him in the same conversation with Kenley Jansen, he has certainly shown that he has the proverbial “closer mentality” – if Friedman and Zaidi (and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts) are willing to roll those huge dice on him. That being said and though he is already 25 years of age, Broussard will, in all likelihood, be pitching at Triple-A Oklahoma City in 2017.

…at least at the beginning of the season, that is.

Stay tuned…