Dewon Brazelton

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Dewon Cortez Brazelton (born June 6, 1980 in Tullahoma, Tennessee) is a major league pitcher currently a free agent.

When Brazelton was only 15 years old, he had both knee surgery in 1995 and Tommy John surgery in 1996. He attended Middle Tennessee State University and set both strikeout and win records there. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays selected him with the third overall draft pick in the first round of the 2001 MLB amateur draft and Brazelton made his MLB debut September 13, 2002. In 2004, Brazelton received the Tony Conigliaro Award. In 2005, he was the opening day starter for the Devil Rays, but he pitched so poorly in his subsequent outings that the club optioned him down to the Triple-A Durham Bulls. He was placed on the suspended list after failing to report to Durham, then arrived in Durham about two weeks after originally being demoted. He was then demoted to Double-A, only to be promoted about three weeks later - a decision which caused some mild controversy with the fans and the team alike. Teammate Eduardo Perez was quoted as saying "What message does that send to the rest of the young guys in the organization?".

After Stuart Sternberg took over as principal owner of the Devil Rays, Brazelton was traded during the 2005 annual baseball winter meetings to the Padres for third baseman Sean Burroughs. At the time, Devil Rays executive Vice President Andrew Friedman was quoted as saying "This is a classic change-of-scenery trade involving two former No. 1 draft picks that are still young players with tremendous upsides."

Brazelton pitches for the Portland Beavers in July 2006

In spring training of 2006, Brazelton appeared impressive, going 1-0 with a 1.77 ERA in 5 starts and earned the position of fourth starter in the Padres's four-man rotation, behind Jake Peavy, Chris Young, and Shawn Estes. However, Brazelton's first two starts were disastrous, taking the loss for both while pitching a combined 6 1/3 innings and giving up 17 hits and 17 earned runs. Brazelton was then moved to the bullpen and used as a spot reliever where between March 8 and April 19, he pitched 11 1/3 innings with a 2.31 ERA. However, on May 11 against the Milwaukee Brewers, Brazelton came in relief of Jake Peavy in the 8th inning with an 8-0 lead and gave up 4 runs on 3 hits and a walk without recording an out. Brazelton was promptly demoted to the Padres' AAA affiliate the following day and has not pitched in the major leagues since.

On December 4, 2006, the Kansas City Royals signed Brazelton to a minor league contract, only to be released from their Triple-A Omaha affiliate on April 27, 2007. On June 2, 2007, the Pittsburgh Pirates signed Brazelton to a minor league contract and assigned him to their Double-A affiliate, the Altoona Curve. After becoming a free agent, following the conclusion of the 2007 season, the St. Louis Cardinals signed Brazelton to a minor league contract, but he was released during spring training.

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
• MLB.com: Dewon Brazelton
• Report on Trade of Brazelton to Padres for Burroughs
• Minor League Splits and Situational Stats