Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com reports that the Royals may try to sign Jonathan Broxton for next year rather than trade him. We find that hard to believe, as Joakim Soria should be back from Tommy John next season and the Royals have multiple young arms capable of pitching the late innings. This is likely the Royals' way of trying to raise the asking price for the 28-year-old right-hander.

According to Jon Paul Morosi and Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com, the Royals have "signaled to teams" that they are willing to trade close Jonathan Broxton. The Royals enter play Thursday at 36-44, eight games out of first place in the American League Central, so they look like obvious sellers. Broxton has bounced back from elbow surgery to post a 2.05 ERA, 20 saves and a 23/12 K/BB ratio over 30 2/3 innings this year. He's only owed about $2 million for the rest of the season. Morosi and Rosenthal speculate that the Mets could be among his potential suitors.

Jonathan Broxton shut down the Cardinals on Friday, earning his 16th save of the season. While he isn't the dominating force that he once was, Broxton has actually been pretty solid as the Royals closer this year. He's now converted 16-of-18 save opportunities to go along with his 1.46 ERA.

Jonathan Broxton earned his ninth save in Saturday's win over the Orioles. Broxton came in to protect a 4-3 lead and worked around a leadoff single by inducing three straight groundball outs. He's now converted eight of his last nine save chances and has a 2.04 ERA on the season. Broxton has significant job security right now.

Jonathan Broxton blew his second save of the season in Wednesday's 15-inning loss to the Orioles, allowing two runs on four hits in the ninth inning. Tasked with protecting a 3-1 lead, Broxton allowed a one-out solo shot to Wilson Betemit before serving up three singles (one of which plated the tying run) in between recording the final two outs. An ugly outing, but Broxton had converted seven straight save opportunities with relatively little fuss coming into this evening. His job isn't in danger.

Jonathan Broxton converted his seventh straight save chance Monday, giving up a hit but striking out two in a win over the Rangers. Broxton has made a stunning turnaround after he blew up in a blown save back on April 11 when he looked like he wouldn't be long for the job. Since then, he's allowed just one run over 11 appearances while nailing down all of his save chances. His job is very secure right now.

Jonathan Broxton allowed the first two Yankees to reach in the ninth inning on Thursday, but battled back to slam the door and pick up his fifth save of the season. After Derek Jeter and Curtis Granderson reached to start the night, Broxton was able to induce Mark Teixeira to ground into a double play and then retire Alex Rodriguez on a groundout to third after a lengthy at-bat. While he's not the same intimidating and dominating force that he was as a Dodger, Broxton appears to be settling into his role as the closer in Kansas City, and his job security is on the rise.

Royals manager Ned Yost said Jonathon Broxton will be unavailable to close Saturday. He'll get the day off after closing out the last two games. The Royals will likely go with Aaron Crow or Tim Collins in a late-inning role, depending on the matchup.

Jonathan Broxton earned his second save of the season in Thursday's defeat of the Indians. Broxton yielded a single to Jason Kipnis and walked Michael Brantley in the bottom of the ninth inning but was able to escape. His ERA is down to 2.70, and his leash on the ninth-inning job continues to grow with Greg Holland (ribs) still on the shelf.

Royals manager Ned Yost says he didn't consider stripping Jonathan Broxton of closing duties following his disastrous blown save Wednesday. "I talked to Broxton today, and he just lost command of his fastball," Yost said Thursday. "But he's a two-time All-Star, and he has really rebounded nicely from this arm surgery. He's got his velocity back up to 97, 98, with an 86-, 87-mph slider, which is a killer, hard slider." That's all good and well, but Broxton hasn't been sharp in two of his first three outings. Greg Holland remains a must-handcuff, and is worth a speculative own in all formats.