LEAGUE, BRANDON  
 
Image of    Nickname:   N/A Position:   Pitching COACH
Home: N/A Team:   Retired
Height: 6' 2" Bats:   R
Weight: 210 Throws:   R
DOB: 3/16/1983 Agent: N/A
Birth City: Sacramento, CA Draft: Jays #2 - 2001 - Out of high school (Hawaii)
Uniform #: N/A  
 
YR LEA TEAM SAL(K) G IP H SO BB GS CG SHO SV W L OBA ERA
2001 PIO MEDICINE HAT   9 39 36 38 11 9 0 0 0 2 2   4.66
2002 NYP AUBURN   16 86 80 72 23 16 0 0 0 7 2   3.15
2003 SAL CHARLESTON, WV   12 71 58 61 18 12 0 0 0 2 3   1.91
2003 FSL DUNEDIN   13 66 76 34 20 12 0 0 0 4 3   4.75
2004 EL NEW HAMPSHIRE   41 104 92 90 41 10 0 0 2 6 4   3.38
2004 AL BLUE JAYS $300.00 3 4.2 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.176 0.00
2005 AL BLUE JAYS $316.00 20 35.2 42 17 20 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.302 6.56
2005 IL SYRACUSE   19 63 78 35 18 10 0 0 0 4 4   5.71
2006 IL SYRACUSE   31 54.2 57 43 15 1 0 0 8 3 2 57 2.14
2006 AL BLUE JAYS $327.00 33 42.2 34 29 9 0 0 0 1 1 2 0.214 2.53
2007 AL BLUE JAYS $381.00 14 11.2 19 7 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.38 6.17
2007 EL NEW HAMPSHIRE   6 7.2 5 7 7 0 0 0 0 1 1 0.185 3.52
2007 FSL DUNEDIN   4 6 5 6 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.208 4.50
2007 IL SYRACUSE   11 12 12 10 6 0 0 0 0 0 0   3.00
2008 IL SYRACUSE   20 34.1 36 32 10 0 0 0 2 2 3   3.93
2008 AL BLUE JAYS $400.00 31 33 28 23 15 0 0 0 1 1 2 0.23 2.18
2009 AL BLUE JAYS $640.00 67 74.2 72 76 21 0 0 0 0 3 6 0.257 4.58
2010 AL MARINERS $1,088.00 70 79 67 56 27 0 0 0 6 9 7 0.229 3.42
2011 AL MARINERS $2,250.00 65 61.1 56 45 10 0 0 0 37 1 5 0.239 2.79
2012 NL MARINERS   46 44.2 48 27 19 0 0 0 9 0 5 0.281 3.63
2012 NL DODGERS   28 27.1 17 27 14 0 0 0 6 2 1 0.183 2.30
2013 NL DODGERS $5,500.00 58 54.1 69 28 15 0 0 0 14 6 4 0.305 5.30
2014 NL DODGERS $8,500.00 63 63 65 38 27 0 0 0 0 2 3 0.278 2.57
2015 NL DODGERS - DL $8,500.00                          
2015 PCL OKLAHOMA CITY   5 5.2 5 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0   1.59
2015 CAL RANCHO CUCAMONGA   5 5 5 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 1   0.00

  • Brandon's high school pitching coach (in Honolulu) was former Major League pitcher Carlos Diaz.

  • League was a surfer while growing up in Hawaii.

  • In 2000, League impressed scouts while playing for Team USA's junior squad. He went 1-0, with a 2.00 ERA and struck out 12 in 9 innings of work for the silver-medal U.S. team at the World Championships in Edmonton. He then went 5-2, 3.30 in 10 games for St. Louis High School in Honolulu.

  • Before 2004 spring training, Brandon was rated the 10th-best prospect in the Blue Jays organization by Baseball America. But by the time preparations were being made for 2005 spring camp, League was rated the #1 prospect in the Toronto system. Then, before 2006 spring training, Baseball America had League as 7th-best prospect in the Blue Jay farm system.

  • Brandon married his wife, Sasha, just before 2005 spring training. She was a psychology major at the University of Hawaii. On August 13, 2005, Brandon and Sasha celebrated the birth of daughter Skyler.

  • During the offseason before 2006 spring training, Leauge worked with 16-year Major League veteran pitcher Mike Fetters. Fetters, who works for Beverly Hills Sports Council (which represents League), took the young fireballer back to square one with his mechanics. He has League back to throwing from over the top. They worked for two weeks in Fetters' Arizona home, and then Mike spent two weeks at League's home in Hawaii.

  • During the offseason before 2008 spring training, League and his wife agreed that for his career, he should stay in Florida and work with the Blue Jays trainers.

  • League likes tattoos. His neck, arms, stomach, chest, and the upper part of his back are dominated by dark ink with various designs. The first idea he had for a tattoo came while he was awake.

    "I was 18 years old, in Hawaii, and got an idea from the back of my baseball jersey," he explained. "You know how some of the names are on a patch? My USA Baseball Junior Olympic jersey was like that, so I cut it off went to a tattoo parlor. It's a way to express myself, really. It's art. It's expression."

    He can tell stories, honor loved ones, showcase art and convey inspiration through the various tatoos etched across his back, stomach, arms and neck. And Brandon has the confidence to articulate his style, feelings and emotions through body art, clothes and ever-changing hairstyles and looks.

    In big, block letters, L-E-A-G-U-E are drawn across his upper back. He got that one when was just 18 years old. It was the first of many tattoos.

  • Brandon grew up in Hawaii with a free spirit, a deep love for surfing, and a right arm that could make a baseball.

    TRANSACTIONS

  • June 2001: The Blue Jays chose League in the second round, out of St. Louis High School in Honolulu. Brandon signed for a $660,00 bonus. David Blume was the scout who signed him, persuading him to start his pro career rather than accept a scholarship to Pepperdine.

  • December 22, 2009: The Mariners sent RHP Brandon Morrow to the Blue Jays, acquring League and Johermyn Chavez.

  • January 20, 2010: League and the Mariners agreed to a $1,087,500 for 2010, avoiding arbitration.

  • January 17, 2012: Brandon and the Mariners again avoided salary arbitration, agreeing on a one-year, $5 million contract.

  • July 31, 2012: The Dodgers sent RHP Logan Bawcom and CF Leon Landry to the Mariners, acquiring League.

  • October 31, 2012: The Dodgers re-signed League to a three-year contract for $22.5 million and general manager Ned Colletti said the right-hander will be the closer. League is the fourth closer the Dodgers have had in the last two seasons, following Jonathan Broxton, Javy Guerra, and Kenley Jansen. The contract also has an option for 2016. The Dodgers released League.

  • Jan 7, 2017: The Royals organization signed free agent League.

  • March 19, 2017: The Royal released League.
PERSONAL:
 

  • Many scouts say League is like a clone of Jeff Weaver. They are built the same and have similar pitching traits. 

  • Brandon is a righthander, thin, but with broad shoulders and narrow hips. He has a loose and easy motion and good size. His two-seam, heavy sinking, diving and running FASTBALL is 93-99 mph and has better movement than almost anyone has. He has even been clocked as high as 101 mph. Brandon's heater has very late, explosive movement. He needs to stay on top of that pitch to keep it down in the zone more efficiently. When he does, it is hard for hitters to center on the ball.

    He has an 80 mph sharp-breaking CURVEBALL, an 88-92 mph CIRCLE CHANGEUP that has good diving action, and a two-plane 89-92 mph power SLIDER that may end up being his out pitch if he can stay on top of it. When he does, that slider has good depth and tilt.

    In 2006, League added a SPLITTER and dropped the changeup.

  • In 2004 and 2005, League came at hitters from a low three-quarters slot. But his release point/arm slot sometimes kept him from staying on top of his breaking stuff consistently. He sometimes over-rotated in his delivery and would drag his arm. That is when he doesn't stay on top of his slider. And that is when he loses the strike zone.

    After working during the winter before 2006 spring training with longtime Major League pitcher Mike Fetters, Brandon is again throwing from over the top. Jays' pitching coach Brad Arnsberg had tried to get League on track with that windup, but the young pitcher was overwhelmed with all the change in his first full season and was mesmerized by all that was coming at him. But in 2006, the pitcher and the coach were on the same page.

    When he gets too low, he gets underneath his sinker and the ball just flattens out.

  • Brandon does not seem intimidated pitching in the Major Leagues. But he says he doesn't want to be comfortable against big league batters—he wants to keep his edge at any cost. The Hawaii resident may be laid back off the field, but he never wants to relax between the lines.

  • Lefthanded hitters tend to see his pitches well and nail him.

  • League can dial it up to 97, 98, and occasionally hit 99 or 100 mph a few years ago. But he often doesn't know where it is going. Brandon never really has been a strikeout guy. He has a hard sinking fastball that gets a lot of outs on the ground. That's what he does most of the time when he's on.

  • Brandon gets a lot of groundballs with his sinker. He rarely gives up a home run.

  • On the night before 2011 Opening Day, Mariners' manager Eric Wedge said that League would serve as the team's closer in David Aardsma's absence. Aardsma began the season on the D.L. (Editor's note: League had 37 saves that year.)

  • After the Dodgers acquired League from the Mariners in July 2012, he and Dodger bullpen coach Kenny Howell worked on Brandon's mechanics to get a more consistent arm slot and improve his command.

    "He has a tendency to pull hard to the side and his arm drags behind him," said Howell. "We're trying to get him to stay back on his right leg longer, stride the front leg out farther, and he'll stay in line with the target. It should be an easy fix."

    League said he "absolutely agrees" that he has a tendency to pull off as he throws.

    "It's been a battle all year," he said. "I had keys in Seattle, and we're using different keys here. I tend to get my front leg moving too fast and that causes my problems."

  • As of the start of the 2015 season, Brandon has a career record of 27-35 with 3.65 ERA, having allowed only 41 home runs and 520 hits in 532 innings.
PITCHING:
 
  • POST-PLAYING CAREER POSITIONS


  • 2025: League was Pitching Coach for the Columbus Clippers (IL-Guardians).
RUNNING:
 

  • October 2006: An MRI exam revealed a slight tear in League's right rotator cuff, which prompted the Jays to suggest he take some extra time off. During an extended layoff from throwing, League continued to lift weights, which led to an "over-developed lat muscle," as the club initially described the injury. Tightness in his shoulder the following spring led to altered pitching mechanics and dramatically decreased his velocity.

    • "I think I did a little too much," said League. "The MRI showed stuff in the shoulder. The lat is connected to the shoulder and when you tighten the shoulder, it's going to pull other muscles that are connected to it."

  • February 25–July 15, 2007: League was shut down with that sore shoulder caused by a strained and overdeveloped lat muscle.

    When the season started on April 2, Brandon remained in Florida while working with a long toss program in an attempt to build up his arm strength.

  • August 5–September 4, 2007: Brandon was back on the D.L., this time with a right oblique strain.

  • March 27, 2015: It was reported that League has serious damage to his right shoulder, and was certain to be out two months (at least).

    Surgery was discussed, but for now they will try a "conservative" route of at least three weeks of rest before League picks up a baseball.

    April 26-July 3, 2015:  The Dodgers moved League from the 15-day DL to the 60-day DL.

CAREER INJURY REPORT:
 
 
Last Updated 4/8/2026 8:51:00 PM. All contents © 2000 by Player Profiles. All rights reserved.