Brett Lawrie

AA...the man with the plan

My name is Craig Ballard and I am a Jays fan...time to hold another AA meeting...as you know by now our version of AA meetings is to look at Alex Anthopoulos and his moves to build a perennial contender here in the T-Dot...


Latest move was a stunner, but hopefully will produce a stud for years to come...

2010 Opening Day Starter Shaun Marcum gets moved to Milwaukee for 20 year old 2nd baseman Brett Lawrie (6'0...213 lbs)...he was drafted #16 overall in the 2008 MLB Draft by Milwaukee...the Jays had the next pick and were likely going to take the scrappy Lawrie, instead they took First baseman David Cooper...at #16 he is the highest drafted position-player to hail from Canada...Lawrie is from Burnaby, BC...bats right with a classic lefties swing but from the right side...open stance...throws right and has a good arm

Brett and sister Danielle have rep'd Canada many times

Lawrie has represented Canada on numerous Team Canada teams...he was also selected to represent the World Team at the 2009 MLB All-Star Futures Game, and again in 2010...he was also an 2010 All-Star at AA Huntsville in the Southern League


Lawrie is a Catcher but a few months ago began the move to 2nd Baseman...The Jays have Aaron Hill at that spot currently, but Hill was a Shortstop who converted the 2nd Base so either one of these guys could be asked to switch positions again (my guess is one of them to third base OR Aaron Hill gets traded)...the Jays have flirted with several trades in the last few months that would have landed them a 2nd Baseman in return so my thinking here is they are not enamoured with Hill as the every day 2B

In Brett Lawrie the Jays get the top ranked prospect in the Milwaukee organization...he has raw power (once hit 5 HR's in a double-header vs Seattle's Dominican team using all fields...his performance vs the Dominican Pitchers is legendary for those who saw it...in that tourney he went 21 for 30 with 14 extra-base hits) and raw speed (16 Triples in 2010)...

ANY Scouting Report you read projects this guy to have plus-power...the comparisons to Jeff Kent are there...the mention of what a good athlete he is are there...the talk about his desire is there...also there is a lot of talk about his tendency to get in streaks where he is too pull-conscious - I would say that most 20 year old studs have that issue and with time he can realize his potential to use all fields consistently...he is a "one speed" kind of competitor and that speed is balls-out

I am Craig Ballard, and I am a Jays fan...

I look forward to a potential double-play duo of SS Adeiny Hechavarria and 2B Brett Lawrie for years to come...even if Lawrie does change positions his bat is still a high upside bat worthy of optimism



I was a big fan Shaun...good luck to you sir



He came at a price...Marcum was the most available Jays Pitcher, but anytime you trade your Opening Day starter you fell a tad taken aback...Vernon Wells tweeted "Shaun will be missed. He's a bulldog on the mound and the Brew Crew will love playing behind him."

Marcum missed all of 2009 due to Tommy John surgery and returned in 2010 to start 31 games...13-8 record...3.64 era (very good)...1.15 WHIP (extremely good...Walks and Hits per Inning Pitch is what WHIP stands for, and it is a stat that has exploded as far as having importance to show a Pitchers effectiveness...at 1.15 Marcum had the 5th best WHIP in the AL)

Personally I take the trading of Marcum trade to replace Shaun i.e. a Zack Greinke trade...or...AA has liked what he saw in the Arizona Fall League from starter Marc Rzepczynski and will use the draft to stockpile more young up-side arms like last season, and as for 2011 go with Romero-Morrow-Cecil-Drabek-Rzepczynski as the 5 man rotation...Drabek would likely have to be part of a Zack Greinke deal so time will tell...

Either way AA wanted a talent like Anthony Gose - he went and got him - and he wanted Brett Lawrie too so he pulled the trigger on this deal...

Go Jays Go

as always send me your thoughts/comments...  craig.ballard@hotmail.com