Brett Lawrie -- Latest: SIGNED! (reply #41)

[And That]

I dont see him panning out as a catcher.

Why is that?

 

[brewerguy71]

Catcher isnt the kind of position you "just pick up". He has limited experience at the position.

 

A guy like Buster Posey became a catcher and was able to hone his skills defensively while still in college. Now that he is a professional baseball player, his main focus is going to be developing his best skills. His top skill right now is as an offensive player. Trying to become a major league catcher as well, while learning to hit really good pitching might be a major distraction to his development.

 

I just think his place is at 3B or as a corner outfielder. LuCroy is the guy to develop as the major catcher for the system. He doesnt need to be switched around to all sorts of positions to distract his development.

[colbyjack]

It will be interesting to see how Lawrie is developed. His bat seems so advanced that I agree with most in that I would probably put him at 3B and just let his bat carry him as quickly as it can, which sounds as though he could very well follow a Prince Fielder type advancement as a prep hitter. While I usually don't take comfort at the talent level at any position, no matter who is there, Lucroy's rapid development and Salome's continued success also allows me to feel as though they don't need to take the extra time to try and get a potential impact player at the position in Lawrie.

 

Yes, they could be patient with him, but if his bat is as good as it sounds like it is, why not try to get him up as quickly as possible?

[battlekow]

I posted this in the thread in the minors forum, but Lawrie is catchingg for the Juniors and is expected to play short in the Olympics.

[colbyjack]

I know you're just bringing up that tidbit as a fact (and I did catch that in the aforementioned thread), but it doesn't really matter where Lawrie is playing in the Olympics relative to his impending pro career, although hopefully it does give us a chance to see him play, assuming some of the games are televised (Olympic baseball games in past years haven't been pimped/televised as much as you would like to see).

 

On the Olympic roster, he's listed as an A-ball player for the Brewers, so hopefully that is where he debuts after Team USA boots Team Canada http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif.

[battlekow]

Colby, I was just responding to X's question.

[And That]

It'll take Lawrie at least 3 years before he's ready to become a major league regular, and that's ahead of the Fielder timeline because Lawrie is going to end up missing most, if not all, of the 2008 minor league season. More conservatively, it'll take him a solid 4 years. Why not spend the first 2 years of that with him behind the dish, to see if he takes to it? I realize it's not easy to just plop someone into catching gear and tell him to have a go, but it's not like he's completely devoid of experience there. After 2 years, see if he's far enough along defensively that it won't hold his bat back from the bigs for an inordinate amount of time. If he doesn't take to it (and if Salome and/or Lucroy pan out), move him and give him some minor league time at 3rd or 2nd. If he does take to it, great.

 

I assume the Brewers are thinking more or less along the same lines, and it doesn't seem unreasonable at all to me.

[Never Outhustled]

It'll take Lawrie at least 3 years before he's ready to become a major league regular, and that's ahead of the Fielder timeline because Lawrie is going to end up missing most, if not all, of the 2008 minor league season.

I think your being too conservative with your timeline, because Lawrie has faced far more advanced pitching than Fielder had faced in HS. Lawrie made an Olympic team Taylor Green couldn't even make. Lawrie might be a AA caliber hitter right now.

 

Why not spend the first 2 years of that with him behind the dish, to see if he takes to it?

While I agree thats the probable course of action, I think that would be detrimental in helping Lawrie to develop into a quality defender at 3B or 2B. He is not good at either of those positions yet either, and I think it takes a ton of experience to develop a player into a good 3B.

 

If Lawrie spent a couple of years catching before moving to another position, he'd likely not be ready defensively when he's promoted to the bigs. We've seen too many players like that the last few years. Contenders don't have the margin for error to tollerate bad defense.

[And That]

Spending time at catcher may be detrimental to Lawrie's development at 3B or 2B, but he has far more value as a catcher. So spending time at 3B or 2B would inhibit his development at the most valuable defensive position. I'm going to defer to the Brewers' scouting/development staff in that if they think he can stick at catcher, I have no reason not to believe them. If he develops as a catcher, he has more upside than Salome or Lucroy, yes?

 

It's impossible to predict what the Brewers' catching/third base situation will look like in a few years, so if the Brewers think he can be a catcher, I'm willing to see how it plays out.

[DHonks]

part of me would love to see him at catcher. And I think it's funny to think that he's just learning it. He's played it for two years. Others like Henry Blanco and Russell Martin picked it up while in the minors.

 

Still, third base is intriguing if the Brewers think Gamel can't make it. Ultimately, I still expect him to sign a 2009 contract.

[uwisfan]

if he can leg out 3 triples, maybe he could play CF? we could use someone there.

[homer]

Lawrie's a ridiculous athlete. If anyone can quickly adapt to a position change it's him. I'd like to see what he can do at catcher before trying him somewhere else.

[TooLiveBrew]

Wu would then virtually dropkick Densem, striking his spikes in the catcher's mask. This incident would clear both benches, but the situation was diffused before there were any further altercations. Wu was ejected from the game and could face a possible suspension.

 

What do you have to do to get a definite suspension? That sounds like about the dirtiest play imaginable, short of throwing at someone's head/face... or I guess spiking a guy in the face who wasn't wearing a catcher's mask.

[ILuvDaBush]

The Taipeiian Ty Cobb.

[bretsky07]

Brett went 0-4 against the US Olympic team in Durham, NC, in the US team's final game before the Olympics. The US team doesn't play again until the 13th in China, so if the Canadian team has a similar layoff, I would imagine Brett will be in Milwaukee for contract talks for the next few days.

 

Edit: maybe not. I just checked the Canadian team's schedule on the Baseball Canada site, and the team is supposed to be leaving for Beijing today. I have no idea how Brett could get a contract signed by the deadline, unless we send someone to China.

[sgtcluels]

Lawrie Wins World Triple Crown

EDMONTON - At the conclusion of the World Junior Championship, the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) unveiled the tournament's award winners and All-Star team and Brett Lawrie (Langley, BC) brought home a lot of hardware.

Lawrie was awarded the Top Hitter Award with his .469 average for the tournament. He was also awarded the Most Home Runs Award with three and the Most RBI Award with 16. He was also named the catcher for the World All-Star team.

"We played well as a team the whole tournament," says Lawrie. "It's unfortunate that we couldn't achieve what we wanted to coming here, but I'm very proud of the way the team played during the tournament."

Joining Lawrie on the World All-Star team is Michael Crouse (Port Moody, BC) as an outfielder. Crouse hit .312 with two doubles, one triple and five RBI in the tournament and fielded his position exceptionally, committing no errors with 12 putouts.

[Brian the Automator]

Brewerfan.net has learned that Brett Lawrie has inked his contract with the Crew.

 

Looking forward to seeing Lawrie play pro-ball in the VERY near future.

[Chio151]

So glad he signed. His potential is through the roof. Can't wait to see him next year.

[patrickgpe]

i'm excited to hopefully see team canada play in the olympics and get a peak at him.

[southpaw121505]

Excellent news. It will be interesting to see if he can stick behind the plate

[Oldcity]

Everything I read about him is very exciting. Can't wait to follow him.

[TooLiveBrew]

Awesome! The talk sounded like they weren't worried about his contract status, and now we see why.

 

I echo Stevo's sentiments.

 

 

EDIT: Found this in TH's blog's comments. This is funny -- in response to a previous comment of "Can he start tonight in place of Kendall? We need some O-fense!!!:

 

"Kendall hasn't collapsed into a coma yet, so Lawrie can't start for him tonight. Plus, Lawrie will be somewhere over the Pacific Ocean at game-time tonight."

 

Gary, if you post here, stand up & take credit. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/laugh.gif

[tigerbrew]

Lawrie signs with the Brewers right after winning World Junior Triple Crown, Excellent! Man, he will be an exciting prospect to follow.

[JoeHova]

They said in the JS that Lawrie won't play pro ball this season, which is a shame, but I guess that's to be expected after playing for the Canadian National Team. I was hoping he'd at least get some time in the AFL, though perhaps that league is too advanced for a guy right out of HS.

[Brian the Automator]

They said in the JS that Lawrie won't play pro ball this season, which is a shame, but I guess that's to be expected after playing for the Canadian National Team. I was hoping he'd at least get some time in the AFL, though perhaps that league is too advanced for a guy right out of HS.

He'll be playing against AAA and MLB players in the Olympics. While I wouldn't expect him to mash in that league, I don't think it would be asking too much of him to be able to hold his own at that level, given what he's already accomplished.