Brewers acquire Shaun Marcum for Brett Lawrie 1 for 1; 3/24/12 -- Jayson Stark article

[zzzmanwitz]

Any ideas on the starting 5 at this point?

 

Gallardo

Marcum

Wolf

Narveson

???

[Warning Track Power]

Any ideas on the starting 5 at this point?

 

Gallardo

Marcum

Wolf

Narveson

???

May be stating the obvious here but that rotation screams for one more #2 ala Garza, Billinglsey, Shields. I'll feel great about our chances if Wolf is the #4.

 

 

[chadomac]

I still think they're going to trade for someone or sign a free agent. I hope that person is a better pitcher than Randy Wolf, but they probably won't be. I also think they'll try to sign Capuano for insurance, but he may go elsewhere if that other team gives him a definite rotation spot.

[chadomac]

May be stating the obvious here but that rotation screams for one more #2 ala Garza, Billinglsey, Shields. I'll feel great about our chances if Wolf is the #4.

 

Agreed. Garza or Billingsley would be a dream come true. Since Lawrie is gone, there aren't a lot of guys I wouldn't trade to make that happen. Odorizzi is the only one that comes to mind.

 

1 Gallardo

2 Marcum

3 Billingsley or Garza

4 Wolf

5 Narveson

 

And have Capuano, Rogers, and Parra as depth/spot starters. And we may even still have Fielder after acquiring this last starter. It's a dream, I know, but I'm going to keep dreaming for now.

[jrodbrewcrew]

When I first heard these rumors of Marcum for Lawrie, my first thought was that a Weeks extension must be in the works and hopefully close. Without reading through all of the 19 pages of posts thus far, I'm surprised at how many people are complaining about this trade. We need pitching, we have to give something up. As others have stated, Marcum for Lawrie, straight up, seems like a pretty good deal. Who knows, maybe Lawrie will end up in the HOF some day, but we'll have to wait a few years for that. While I'm sad to see a potentially great bat leave the system, pitching is what's going to win nowadays. We've seen the last couple of years what a great offense can do with a sub-par pitching staff. I'm glad to see this addressed through a trade, rather than just throwing money at a free agent pitcher. In my opinion, this seems like a solid trade.

[theavrock]

Wow. Really surprised by some of the comments here. Lawrie has impressed for sure, but comparing him to Braun?

Braun's averages in the minors: .313/.375/.948

Lawries: .280/.343/.788

Slugging specifically was a difference of .572 to .445

I think Lawrie projects well, but I cant see anything that tips to a Ryan Braun type projection.

On top of that we all know the reason the Brewers were not competing for a playoff spot was because their pitching was garbage. DM goes out and gets the ace of the Jays staff who has put up very solid (Yo-like) numbers in baseball's toughest division for a single prospect and he gets busted up?

Marcum is a very good pitcher and on top of that grows a great beard. I can't see anything I don't like.

[trwi7]

His SLG was very triples heavy which is hard to reproduce. Without seeing those triples it's hard to say whether they were grounders or liners or what so it's difficult to project if they'll turn into home runs as he ages.

I'd imagine most would be flyballs. Triples down the left field line are rare and you're not going to get a ground ball triple in the gap so pretty much the only option is a groundball down the right field line.

 

 

[Baldkin]

Going from below replacement level last year in our rotation to a guy like Marcum... well... awesome.

[Schlitz001]

Shaun Marcum was interviewed on MLB on XM Inside Pitch this morning. It was a pretty standard "new team" interview. Here are the highlights.

 

-Marcum was shocked, thinking that the Blue Jays wanted him on board long term. Almost sounded like they were considering an extension.

-He researched the Brewers online last night. He knows schedule and rotation. Mentioned that he looks forward to pitching with Wolf, Gallardo and Narveson.

-Excited to "compete" with Brewers.

-He had to explain to his 4 year old son what a "Brewer" was and then went online to show him pictures of Bernie's slide which got him excited.

-Hasn't talked to any players yet, but will call Dave Bush to get the scoop.

-Excited about devout fan base.

-Looks forward to facing 8,9 hitters in the NL Central, but knows there will be challenges with the likes of Pujols, Berkman and Holliday.

[danzig6767]

Going from below replacement level last year in our rotation to a guy like Marcum... well... awesome.

I just really hope we don't get some bad luck and Marcum regresses. If he pitches like he did in Toronto and Wolf pitches more like he did after the All-Star break, the Brewers should have three quality starters. Narveson has the chance to be a decent No.5. Obviously we'd need at least one more decent starter to round out the rotation, plus there is the likely chance that at least one of the five starters misses some time via injury.

[TooLiveBrew]

I think Lawrie projects well, but I cant see anything that tips to a Ryan Braun type projection.

 

Braun was drafted out of college, Lawrie from h.s. Braun was in his age-22 season by the time he reached AA. Imagine Lawrie repeating AA for two more seasons, and I think it's very believable that he could match Braun's AA .303/.367/.589/.956 line by 2012. He posted the 2010 Southern League's 17th-best OPS as a 20-yo.

 

 

- He had to explain to his 4 year old son what a "Brewer" was and then

went online to show him pictures of Bernie's slide which got him

excited.

 

This is great. He has to get him a trip down that slide now.

[crewcrazy]

Shaun Marcum was interviewed on MLB on XM Inside Pitch this morning. It was a pretty standard "new team" interview. Here are the highlights.

 

-Hasn't talked to any players yet, but will call Dave Bush to get the scoop.

That should be an interesting conversation, to say the least. Can't we get him to talk to Lyle Overbay about what he remembers instead?

[TooLiveBrew]

Interesting tidbit from TH's latest blog post

Melvin noted the Brewers have a "very good, young" second baseman in Eric Farris who excelled in the Arizona Fall League this year. And he indicated it was no sure thing that Lawrie would have stayed at second base, where many scouts felt he was defensively challenged.

 

"Brett is a very talented player," said Melvin. "He wasn't really penciled in at second (for the future). He can play second but he's athletic enough that we had the ability to move him to other positions, too. He can move to fit your ball club fairly quickly."

Sounds like a nice way of saying they didn't believe in him as a second baseman... and then the decision to deal him while he's still perceived as a possible second baseman makes plenty of sense.

[theavrock]

I think Lawrie projects well, but I cant see anything that tips to a Ryan Braun type projection.

 

Braun was drafted out of college, Lawrie from h.s. Braun was in his age-22 season by the time he reached AA. Imagine Lawrie repeating AA for two more seasons, and I think it's very believable that he could match Braun's AA .303/.367/.589/.956 line by 2012. He posted the 2010 Southern League's 17th-best OPS as a 20-yo.

Agreed, but he could also fall on his face and go the way numerous other prospects do. I just think saying that we gave away a guy who is the next Ryan Braun is pretty pre-mature.

[joshua502000]

I had this dream that I was going to met Lawrie's sister randomly at Miller Park. Have her fall madly in love with me and have lots of children, all who end up professional sports players. Now that dream is dead. Dang, and I was soo sure this was going to happen.

[dlk9s]

grows a great beard.

Well then I guess the earlier comparison to Dave Bush is spot on!

[BritInWI]

I always thought Heyman of SI was totally clueless, and this seals it. He was just on MLB Network and said of Marcum - to Blue Jays skipper John Farrell - "he's not a guy you look at and say "I really didn't want to let him go"' (as if he thinks rather little of Marcum). http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[hawing]

-He researched the Brewers online last night. He knows schedule and rotation. Mentioned that he looks forward to pitching with Wolf, Gallardo and Narveson.

Shaun does research? He's won me over. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[endaround]

Interesting tidbit from TH's latest blog post

Melvin noted the Brewers have a "very good, young" second baseman in Eric Farris who excelled in the Arizona Fall League this year. And he indicated it was no sure thing that Lawrie would have stayed at second base, where many scouts felt he was defensively challenged.

 

"Brett is a very talented player," said Melvin. "He wasn't really penciled in at second (for the future). He can play second but he's athletic enough that we had the ability to move him to other positions, too. He can move to fit your ball club fairly quickly."

Sounds like a nice way of saying they didn't believe in him as a second baseman... and then the decision to deal him while he's still perceived as a possible second baseman makes plenty of sense.

Which meant that he was either going to be moved off 2B now so he could play at AAA which would ding his value or he would stay at 2B at AA behind Farris at AAA and ding his value.

[tomwopat]

This tweet from Rany Jazayerli has stuck in my head the most:

 

For those who

don't know, Brett Lawrie was assigned to the AFL, then was removed from

the roster because he, uh, didn't want to go. Yeah.

Is this trade and the way Gamel was handled simply a coincidence, is "sending a message" a factor of this trade, or is this just how DM rolls?

[TooLiveBrew]

NY Times baseball writer (former Yankees beat writer) Tyler Kepner on the deal:

 

"Love the Marcum-Lawrie trade for both sides, esp. Milwaukee. They need to take their shot with Fielder/Braun/etc and need pitching to do it."

[kramnoj]

Throwing 87 rather than 95 isn't an issue? It sure is when you lose 2-3 MPH on that fastball.

 

I think any pitcher losing a couple miles off their fastball would have issues if they didn't adapt. Besides, Marcum isn't in his mid 30s. He's not likely to lose that in the next 2 years.

 

I think huge injuries to pitchers arms the year before we trade for them is KIIINDA a negative and not a plus.

 

The injury is fixed. There isn't any support that I'm aware of that would justify this fear.

[Yeti73]

I love this trade, if for no other reason that it puts us in a strong position for 2011 rather than looking beyond to 2012. IF a few things go the Brewers way (Hart's and Rickie's 2010 was real, Yo/Cain/Escobar progress, Casey doesn't regress, pen sticks) they will be in the hunt the whole year. I don't think those IFs are as big as last years.

 

Great move right now, let's hope it pans out.

[Tailgat0r76]

Deadspin's Look on the Trade

[Schlitz001]

Deadspin's Look on the Trade

"On a scale of 1 to 5 tool playaz, this guy is definitely a 5" That had me laughing.

 

I do feel a little bit bad for the guy. In the interviews I've heard with him he seems like a nice kid. Who of us didn't have a 40 in our hands at one point in our teenage years. Fortunately facebook didn't exist when I was doing stupid things.