Lawrie working out at 3B, expects to be there in spring

[tyguy20204]

Toolivebrew, Lawrie refused to go to the AFL. Could you point out to me another example of a healthy prospect refusing to go to the AFL? And furthermore, when did Braun ever do anything remotely similar? Your comparing him to Braun completely misses the mark.

 

Also keep in mind that Lawrie wanted to be a catcher and then quit when he found out that it might take some work to succeed at that position. If you look, you can find the quotes where the Brewers organization basically admits that Lawrie gave up on catching even though they felt he could've fit there. And now he moves to third base, saying that he had wanted to do it for a long time. Really? Was that before or after you claimed you wanted to become a complete catcher like Russel Martin?

 

Changing positions is fine, I have no problem with it. Maybe Lawrie truly does belong at third base. Only, it speaks to his past history of poor work ethic.

 

So why would should it be above this board to find fault with how Lawrie has conducted himself?

 

By the way, I wouldn't be surprised if Lawrie is an all-star in the future. He has all the talent in the world.

[cwolf2012]

"This makes Lawrie a tool. I don't see Braun ending up in situations like this. Braun is definitely confident, but Lawrie is truly arrogant and a tool. "

 

I would bet a pretty significant chunk of money that pictures similar to this of Braun exist somewhere. He would have still been in college when this would have happened though; not already playing AA baseball at age 20.

 

All I can say is that I hope most of you bashing him already felt this way before he was traded.

[jerichoholicninja]

Lawrie is going to end up being a corner outfielder putting up decent but not great numbers. We have no room for OK corner outfielders right now or for the next few seasons.

[nohopspanther]

I'm pretty confident that just about everyone posting in this thread has done some ridiculous stuff partying in college, hs., whatever, and it just didn't go up on a Facebook page.

 

This makes Lawrie a tool.

 

Ultimately, what 'makes' him a tool is this court of public opinion.

How many guys acted like that in college who you didn't personally view

as a complete tool while you were in college? Doing dumb things and

keeping them off facebook has nothing to do with being less of a tool,

it just keeps the knowledge of how big of a tool you are from reaching a

wider audience.

[RockCoCougars]

Defend his facebook pictures all you want, but this kid was given a 1.7 million dollar signing bonus. Because of this, I think the bar is higher for him than the average 21 year old. Switching positions twice (be it by necessity or choice), and his refusal to play in the AFL raise some serious red flags with me.

[PrinceEatMeat]

"This makes Lawrie a tool. I don't see Braun ending up in situations like this. Braun is definitely confident, but Lawrie is truly arrogant and a tool. "

 

I would bet a pretty significant chunk of money that pictures similar to this of Braun exist somewhere. He would have still been in college when this would have happened though; not already playing AA baseball at age 20.

 

All I can say is that I hope most of you bashing him already felt this way before he was traded.

I felt this way about him all along. I wanted to get rid of him because of it, and I'm glad we got a great asset like Marcum for him. Couldn't be happier about it. When you are under a professional contract you are held to a certain standard, which Lawrie doesn't live up too. Sure Braun might've partied in college, but since he's been a pro he's been nothing but professional. Good professionals don't act like complete tools like Lawrie does. There's obviously plenty of others like him, but those aren't guys I want on this team.

[MJLiverock]

Wow pretty harsh crowd if some stupid picture makes you decide someone has an attitude or is a "tool". I wonder how many of you have pictures in the past where if looked upon now would be viewed as "toolish". If you have a picture with a mullett or beside your Camaro or passed out in college or any number of youthful idiocy then I guess I would call you a tool as well only I just don't see anything wrong with the picture. Maybe if there was a pic like that every week but one pic or even a couple? Nah.

[davemakovec]

I can say for certain that I was a tool in college, and for a couple of years after college. At least, I did things that would get me branded a tool by people who didn't know me.

 

That said, I would love to still have someone with those bat skills still in the minor league system. As long as he's not a Gary Sheffield-caliber tool, I'm willing to accept some tooliness.

[RockCoCougars]

I can say for certain that I was a tool in college, and for a couple of years after college. At least, I did things that would get me branded a tool by people who didn't know me.

 

That said, I would love to still have someone with those bat skills still in the minor league system. As long as he's not a Gary Sheffield-caliber tool, I'm willing to accept some tooliness.

I've seen a couple of comparisons to Sheffield. Frankly, one of the major problems with him was just the opposite of Lawrie, in that he did not want to switch positions from shortstop. Going further, the Brewers let him play with a broken foot, and he had some other fairly legitimate gripes with how he was handled when he first came up. As for Lawrie, it seems that the team bent over backwards to accommodate him. Finally, Sheffield showed much more potential with the stick at a young age. Like Prince, he was tearing up the minors at 19- hitting .327 with 28 homers and 119 RBI's and a .974 OPS at the AA and AAA levels. As I've said, Lawrie was pretty average playing low A ball at the same age. At any rate, Sheffield had accomplished much more than Lawrie has at the same age. Lawrie has a reputation as a big time prospect, but I guess I'm just not seeing it based on his performance thus far in his pro career.

[TheCrew07]

I think many of you are getting caught up in the player comparison and missing the point. As a couple of people have pointed out, when Braun was 20 he was in college, not in AA, certainly much more sheltered than a Lawrie is, and I also have no doubt that similar pictures of Braun exist. No one is saying that Braun made all the same mistakes that Lawrie has, or Lawrie will be viewed similarly to Sheffield. What we are saying is that when you read interviews of the 2 players, they come across in a similar manner, and how they are viewed for saying nearly exact same things depends solely on the perspective of the person who's making the judgments. Is the player arrogant or confident? I think a player's production ultimately makes that determination for the public as a whole. I know a couple of professional athletes personally, enough to know that one isn't able to compete in professional sports if they don't have a swagger about them, which many people mistake for arrogance.

 

I'm not sure Braun was immediately "a great teammate" either, I recall a print story about his maturation in the clubhouse as well. He made an error in the field, came into the dugout and tried to excuse it away, but Fielder was having none of that and let him have it. Everyone knows Braun is talented, but I bet every other fan base in the central feels the same way about Braun as we do about Puljos, or any other "showman" in the division. We respect their talent, but don't care for them at all.

 

I have no doubt that Lawrie is immature, has growing up to do, and may never fulfill his potential, but I also don't think he's beyond redemption. I've sat across from him at T-Rats games and eavesdropped on his

conversations and watched him sign dozen of autographs for fans, he didn't come off as an egotistical jerk in person. I think the whole C issue is being blown out of proportion, many of us didn't see him as a C, and he certainly didn't take to it during instructs. He's athletic enough he could realistically play anywhere on the diamond, and his bat speed was very impressive in person. If you read what I wrote in the MiLB forum you know I thought he was athletic enough to play 2B but I always through him into the conversation as a potential 3B/OF as well. Part of the problem with the Brewer system has been that it takes them way too long to find homes for our more talented young men defensively, so they end up playing out of position for far too long, like using Brantley as a 1B/DH to get him ABs when he clearly had no future at that position, but that's another topic entirely.

[BREWCREW5]

Lawrie looks like a criminal in that photo.

[TooLiveBrew]

I think the whole C issue is being blown out of proportion, many of us didn't see him as a C, and he certainly didn't take to it during instructs.

 

And, iirc, playing/trying catcher was Brett's idea, as he thought it would be the quickest path to the bigs. When he realized he wasn't a good fit there, he changed up. Hardly something to hold against a player.

[Flood Pants]

This makes Lawrie a tool. I don't see Braun ending up in situations like this. Braun is definitely confident, but Lawrie is truly arrogant and a tool.

I think it takes more than a game of Edward 40-Hands to fairly declare somebody a tool.

[RockCoCougars]

Tool or not, I like the deal. The last time that the Brewers traded a 'can't miss' 20 year old for veteran pitching, they gave up the 'next Roberto Clemente' as the key piece of the Fingers/Vuckovich/Simmons deal. David Green turned out to be a complete flop- he hadn't had any jaw dropping stats to that point in the minors (actually quite similar to Lawrie to this point), but he had all the 'tools'. In my opinion, it's nice that the Brewers are actually trading prospects to compete as opposed to vice-versa.

[flosses like fossas]

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who ever heard of playing Edward 40s hands with only one 40? This kid is just getting soft treatment on every level. Clearly.

[RobDeer 45]

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who ever heard of playing Edward 40s hands with only one 40? This kid is just getting soft treatment on every level. Clearly.

Hahaha. Ya apparently he's not only a tool but a huge Sally! hahaha. Love it

 

 

[GAME05]

if he was Elijah Dukes v.2.0 then i'd quickly say good riddance, but if he's just immature/idiot/jerk, then i don't think it does. a certain amount of arrogance seems like a necessary tool to succeed in professional sports.

[Bombers]

tool or no tool ... guy is doing well at the start of spring training with a line of 27 AB / 2 HR / .370 AVG / .393 OBP / .667 SLG

[Ennder]

tool or no tool ... guy is doing well at the start of spring training with a line of 27 AB / 2 HR / .370 AVG / .393 OBP / .667 SLG

That line screams needs more time in the minors to me. He basically isn't walking at all and you can live without walks for a small sample but it will catch up to you eventually.

[trwi7]

That line screams needs more time in the minors to me. He basically isn't walking at all and you can live without walks for a small sample but it will catch up to you eventually.

Casey McGehee needs time in the minors too. .276/.300/.724 with 1 BB in 30 at bats.

[davemakovec]

Casey McGehee has a proven major league record. Brett Lawrie does not.

[YoungGeezy]

tool or no tool ... guy is doing well at the start of spring training with a line of 27 AB / 2 HR / .370 AVG / .393 OBP / .667 SLG

That line screams needs more time in the minors to me. He basically isn't walking at all and you can live without walks for a small sample but it will catch up to you eventually.

 

 

Ha I can't even take this serious. Not saying he couldnt still use time in minors but to say he is not ready because in 27 at bats he only has one walk. How many walks are required in 27 AB to be ready for the majors? 2? 3? 27? Give a guy more that a weeks worth of ab's to say he is not walking at all

[TooLiveBrew]

Yeah, and I can definitely see Lawrie (who some feel hasn't proven himself since he doesn't have any gaudy MiLB slash lines) wanting to take the approach of just driving the snot out of the ball, which he's done so far. For financial reasons, I doubt the Jays have him on their opening day 25-man, but I bet they'll call him up around May or so, if they think he's ready, in order to squeeze out an extra season of salary control.

 

Besides, Lawrie hasn't had problematic BB rates thus far in the minors. He hasn't been Rickey Henderson part II or anything, but nothing that raises a red flag.

[Mass Haas]

The ease in which Lawrie has settled into third has been one of the more pleasant developments of the spring for the Jays

“He sure has,” Tony LaCava, the Jays assistant general manager and vice-president of baseball operations replied when asked if Lawrie is surprising people with how well he is adapting to the new position. “He’s showed the ability to make the above-average play, which is interesting. That gives him a chance to be better than average.

“An average fielder should make average plays. The work will come with him when he has to make the routine plays, when he gets to make all of them and makes them regularly and becomes consistent with that. He has also shown the ability to make the above-average play which is really exciting. So, he’s exceeding our expectations defensively so far.”

How so?

“He’s doing some things at third base that some guys never ever do,” LaCava said. “Some times when he’s deep and gets an in-between hop, he knows to play through it instead of laying back and getting eaten up. He’s aggressive by nature and at times that’s how you have to play third base. It’s a reactive position and I think he has the skill sets to do it.”

Full article link

[Ennder]

tool or no tool ... guy is doing well at the start of spring training with a line of 27 AB / 2 HR / .370 AVG / .393 OBP / .667 SLG

That line screams needs more time in the minors to me. He basically isn't walking at all and you can live without walks for a small sample but it will catch up to you eventually.

 

 

Ha I can't even take this serious. Not saying he couldnt still use time in minors but to say he is not ready because in 27 at bats he only has one walk. How many walks are required in 27 AB to be ready for the majors? 2? 3? 27? Give a guy more that a weeks worth of ab's to say he is not walking at all

It is as valid as saying he is ready because of 27 AB which was my point. All that stat line is really is a couple HR and some BABIP, doesn't really prove anything. When I look at spring training numbers it is all about K and BB for me, if they aren't showing something in plate discipline I can't find any meaning in the stats at all, even the discipline stats aren't that important but they sure mean more than hits. His stats have gone down since that first post and his actual stat line looks better to me now, curbed the K some and added a BB instead of just some random singles most likely off of mistake pitches.