Toronto calls up Lawrie

[danzig6767]

Some people might perceive Braun and Morgan as douches if they were on an opposing team. Lawrie just seems like a cocky guy on the field with a carefree attitude off it. As far as I know he hasn't done harm to anybody (to compare him to Sheffield is ridiculous). So I'd love to still have him in Milwaukee and wish him good luck in Toronto. Just not too good of luck, otherwise we'll regret that deal down the line.

 

Had neither pitching trade been made, the Brewers could have had a pretty awesome lineup in a couple years between the likes of Braun, Weeks, Lawrie, Green, Gamel, Cain, Hart, Lucroy, Morgan, etc. The only hole would have been shortstop. And then they would have some money to spend on that position and pitching from the Prince departure and the fact that many of the aforementioned players would have been under our control for years at lower wages.

No doubt Lawrie is a damn good prospect. If he hadn't been the prospect

he is, Alex Anthopoulos wouldn't have traded us a high quality starting

pitcher with two years before reaching free agency. Starting pitchers

of Marcum's quality and two full years before free agency are very

rarely traded before a season starts. Plus, Greinke very well could have vetoed our trade for him had Marcum not been acquired previously. Are you saying you still wish the trades for Marcum/Greinke hadn't been made or no?

We exchanged the potential of a year or two of success for even more

later. So not only making the playoffs, but making a couple of runs, is

vital to justify moves. Parlaying having Greinke and Marcum under

contract into an extension for one wouldn't hurt either.

Obviously making the playoffs will be important in justifying the trades, it still bums me out that Lee signed with Philly instead of NY. It would be nice to make the playoffs and not having to face a team so good as the Phillies are.

 

One thing though that i really hope Brewers fans don't forget if we do make the playoffs, but say lose in the first round is the enjoyment of following a quality baseball team over such a long season. Unlike football which is only played once a week, with baseball being a sport played near everyday, the season can often end up being such great fun to follow or torture when your team sucks.

 

By acquiring Marcum/Greinke, it first allowed Brewers fans to have legit hope and expectations for the season. Then, even with all the inconsistent play by the team before the All-Star break, they've at least been right near the top of the division. Now with this awesome 13 out of 14 game hot stretch, it's allowed Brewers fans to watch all these games with a level of intensity that only fans of a legit playoff contender can. These last five games with St. Louis for example have had a near playoff game level of intensity and tension for me. We as fans still also have 40 plus games to watch, all of which pretty much will feel very important, whether it's to finish off the Cardinals or get the two seed to avoid Philly in the first round of the playoffs if we make there.

 

So yea, obviously making and then having success in the playoffs is important, but fans should also never forget to really really enjoy the journey to those playoffs, especially with a so many games to watch in baseball. As a Brewers fan who recently turned 40 and thus has watched countless very mediocre to very miserable Brewers seasons prior to the last few years, i make sure to greatly enjoy seasons like this one where it's August 10th, and instead of being largely bored silly by the Brewer games a month or two ago, i'm instead excited during the day waiting for the Brewers game to start. I'm full of tension during key situations in games. I actually get really mad or frustrated when we lose a close game instead of yawning. That's a damn refreshing change for me after about 20 years of mostly having little or sometimes no interest in the outcome of an August Brewers game besides maybe what a young kid did that game. Hell, my beloved Packers are coming off a Super Bowl winning season and right now at least, i'm more focused on the Brewers. Never thought that would have been possible.

[MoreTrife]

i don't miss him and my reasons are entirely personality based haha. i get that it is a stupid reason. i'm not under any illusion that all our players are great guys but none are so blatantly...obnoxious like lawrie. facebook photos and his reaction to the grand slam. his reaction was outrageous. yeah you hit a grand slam, it's a great accomplishment but he is acting like he's a football player (i like that in my football players), throwing his helmet around, yelling like a caveman. some may like that, not me.

[nate82]

i don't miss him and my reasons are entirely personality based haha. i get that it is a stupid reason. i'm not under any illusion that all our players are great guys but none are so blatantly...obnoxious like lawrie. facebook photos and his reaction to the grand slam. his reaction was outrageous. yeah you hit a grand slam, it's a great accomplishment but he is acting like he's a football player (i like that in my football players), throwing his helmet around, yelling like a caveman. some may like that, not me.

So I take it you hate Morgan and Braun also.

[TooLiveBrew]

The least he could do is see Lawrie's immediate benefit and apply the possibility to Taylor Green.

 

Sadly, that's not true (I wish it were). The least he could do is continue to do what he's done all season -- let Green hit really well in AAA & not call him up because... Casey McGehee?

 

Nice to see Lawrie hit well, but he's going to be a very good hitter for a long time imo. Ultimately I think we'll regret this one, and I have actually become a full believer in Marcum, even though I had my doubts at the time of the trade (because I hadn't seen Marcum pitch, basically).

[istanbultaye]

Based on the comments of Lawrie's reaction to hitting a grand slam, and there apparently being an HBP shortly thereafter, it made me think he hit the HR, threw his bat 50 feet, punted his helmet and yelled loud enough to be heard on camera the entire time he bunny hopped around the bases. When I watched the replay, and although he pauses for a brief moment in the batters box, his reaction looks no different than many other hitters, and probably much less than some (Pujols, Prince and Braun on occasion, others). There is no helmet tossing until he is safely in the dugout, at which point I really see no way in which his reaction could be seen as showing up a pitcher or being a goon in any way.

 

This in no way proves that he isn't some kind of jerk or whatever, but I don't think this HR can be pointed to as any deficiency in his personality. If someone did get beaned over it, then it is the opposing pitcher who was the goon in this instance.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Yeah, I had to go watch the video........and I'm just not seeing what he did so horribly. He paused, briefly, in the batters box. He pumped his fist running around the bases, and was called out of the dugout by the fans. A rookie hit a grand slam in his 5th game, what's he supposed to do......smile broadly until he gets in the clubhouse, where he's then allowed to be excited about what he did?

 

These old notions about 'how to play the game' really need to go. Some of this crap is really quite silly.

[jjfanec]

The least he could do is see Lawrie's immediate benefit and apply the possibility to Taylor Green.

 

Sadly, that's not true (I wish it were). The least he could do is continue to do what he's done all season -- let Green hit really well in AAA & not call him up because... Casey McGehee?

 

Nice to see Lawrie hit well, but he's going to be a very good hitter for a long time imo. Ultimately I think we'll regret this one, and I have actually become a full believer in Marcum, even though I had my doubts at the time of the trade (because I hadn't seen Marcum pitch, basically).

I agree for the most part. Regretting the move really depends on how we do this year. If we win or make the World Series I wont regret it one bit. If we make it to the NLCS I will be fine with it but still be disappointed if Lawrie turns out to be stud. If we dont make the playoffs or make it and go out with a whimper than I will regret it. But that also depends on what happens with Marcum in the future. If we lock him up and he continues to pitch like this for 5 years I wont care one bit how Lawrie does, if we have to trade him next year because we are out of it and next solid prospects that could be good, and if we let him walk in FA and actually hit with the draft picks than great.

 

Lots of variables for me to regret the move. Another one being does Lawrie look like Jason Heyward in year two or Ryan Braun?

[fondybrewfan]

Lawrie looked like a crazy person in that highlight. Obviously he is off to a great start but he is going to give himself a heart attack

[The Truth]

I am all for getting Shaun Marcum. He has been a huge difference this year and I doubt we'd be in first place without him.

 

One thing we will never know is: did we have to give up Lawrie to get him? I wonder if a combination of Gamel/Rivas and somebody else might've gotten it done? Or Gamel & Thornburg?

[jjfanec]

I am all for getting Shaun Marcum. He has been a huge difference this year and I doubt we'd be in first place without him.

 

One thing we will never know is: did we have to give up Lawrie to get him? I wonder if a combination of Gamel/Rivas and somebody else might've gotten it done? Or Gamel & Thornburg?

Lawrie is/was a top prospect. Rivas is nothing special. Thornburg did not have a ton of value last off-season as most people thought he was a future reliever. Gamel is solid but is much older than Lawrie and is not nearly the same prospect. I cant imagine those packages getting a pitcher of Marcum's quality.

[Invader3K]

Yeah, and Lawrie being a Canadian had extra value to the Blue Jays. I doubt they would have traded Marcum to us for anything less than him.

[chadomac]

I'm very okay with the trade no matter how good Lawrie becomes. He was just a good prospect at the time and Marcum was a proven great pitcher. Having another Dave Bush / Braden Looper / 4/5 guy instead of Marcum would probably mean we are in 2nd place in the division at this point. Love Marcum, love that we have him next year as well... love the deal no matter what.

[DuWayne Steurer]

If we get a world series, I'll never think about this trade again, except in passing.

 

If we get a deep post season run, I'll still be happy. 8 teams make the post season. Getting there is all you can ask for, after that, it's a 12.5% crap shoot.

 

If we re-sign Marcum, and he's a steady performer for 4-5 years for us, I'll be happy.

 

But I think, and this is just my opinion, the people that are deriding Lawrie for being a bit of a douche are really grasping at reasons to justify this trade. He's a young kid, who's a superlative talent. Ryan Braun is barely any different, aside from not having a photo of a beer bottle duct taped to his hand. I'm absolutely positive that every single one of us did SOMETHING when we were 20 or 21 years old that would have made someone say "my god, look at that toolbag". Most of us were probably just lucky enough to not have it photographed.

 

I suspect in the long run, that Lawrie will have more value than Marcum.....and I'm ok with that. This year and next year, Marcum was more important to the Brewers than Lawrie was, and when you're a small market team, in those 'go for it' windows that you get, sometimes you have to give up quality to get quality.

[theavrock]

People should go watch that video.

 

The guy looks like an absolutely massive tool. He's reacting like he just hit a walk off. It was a grand slam and I am sure it feels nice, but it was the 6th inning. Very different from anything I've seen Morgan or Braun do for those comparing him to either of those guys.

 

I don't take that as a reason to make or not make the trade though. I'd still do that trade every time. For now Lawrie looks great, but its a very small sample so lets just see how he does.

[joepepsi]

I suspect in the long run, that Lawrie will have more value than Marcum.....and I'm ok with that. This year and next year, Marcum was more important to the Brewers than Lawrie was, and when you're a small market team, in those 'go for it' windows that you get, sometimes you have to give up quality to get quality.

But will Lawrie have more value than Marcum as a Brewer + Green? The re-emergence of Green will make this a painless trade imho. Another reason why depth in the minors is so important.

[Tbadder]

This is one of those trades where we love it for two years and feel queasy with a bunch of "what ifs" rolling around in our stomachs for 4/5 years. It's the nature of the trade-beast. Pain-less? Impossible, but that's okay.

[patrickgpe]

well even if we don't sign Marcum, there is 2 draft picks coming our way. We all knew Lawrie could hit, we also didn't really have a position for him, even though he would be looking good at 3rd in 2012 now.

[greeg35]

Just watched the video...not that bad. I'd be at least that pumped after hitting a grand slam.

[MoreTrife]

i don't miss him and my reasons are entirely personality based haha. i get that it is a stupid reason. i'm not under any illusion that all our players are great guys but none are so blatantly...obnoxious like lawrie. facebook photos and his reaction to the grand slam. his reaction was outrageous. yeah you hit a grand slam, it's a great accomplishment but he is acting like he's a football player (i like that in my football players), throwing his helmet around, yelling like a caveman. some may like that, not me.

So I take it you hate Morgan and Braun also.

no. i don't think braun ever goes nutso like that, screaming like a madman. and morgan is a quirky kind of nuts haha. semantics maybe.

[DuWayne Steurer]

People should go watch that video.

I did. No more douchey than what Pujols does every time he hits a homerun. Prince stands and admires just about every time.

 

He hit a granny in his 5th game. He's a kid, he's jacked. I don't see how that's 'being a tool'.

[Dragonbait]

There was nothing to his GS trot or anything else there to make me think tool....

 

Its his first MLB GS, gave his team the lead.

 

I say, 'nothing to see here...... move along....'

[yoshii8]

Good for him, I can't imagine how good it feels to do something like that as a 21 year old for the team you grew up rooting for. I hope he continues to play well.

[RockCoCougars]

He's off to a heck of a start, so the second guessers could be out in force in about 2-3 years. That said, he comes as advertised- a world class d-bag.

[DuWayne Steurer]

He's off to a heck of a start, so the second guessers could be out in force in about 2-3 years. That said, he comes as advertised- a world class d-bag.

I hated Nyjer Morgan's guts.........until he was a Brewer.

 

And again, most non-Brewer fans think Ryan Braun is a pretty big douche.

 

I just don't get why everyone's so concerned about the guy being a cocky 21 year old, and why they think that has anything to do with the value of this trade.

[RockCoCougars]

He's off to a heck of a start, so the second guessers could be out in force in about 2-3 years. That said, he comes as advertised- a world class d-bag.

I hated Nyjer Morgan's guts.........until he was a Brewer.

 

And again, most non-Brewer fans think Ryan Braun is a pretty big douche.

 

I just don't get why everyone's so concerned about the guy being a cocky 21 year old, and why they think that has anything to do with the value of this trade.

Because he hasn't done a thing yet. He's now proven himself now to be a d-bag both on and off the field. I would guess that will not endear himself to his teammates down the road. There is a difference between cockiness and douchiness. Probably not a good thing he has such a big head, because he will be humbled- probably sooner than later. Will he be mature enough to deal with it?