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When Milwaukee Brewers general manager Doug Melvin began talking about trading top prospect Brett Lawrie to the Toronto Blue Jays, he didn't envision coming away with an established major-league pitcher.

"They wanted to give us prospects for Lawrie," Melvin recalled. "This came as a little bit of a surprise to us to be able to acquire someone of Shaun Marcum's ability.

"We felt if we could get someone of his caliber, we were willing to do that."

On his 29th birthday, Marcum was introduced Tuesday afternoon at a media session at Miller Park. After nearly five years in Toronto, the Kansas City native said it was "a dream come true" to be dealt to a team in the Midwest at the outset of the winter meetings.

"I'm going to go out there and battle and compete and give this organization a chance to win," said Marcum, who went 13-8 with a 3.64 earned run average in 31 starts for Toronto last season.

"You come here and see the atmosphere, the fan support, the players here. It's an opportunity I'm looking forward to."

Marcum was asked how it felt to escape the American League East Division.

"A lot better now that Boston went out and did what they did," said Marcum, referring to the acquisitions of Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford. "That division is a tough division, day in and day out.

"When you're in a division like that, you can't go out there and just throw. You've got to learn how to pitch. That's one thing I was able to do there."

With the free-agent market both pricey and thin, Melvin said he figured it would take a trade to get an established starting pitcher.

"We feel he can fit in at the top of our rotation," Melvin said. "It's something we really needed. We haven't been able to fill the spots of Ben Sheets and CC (Sabathia) since they left (after 2008).

"I've heard nothing but great things after we made the trade, from former (teammates) and general managers, about the competitive spirit he has when he steps out on the mound. He was one of the top pitchers in the American League last year with an ERA in the 3s, and that's something we haven't had.

kelso wrote:Awesome pitcher and seems like a great gut to have around. He will be missed in Toronto and I wish him all the best in the National League.

hyper316 wrote:those are empty words from marcum. i bet he would rather stay in toronto or go to a big market team. who would want to go to milwaukee?

YogiStewart wrote:

hyper316 wrote:those are empty words from marcum. i bet he would rather stay in toronto or go to a big market team. who would want to go to milwaukee?

no, i really believe the dude is sincerely happy to be going to Milwaukee.
you don't hear that often.

"Me and Masai and Josh are all on the same page right now,'' Anthony said. "If anything was to happen (with a trade), I don't think that they would ship me to the Kansas City Royals or anything like that. That's just my take on it. I don't know. They might be thinking something different.''

J-Roc wrote:Speaking of long rebuilding processes, this quote from Carmelo Anthony made me laugh....

"Me and Masai and Josh are all on the same page right now,'' Anthony said. "If anything was to happen (with a trade), I don't think that they would ship me to the Kansas City Royals or anything like that. That's just my take on it. I don't know. They might be thinking something different.''

Like honestly, that's harsh when your organization is referred to in that manner, and by someone from a different sport!

torontoaces04 wrote:Truly a workhouse for the Jays last season. Not overpowering by any means, but extremely effective. Reminded me of a poor-mans Greg Maddux.

sci96krusty wrote:I was never sold on Marcum. I just didn't feel he had the stuff to be a 1 or a 2. Now he did post decent numbers last year, but it seems to me he got a lot of run support (too lazy to look it up). We would have had to pay him big money because we had made him our opening day starter meanwhile I think RR is as good a pitcher and we just locked him up at end of the rotation money. Good move AA (as long as Lawrie isnt a bust).

Msgrv32 wrote:

sci96krusty wrote:I was never sold on Marcum. I just didn't feel he had the stuff to be a 1 or a 2. Now he did post decent numbers last year, but it seems to me he got a lot of run support (too lazy to look it up). We would have had to pay him big money because we had made him our opening day starter meanwhile I think RR is as good a pitcher and we just locked him up at end of the rotation money. Good move AA (as long as Lawrie isnt a bust).

Well I believe you are wrong about Marcum and here is why:

1) He may not have the overpowering stuff of an Ace but Marcum has the potential to win 17-20 games. He's going to consistently throw about 200 innings so you want him near the top of the rotation. He has pin point control and can strike guys out with his stuff... even though he pitches to contact.

2) You are too lazy to look it up, but his ERA alone over his Jays career should set your mind at ease. Here we have a guy consistenly under 4 with his era and all you can say is 'well he got run support'

3) You think we would have ended up paying Marcum 10 million a season? I doubt it, in fact we'd likely pay him somewhere around what we are paying Ricky Romero. It would be a shorter deal as well because he's older. Marcum wouldn't have broken the bank. Opening day starter means almost nothing... possibly less than nothing. Just look our Opening Day starter from this last season is now pitching in..... wait for it....... WAIT FOR IT!!!!!

Milwak...

yeah.

J Dilla wrote:AA shoudlve traded Marcum AFTER getting Grienke. This one will hurt us big time.

Avenger wrote:

J Dilla wrote:AA shoudlve traded Marcum AFTER getting Grienke. This one will hurt us big time.

wait what? The trade is gonna hurt us because we got the best prospect Lawrie from Milwaukee before they had a chance to trade him for Grienke?