Lawrie: I'm finished with the minors

[dagger]

I thought this window into the kid's soul is so interesting, I didn't want to bury it at the end of that 30-plus-page trade thread.

Got to say, the kid has huge stones.

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2010/12/ ... s-behind/I

It was his first season in double-A, and even though it appears the Blue Jays have no immediate spot for him at the major-league level, Lawrie insists he will make the jump in 2010.

“I have a lot of trust in myself, a lot of trust in my ability,” he said. “I’m going to go into big league spring training, do my thing. I’m as ready as I’ve ever been.

“I had pressure playing double-A this year, skipping high single-A, and I proved people wrong. I’ve proved that all along.”

If the Blue Jays decide he’s not ready, that his suspect defence (25 errors last season in 131 games) needs more work or that they want the former catcher to work at third base or the outfield, is he ready mentally to spend another season in the minors?

“No,” Lawrie said emphatically. “I don’t want to do that. It’s not even in my mind right now. I’m not thinking about triple-A, double-A, rookie ball whatever. For me, it’s just about playing major-league baseball.”

[bimmer]

^ Link sends me to Mourinho article...

While I admire his confidence, I hope this doesn't mean he'll be moaning and sulking if he does get left behind (more than likely).

[rarefind]

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2010/12/07/lawrie-ready-to-leave-minor-leagues-behind/

oh boy, this may get ugly then. going by aa, the consensus is that he needs more time in the minors. i admire his confidence, but quite frankly at his age you don't say such. I'm worried that his own inflated perspective of his game won't hurt his development in the long run. The correct answer would have been to mention he needs work to his defensive game, not "an emphatic no" at the thought of remaining in the minors.

[guvernator]

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2010/12/07/lawrie-ready-to-leave-minor-leagues-behind/

oh boy, this may get ugly then. going by aa, the consensus is that he needs more time in the minors. i admire his confidence, but quite frankly at his age you don't say such. I'm worried that his own inflated perspective of his game won't hurt his development in the long run. The correct answer would have been to mention he needs work to his defensive game, not "an emphatic no" at the thought of remaining in the minors.

Thanks PC Police.
There is nothing wrong with confidence. He was the best player in his league at age 20 playing against guys 2-3-4 years older than him. I've no problem with him believing that he is ready and wanting to start in the majors right away. It just means that he will be motivated when sent down to AAA and will probably tear the PCL pitchers a new one.

[rarefind]

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2010/12/07/lawrie-ready-to-leave-minor-leagues-behind/

oh boy, this may get ugly then. going by aa, the consensus is that he needs more time in the minors. i admire his confidence, but quite frankly at his age you don't say such. I'm worried that his own inflated perspective of his game won't hurt his development in the long run. The correct answer would have been to mention he needs work to his defensive game, not "an emphatic no" at the thought of remaining in the minors.

Thanks PC Police.
There is nothing wrong with confidence. He was the best player in his league at age 20 playing against guys 2-3-4 years older than him. I've no problem with him believing that he is ready and wanting to start in the majors right away. It just means that he will be motivated when sent down to AAA and will probably tear the PCL pitchers a new one.

hmm, okay.

anyway, there is a fundamental gap between a player who oozes confidence and the manner in which the post angles it's story on lawrie. he is not good defensively by any stretch, and he fails to acknowledge this. as i said prior, as you must have ignored - i admire his confidence, but quite frankly at his age you don't say such. I'm worried that his own inflated perspective of his game won't hurt his development in the long run.

the problem is more to the fact that lawrie feels major league ready when he should be more focused on the holes in his game. i love player confidence as much as the next guy, but there is a key difference in this situation and it is really hard to argue otherwise.

[OldNo7]

Well, now we get a glimpse of the reason the Brewers were willing to part with him. It will be interesting to see his reaction when he gets Subbaned.

[YogiStewart]

from the FAN590 interview with AA:

"Brett's someone that we've been trying to acquire for a long time. After I got the job last year, he was one of the players that we targeted. He was a 19-year-old athletic player that could run, throw, power, plays the game as hard as anybody that you're going to see and will rip your heart out to win," Anthopoulos told the Fan.

putting that quote into context, there is nothing wrong with it.

[luvtheteam]

Given the 'party all night' type photos we've seen of him, and given that our AAA team is in Las Vegas, it shows you where his heart really is.

[spykelee]

Meh, it isn't like he's going to demand a trade when he doesn't crack the big club. I have no problem with his outlook. Frankly I wish we had more guys with that kind of swagger.

and a 20 year old that likes to party? Say it ain't so...

[LBJSeizedMyID]

Yeah, a 20 year old kid will demand a trade. C'mon. I see a 20 year old kid who wants to do well in Spring Training and make it hard for AA to send Lawrie down. Nothing wrong with a guy that oozes confidence.

[Hoopstarr]

I love this idea of having a cocky Canadian dirtbag on the team, just to mess with all the people expecting him to behave a certain way

[BasketballAbyss]

It's cool that he really wants to make the big leagues, and he's confident that he can, but let's not ignore his maturity issues. When the Brewers assigned him to play in the Arizona Fall League, he refused to go. Let's hope he doesn't do something similar if he doesn't make the big club after spring training.

[Raptorsrock]

I love this idea of having a cocky Canadian dirtbag on the team, just to mess with all the people expecting him to behave a certain way

I agree. I'm ok with a little bit of crazy. As long as he plays hard and well I don't what he does off the field

[Jatt]

M'eh, a couple AB's in Spring Training vs Romero's stuff as well as Morrow's and he'll realize he needs to work on some things that may not have been apparent while in the minors.

[torontoaces04]

This guy really does remind me of PK Subban, and not in a good way.

BTW, he is engaged to Sydney Leroux. She's pretty sexy so I can't hate.

[Komodo]

How many games can he play before it takes out one of his arbitration years?

[ItsDanger]

Lawrie is in for one huge wakeup call. Not like he hit .350 or something.

[dagger]

Lawrie is in for one huge wakeup call. Not like he hit .350 or something.

In case you think that after a good night's sleep he decided to tone down his comment, think again. The guy either has big balls or is going to be a big headache.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/b ... le1829957/

Brett Lawrie has already broken the news to Toronto Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos.

He's through with the minor leagues and is making the team out of spring training.

“Yeah, if he doesn't know it then he should have known it when he was picking me,” the newly acquired prospect says from Los Angeles, where he was visiting fiancée Sydney Leroux, a forward on UCLA's soccer team. “He told me he didn't get me because he wants me to play in the minor leagues, so that obviously tells me he wants me to be in the big leagues. Traded for a big-league starter, what can I say?

[darth_federer]

I think the reporter got the quotes the same day the post reporter did. He was in Los Angeles at the time too

[DonYon]

there's a fine line between wanting to be at the ML vs. complaining about being in the minors.

I'm actually not sure if this guy's crossing the line or not... I guess we'll see once he gets assigned.