In a surprising move, the White Sox announced on Friday that they’ve requested release waivers on infielder Brett Lawrie. Assuming Lawrie clears waivers — a fair bet, given his $3.5MM salary for the 2017 season — he’ll become a free agent upon clearing in 48 hours. The Sox, it should be noted, won’t be on the hook for the entirety of that salary. Arbitration contracts aren’t fully guaranteed until Opening Day, so the Sox will only be on the hook for about one-sixth of that salary (30 days’ termination pay) — or about $574K.
The 27-year-old Lawrie made MLBTR’s list of non-tender candidates back in early December on the heels of a poor first year with the South Siders. The ChiSox, though, elected to tender him a contract and Lawrie agreed to take an extremely rare arbitration pay cut (he earned $4.125MM in 2016) in order to avoid being cut loose. Acquired from Oakland last winter, Lawrie hit .248/.310/.413 with a dozen homers. Park-adjusted metrics like OPS+ (99) and wRC+ (92) thought his offense ranged anywhere from about league average to eight percent below the output of an average hitter.
Though Lawrie is a more experienced third baseman than second baseman, Chicago played him at second last season due to the acquisition of Todd Frazier. Defensive metrics weren’t kind to Lawrie in the largest single-season sample of work he’s received at second base, with Defensive Runs Saved pegging him at -4 and Ultimate Zone Rating pegging him at -5.5 runs.
A former first-round pick (16th overall by the Brewers in 2008), Lawrie once rated as one of baseball’s very best prospects and appeared poised to deliver on that hype upon debuting as a 21-year-old rookie in 2011. In that debut campaign with the Blue Jays — Milwaukee traded him to Toronto in exchange for Shaun Marcum in 2010 — Lawrie tallied 171 plate appearances and turned in a robust .293/.373/.580 batting line with nine homers and seven steals. His sophomore campaign wasn’t nearly that impressive, but he showed promise by hitting .273/.324/.405 as a 22-year-old. Since that time, though, his offensive output has never really taken off. And, in recent years, Lawrie has gone from a very low 15.4 percent strikeout rate to a lofty 28.4 percent mark in 2016.
Wtf?
bring him back to TOR, release either Upton or Smoak
Ok – so put Lawrie in the OF or 1B where he doesn’t have any experience with?
Why are people so angry on the comments on this site?
Stupidity is a trigger for most and causes them to react quickly with concise and educated responses. Not all are prepared for it.
Angry? Far from it. Lawrie has never played in the OF or 1B, so why would the Jays need him?. The Jays have better utility players to play in the infield.
I’m not angry.. Actually I hoped he would make it. I was just pointing out that
he played to the extreme which caused him injuries and off the four seasons with the jays he never managed to play a full season without being on the dl once or two for extended periods and for a 3rd baseman he wasn’t hitting the way they hoped he would. Hence the reasons why the Jays traded him,
And in an interview when he went to Chicago he said he realized he was playing to hard and resulting in injuries that he was going to tone it down a notch.
I think he will make a decent utility infield 3rd, ss and 2nd. I don’t know if he can play 1st or not
Don’t pay any attention to what Lawrie says, he’s full of excrement.
I like that and idea of Tor cutting Upton and Tigers can sign him to league minimum and play CF!
Let’s say they bring him back and cut ties with Smoak. That would allow the Jays to move the defensively poor Bautista into a 1B/DH platoon and use Pompey/Cecilani/Pearce. The same options exist if they dropped Upton. Either way it would open a 40 man roster spot up. Not a terrible idea though.
Yes good idea that could work out what would he bat in the lineup
San Diego is paying almost all of Upton’s salary. Jays are keeping him around. Smoak should never have been resigned last year. I’ve found Atkins has made some shrewd moves but that one left me scratching my head.
Right cut Smoak who can play 1st base as his normal position and put Bautista (who has never played 1st there).
Bautista may not be the defensive RF he was 5 years ago but he still does a good job out there. Last years injuries were not an age issue they were freak accidents and he still hits very well.
Don’t forget Pearse can play 1st base and wouldn’t be surprised to see them trade for one.
Sad as it is Lawrie’s days have come and gone. He was just one of those players who was hyped as a potential star but never shone.
Don’t think you’ll see that move happen. Jays let Saunders go, he played decent left field but after the all star break his hitting went right in the toilet. Upton gives them some stability in LF until they can determine if Pompey is a keeper or time to cur him lose.
S moak should play in Korea maybe
Not only NO, but HELL NO! Oakland dumped him for a couple of mediocre arms, and now Chicago can’t wait to get rid of him. There’s a reason.
And play him where. He’s never played 1st or the outfield. They brought smoak back because the other 1st baseman gets himself suspended for most of last season for drug violation. So you knew he was gone , past history with the Jays you screw up like that your gone. Example Escarbar and the eye black.
But he’s pretty good, I get that their rebuilding, but he’s a young talent
He’s not young or good…
I’d be thrilled to have a 26-year old, 15+ WAR utility infielder with some speed and pop in their bat on my team for cheap.
This is where f-WAR and b-WAR have a difference of opinion.
9.7 career f-WAR
15.2 career b-WAR
That being said, he’s good enough to be the starting 2B (or 3B) on most non-competitive teams (e.g. the White Sox).
So it makes me wonder why they didn’t keep him around as a bench player.
Is there something regarding his attitude?
Yes, he’s a clubhouse cancer. It was well documented in Oakland.
He’s still hurt, This way they also save money on most his agreed upon salary.
I’m a Brewers fan and I remember when they traded him. He was a clubhouse cancer who always thought he was all that and a bag of chips. Too much ego, the Brewers were glad they got rid of him
Problem is, very few use the newly discovered ahole-WAR. Lawrie is one of the leaders in this new WAR at -162. You hope someone can see past it but teams are picking up quickly on this new WAR formula. It can be tightened up by spending a year or two in the minors. We shall see.
Not true he was no cancer for the White Sox but there ready for there new 2b man this is his time
Lawrie has not played since July and has a mysterious leg injury. No word on when he might play either. End of story.
sorry @thebare but I can’t believe anything from someone that uses “there” improperly TWICE in the same sentence lol
Hahahahaha
He was in his last year of club control
Also, only one year of control left.
Wow
This is strange…ideal player for almost any team.
For any team that wants a bad player. Why are people surprised by this?
Because in the story they referred to him as a former top prospect..some people think being a top prospect makes them a lock for stardom!
The fact that he was released and not traded means something. Sox are rebuilding so one would assume they shopped him first. The fact that he is being released means no other team was willing to give up even a low level prospect for him. Also he has had lots of injuries so not only is he not that good he is not very reliable.
Exactly.
That’s quite a sudden development. Has to be an interesting story behind the scenes for CWS to so abruptly hit the eject button.
He insisted on having his son in the clubhouse.
Haha
come back to Toronto as a utility man? probably not but would make a neat story.
Yeah, I would love to see him come back to Toronto as a utility guy, too. I seriously doubt it’ll happen, but it would be cool to have him back.
Jays have several utility infield options who are much better defenders and SS-capable. I wouldn’t mind a minor deal at all, but I don’t see any room on the 25 man roster for another 2B/3B.
Travis may be injured to start the season and I’m not sure the Jays want to expose Barney/Goins for a month.
I agree.
Toronto is probably last on his list. The media throttled him on his way out and he hasn’t been too kind to the team in his own right.
Doesn’t matter what he thinks. The Jays have better utility players more suited and proven as back ups.
Wow. $3.5m for a one year commitment to a league average-ish infielder. Someone’s gonna jump on that. Really surprised they couldn’t get anything at all for him in a trade.
Anyone who signs him is free to negotiate a contract with him. The $3.5m is out of play now
Unless they claim him from the waiver wire
Not until he clears waivers
either he’s crazy injured or a total jerk in the clubhouse. or both. definitely both. Tyler Saladino’s mustache and the artist formerly known as Carlos Sanchez will hold it down til the cuban phenom is ready
He’s awful in the clubhouse. That’s the main reason Oakland gave him away after one year.
eh, i mean i’m sure he’s not great in the clubhouse by any means (he’s a giant can of RedBull with arms and legs), but I don’t think he’s inherently a bad dude. just seems to rub everyone the wrong way.
Exactly right. He’s not Billy Butler or Danny Valencia. He’s just bad with people and annoying to everyone. He needs to become a Buddhist or something, get into not talking.
Remember the incident in Toronto where he got pissed at Adam Lind for not tagging?
Seems like a classic case of a guy with all the physical tools but lacks the mental tools to succeed. He’ll probably be out of baseball for a year, play in the Indy League, get himself together, and come back when he’s 30 to be relatively productive for a contender for a few seasons before retiring.
Guessing a bit of both too. Injury-prone and a bit of a d in the clubhouse.
He’s not a d, he’s just annoying. He might be “on the spectrum” if you know what I’m sayin….
Really? Come on that’s uncalled for.
Why? There’s nothing wrong with that. Much like every player who is on ADD meds, its something that can be fixed.
Whtie Sox? Spell check
He’s been having injury issues and Yolmer Sanchez is out of options.
Something crazy had to have happened behind the scenes for them to do this. Did he let Adam LaRoche’s kid into the clubhouse or something?
Lol
Bret lawri has always been a major ahole, its common knowledge. Everybody knows he a total jerk and they don’t want him around anymore. He isn’t good enough to justify keeping around such an evil person who makes everybody angry. Management can only put up with so much before the hammer comes down. It’s time for Lawrie to face the music.
Obviously stepped on someone’s toes!
Right when you think the Sox finally have all of the drama and idiocy under control, Kenny Williams strikes again, like a ninja.
Maybe they want Moncada to step in and start right away
Nope, not related. Moncada is clearly not ready. Lawrie is just bad and is awful in the clubhouse. Plus the Sox save a few million bucks.
He was a horrible defender and not a good clubhouse guy but he was league-average”ish” with that bat. There are much worse 2nd basemen in the league than him
So he hurts the team on defense, doesn’t help them on offense, and he hurts the team in the clubhouse. You really think there are much worse 2nd baseman in the league than him?
Interesting. Wonder what brought this about. Salary dump?
Doubt it. Sox are cheap, but he wasn’t exactly breaking the bank.
Wouldn’t upset me at all if Yankees pick him up for 3B on the cheap and finally get rid of Headly. Fingers crossed.
Yeah, release headly, who has played over 140 games six out of seven seasons for a guy who can’t stay on the field. Damn, people make some dummmmb comments on here.
Can see the “other Sox” take a flyer on him to compete with Josh Rutledge as a right handed back up infielder. Still not convinced Panda is the real deal for 2017.
Some people smoke and post..for that comment I hope so!
Again. Why are people so angry on this site?
You can’t have a discussion anywhere on the internet without angry people who are consumed by their own ego showing up.
It would upset me! You don’t need someone like that around the kids. And who are you going to release to sign him?
Have you ever watched Lawrie play? i know little to nothing about Headley but ill guarantee you he’s not as much of a clown as Lawrie. He never takes his ADHD meds even though doctors & his family insist he be medicated.He screwed up his Knees from wearing crap foot orthotics; why did it take him so long to figure out the orthotics didnt feel good. this is the best sox news i’ve heard all year. nobody would give Rick an Italian B.M.T. for him huh no surprise there. Gonna miss Brett swinging like he’s Sammy Sosa when he’s 5’6″ 130 lbs. Anyone takes a flyer on him is gonna wish they didn’t. Doesn’t have it b/w the ears
Kind of a jerk move after he took a pay cut just so this wouldn’t happen. Surprised they couldn’t find a taker for a low-level prospect or something.
This guy has Mets written all over him.
Do the Mets have room for another 2B/3B option? David Wright is a question mark obviously but they’ve got Reyes, Cabrera, Flores, and Neil Walker to cover three positions. I don’t see any of those guys being pushed aside for Lawrie.
Try to pull a Chris Sale and cut up the day’s uniforms before warm ups?
Why are people surprised by this? He’s not good, not young anymore, and a cancer in the clubhouse. Oakland shipped him out of town for essentially no return after only one season cause they hated him so much.
He is Injury prone… they have to much young talent behind him for them to keep and there contracts are much smaller … he was good but not worth to keep a contract for a guy who don’t play
So if he’s bad enough to clear waivers why is it surprising that he is getting cut?
Can see ownership perceiving value to save 3mil since some other vet salaries likely can’t be shed thru trade before Opening Day like Frazier/Melky. Didn’t help that Lawrie internally got reputation for having to be at or near 100% to play.
he was going to replaced by Moncada anyway
Not this year, certainly not at the start of it. Moncada may not be ready to take over full-time until 2018.
They tendered him with the hope/expectation of trading him. There were no takers at $3.5M. Simply a $500k+ bet that didn’t pan out. Sox doing him a solid, they save $3M and are closer to completing their quest for the #1 draft pick.
Angels go grab him quick!!!
And play him where? They got a log jam at first and third. And they have decent depth for second and short.
Funny everyone who says “he’s a locker room cancer” or “he’s terrible in the clubhouse” but couldn’t be further from a MLB locker room on any given day.
People discussing something despite not experiencing it personally? Wow! How unusual!
How do you know this though? I thought there were plenty of MLB players who posted on here anonymously???
Lots of GIFs available out there of teammates’ reactions Lawrie’s craziness. Quality one of Frazier shouldering past him and Abreu pushing him away and extending his arms motioning to calm the heck down and back-off after a HR.
You dont have to have been in a locker room to know what goes on in a locker room. People talk.
I was never in the ’78 yankees locker room but I know it was a madhouse… you don’t have to experience something to know something about it.
It’s about time someone sat Lawrie down and told him as bluntly as possible, that he is the most annoying man in MLB.
I guess that’s true since Swish is retired now
Smart move.
He wasn’t building any trade value on the DL, Salad can start at 2B, and Yolmer was out of options.
Sox also save $3mil for Luis Robert!
Perhaps Sox are mad because he blames his lingering physical issues to using orthotics. I.E. he hurt himself by doing dumb stuff to his own body. Maybe he will lose that stupid mouth guard in the process…
He probably wears it bcause so many guys want to punch him in the mouth constantly. Lawrie knows he needs to protect his teeth from having someone knock them out with a good punch.
I was thinking the plan would be to, at some point, trade Frazier, move Lawrie to 3rd, bring up Moncada to 2nd. Who plays 3rd in a Frazier trade, or even 2nd now, Saladino/Sanchez?
Sox have a few years to figure all that out. Their rebuild is 3 months old.
There’s actually alot of depth, not quality depth, but plain depth per se. They have Frazier, Davidson & Saladino to play 3rd. At 2nd their options are Saladino, Sanchez, Leury Garcia or MiLB Everth Cabrera. Would have been nice to get something for Lawrie but it makes total sense to give the much cheaper guys some playing time this year.
Angels should sign him and Derek Norris if Washington releases him
this is a player that would be very smart to sign on with the Pirates if he want to resurrect his career
No F-ing way! Keep him off the Pirates! No room on that team for the likes of him.
Pirates have way better guys then him.
Frazier, Gosselin, Harrison, Kang, Hanson, Bostick, etc. are all FAR better baseball talents and more skilled, (as well as better human beings than Bret Lawrie).
Not sure I would presently include Kang in the list of upstanding citizens.
Kang? The guy with three DUIs and a pendisng sexual assault case? Hmmm…
Good Move!
A few weeks ago, I was trying to think of a possible scenario where he could be included in a Robertson to Nats swap to add some depth to their bench in case Zimmerman got hurt with Lawrie at second with Murphy going to 1B. That was before they signed Lind though. Lobaton/Norris (C), Lind (1B), Lawrie (2B/3B), Drew (SS only!) and say Pagan (OF) (I kicked that idea around the other day) would be a pretty good bench.
Pirates go get him and cut Kang, let Kang be someone else’s problem.
Kant will be playing for the Illinois penal system!
Is it categorically imperative that he plays for them?
Kang is 100 times a better person and 1000 times a better player than bret lawrie will ever be, even in his dreams.
Are you joking? I’ll take the crazy asshat over the 3 time drunk driving guy with a pending sexual assault case. On the field I don’t disagree though at 3rd his defense numbers are better than Kang and he’s 2 years younger than Kang. I’d rather not have the nightmare that is Kangs immaturity hanging over a young team.
Giants should jump on him, move Nuñez to LF
Moncada must be turning some heads in camp.
Liked that vibrant, up-beat, competitive style in had while with Oakland. A’s heads up!
At least they didn’t trade Josh Donaldson for him or anything.
Josh Donaldson was traded for Franklin Barreto and Kendall Graveman and NO ONE ELSE!!! haha
Also: Shelby Miller trade was light years worse a trade.
Can’t wait for the Sugar Land Skeeters to sign Lawrie.
Lawrie tries too hard to be the hyped-up type, he’s exhausting to watch and difficult to take seriously, and that energy does not work in baseball. Lawrie is far too loud in the batters box, for instance, he needs much less movement and a repeatable starting point. Lawrie bought into his own cultivated hype, a poor choice.
Lawrie has played 6 seasons in mlb. Four with Toronto , one with Oakland and one with Chicago. He played to the extreme. He was to be the Jays ideal 3rd baseman but he was injury prone of the 4 seasons he only had 2 seasons of more then 100 starts at 3rd. and his hitting was below average for a 3rd baseman, His best year was with Oakland with 16 hr and 60 rbi.
Probably some club with pick him up cheap as a utility infielder but no one is going to fight over him..
He doesn’t draw rave reviews for his clubhouse presence
Too bad-he must be a bad vibes guy. I hope Moncada is ready and Frazier can get past his bad finger and oblique strain.
Moncada is not ready
How would you know? You don’t. Saladino is ready if Moncada needs more time down on the farm.
Even if he is, no way he is on Opening Day roster.
I like Lawrie as a player,. He had alright years in Toronto. He is not a “cancer” in the clubhouse, but he is wound tight and has an off the charts high motor for drive and winning. He can still put together many decent years. Guaranteed someone with pick him up. With the right set of veterans, he’ll be okay in the clubhouse. My bet is he was released because they have an alternative. Lawrie is good for 15 hr, 260 BA, 50 Rbi, plus plus arm, even war defensively.
Nothing special about Lawrie. He overplays his position (2nd base) and makes too many mistakes, plus he can’t hit. Most likely Moncada will be called up around June, if he doesn’t make the roster out of ST. Lawrie had no trade value, so waiving him was the right move. I like this new era of accountability from the White Sox. Here’s hoping they acquire some OF prospects to facilitate waiving Avi Garcia as well. Get marginal baseball players off my roster.
Didn’t know Reinsdorf sold you the team, oh wait, he didn’t. So it’s actually not “your” roster
Amazing that you find time to troll with all the booger picking.
Mets could use a 3B option. Also usable at 2B if Walker’s back doesn’t hold up.
Bring him to the Brewers we need bodies to put on the field
Would he be a better option at 3rd for Red Sox than Pablo Sandoval?
No.
Interesting suggestion but what would you do with Sandaval. He has a huge contract with 3 more years to run. The contract is so large its likely another else would pick it up. Plus if Sandaval has his weight under control he is a better fielder and hitter.
Good riddance take avi Garcia wit youz
I think they’re pushing for Moncada to start the season at 2nd.
I read a long time ago on ASK REDDIT (on the website reddit) asking about people who grew up with celebrities what they were like. More than several people said Bret Lawrie was an awful person.
One said he went to school with him and he was a terrible bully.
Another said they were also bullied by him and Lawrie would say extremely ignorant things to people, and he acted like he was way better than everybody, and expected to be treated like a king.
Multiple people said that Lawrie was a first class ahole, and this was long ago, like way before he was a rookie for the Bluejays.
Sadly, I would guess, from my years on youth travel teams, that most MLB players were bullies in high school.
You have to give the ChiSox organization credit, they have made some intelligent moves this off season. They minimized their losses with Brett Lawrie. They received the maximum possible for Chris Sale and for Adam Eaton, one a distraction and both at their peak value. Now, the next step is to unload Avisail Garcia.
No, the next step is unload Quintana, Frazier and possibly Abreu for solid prospects.
Why is everyone acting shocked about this? You can find a guy getting the minimum to produce what he did the past few seasons. White Sox have kids who need to play his spot and people just assume he has this prospect shine still but he’s peaked his rookie season.
Jemile Weeks? He’s a guy in the minors who can not produce Lawrie numbers.