Part I is here.
Hugo: So, the most significant move made by the Jays thusfar was trading Shaun Marcum to the Milwaukee Brewers for prospect Brett Lawrie. Was this a good move for the team? How does Lawrie fit into Toronto’s future plans?
Tom: I like the trade. As much as I enjoyed watching Shaun Marcum, we have starting pitcher prospects up to our arm pits, but we don’t have many impact bats in our system. I’m hoping they make Lawrie a 3B and that he gives us ten plus years at the position.
Tom: I like the trade. As much as I enjoyed watching Shaun Marcum, we have starting pitcher prospects up to our arm pits, but we don’t have many impact bats in our system. I’m hoping they make Lawrie a 3B and that he gives us ten plus years at the position.
Jesse: Agree with Tom on this one. I always like watching guys go after hitters but we have a wealth of guys who can potentially start for us over the next couple seasons and I think that when you can get someone who has hit like Lawrie and doesn’t play a corner OF or 1B slot, you do it.
JohnnyG: How boring, I have to echo exactly what Tom and Jesse said. I love watching Marcum pitch, the ol adage was that he was a bulldog on the mound and he simply was a treat to watch pitch. He didn’t overpower players but he outsmarted them with his crafty stuff. Will I miss that? Of course, but given the arms we have coming and what we got back in Lawrie? I would make this trade again in a heartbeat. The one thing I thought about was how this clogged up our middle infield in the near future with both Hill and Escobar already at the major league level it was assumed that Hill would shift to 3rd and Hech would slot in at 2nd or SS (with Escobar taking the other). With Lawrie that adds another wrinkle and makes it look like eventually someone (Read: Hill) will be the odd guy out either by being moved or by going to DH.
masterkembo: I love this trade. With the amount of young pitching coming up through the system, Marcum was expendable, and they’ve used that position of strength to acquire a young potential middle of the order bat. I love that the Jays are in a position where they can trade last years number 1 starter, and probably not lose much in terms of their overall pitching staff.
Tom: We really do need someone that hated this trade. Hugo?
masterkembo: Okay, I’ve reconsidered and this trade was terrible. Marcum = playoffs!!!!1 Also, Lawrie has some terrible tattoos.
Hugo: Sorry, can’t help you. Marcum was my favourite Jay (hmmm, I wonder who moves into that slot now), and I personally think the team is going to miss him a lot more than some have said in terms of 2011 (though I agree not long-term) but I really liked what AA did with that trade. He traded from a position of strength and addressed a real organizational weakness. The difference between 6 years of Lawrie and the next best option the Jays have right now to fill that spot is much, much larger than the difference between 2 years of Marcum and the next best option the Jays have to take his place.