According to the Milwaukee Sentinel, the Toronto Blue Jays have traded No. 1 pitcher and staff ace Shaun Marcum to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for Brett Lawrie.
Marcum went 13-8 last season with a 3.64 ERA and 161 strikeouts.
Lawrie has both raw power and speed, batting .285 with eight homers, 36 doubles, 16 triples and 30 stolen bases for double-A Huntsville in 2010, just his second professional season and at 20 years old, was one of the youngest players in the Southern League to play last season.
This move looks to be a pre-cursor to a few larger moves the Jays may have up their sleeve in an attempt to acquire more talent to help bolster an already potent lineup.
There is word the Jays were looking to make a move for Zack Greinke. Could this move help lead the way for a Greinke to Toronto swap? That remains to be seen.
The Jays appear to be keeping their promise of trading to try and acquire talent going forward. The Jays traded Marcum, who was reportedly not going to re-sign with Toronto, for a young, controllable player in Lawrie.
I’m going to take a wait and see approach before thoroughly dissecting this deal, but getting a team’s number one prospect for a number 3 starter on a good staff seems like a win for the Blue Jays, despite what some may think.
The Canadian still sits about a year or so away from making an impact on the Jays roster, but Anthopolous continues to add assets to a young Blue Jays team. The question remains, when are you going to start spending money Alex?
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