Jay’s Swap Players

It’s a long way from Langley to Oakland, well not all that far, but Brett Lawrie was given an early Christmas gift that will now allow him to shop in Oakland, rather than Toronto.

As a youngster he played high school baseball in the BC Premier Baseball League for the Langley Blaze and was selected as the 16th pick in the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft by the Brewers.

This selection saw him as the fourth-highest a Canadian player has ever been drafted, behind Delta’s Jeff Francis, Surrey’s Adam Loewen, and Gatineau’s Phillippe Aumont and the highest a Canadian position player has ever been drafted.

Lawrie was also a member of the Canadian Junior National Team at the 2008 World Junior Baseball Championship that saw him lead the tournament with a batting average of .469, collecting 3 home runs as well as 16 RBI’s.

Although he was a catcher for the Blaze, he moved to second base following him being assigned to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in the Midwest League to begin the 2009 season.

On August 4, 2011, Lawrie was called up to the Blue Jays that saw Travis Snider moved to Triple-A making room for Lawrie and he made his official debut against the Oriole’s on August 5.

He was moved to the 60-day disabled list September 2 officially ending his 2014 season, but finished the year appearing in 70 games batting .247 with 12 home runs and 38 RBI.

We wish him all the best and at least he’s closer to Langley so his Family and Friends will now see him play in Seattle.

He was also selected to play for Canada at the 2008 Summer Olympics.