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Braves Sign AAA Pitcher Lawrence
Written by Colin on June 9, 2008 – 9:41 pmThe Braves bought the contract of pitcher Brian Lawrence from an independent Atlantic League team, the Camden Riversharks Monday. Lawrence, who once won 15 games for the San Diego Padres, will be assigned to AAA Richmond. This year, he’s 2-2 for Camden with a 3.21 ERA. He has an impressive strike to walk ratio – 32 Ks to 9 walks.
We’ll see if Lawrence can become the Braves’ latest reclamation project. They have a history of resurrecting old pitcher’s careers. He was 1-2 for the Mets last year with a 6.83 ERA. It’d sure be sweet to shaft the Mets by turning one of their castoffs into a solid pitcher that comes back to bite them.
What do you think? Will it even make a difference?
Tags: Brian Lawrence
Posted in Roster Moves | 7 Comments »
By Shaun on Jun 10, 2008 | Reply
Meh.
By Dan on Jun 10, 2008 | Reply
Lawrence was one of the better sinker ball pitchers in the early 2000′s when he was with the Padres. A knock on Lawrence is that despite being a sinkerball pitcher, he gives up a lot of homers. FOX would have Lawrence’s key to success as being able to keep the ball down, if the sinker doesn’t work, he just does not have the stuff to overcome not having that pitch. This of course was my evaluation prior to serious arm surgery in 2006 after Lawrence tore his labrum and rotator cuff. Since then, he has not regained his stride and I doubt that he will with the Braves.
Lawrence benefits greatly from a solid defense behind him. The Braves are 17th of the thirty MLB teams which will not help him. Also, with the exception of Yunel Escobar, Josh Anderson and Gregor Blanco the range of the Braves fielders is average to below average.
This move was made largely for insurance to the Braves rotation, which has not been going deep into games as of late and Lawrence has the reputation of having a durable arm (pre-surgery). I do not expect Lawrence to do much, mostly because he gives up a lot of hits. As a reliever, it would be tough to justify bringing him in with runners past first base. As a starting pitcher, there would be no reason to put him out there over the current options. Charlie Morton, Chuck James and whatever is available on the trade market make more sense than Lawrence.
P.S. – A name I think would make sense for the rotation right now would be that of Paul Byrd of Cleveland for another tour of duty with the team. It is the last year on his contract, the man is a professional, and has playoff experience. I like the idea if he comes at a low-ish cost.
By Josh on Jun 10, 2008 | Reply
Excuse me for my lack of excitement.
By Colin on Jun 10, 2008 | Reply
I can’t find myself excited about this – I think we need to bring up Morton.
By Pierce on Jun 10, 2008 | Reply
Its hard to get worked up about signing a guy out of the independent league. Lawrence had maybe 1 decent year that i can remember. I would like to see the braves put together a good package deal and bring someone in younger with solid upside. This move smells like Redmond all over again, and, we remember how that panned out.
By Dan on Feb 2, 2009 | Reply
Lawrence was one of the better sinker ball pitchers in the early 2000's when he was with the Padres. A knock on Lawrence is that despite being a sinkerball pitcher, he gives up a lot of homers. FOX would have Lawrence's key to success as being able to keep the ball down, if the sinker doesn't work, he just does not have the stuff to overcome not having that pitch. This of course was my evaluation prior to serious arm surgery in 2006 after Lawrence tore his labrum and rotator cuff. Since then, he has not regained his stride and I doubt that he will with the Braves.
Lawrence benefits greatly from a solid defense behind him. The Braves are 17th of the thirty MLB teams which will not help him. Also, with the exception of Yunel Escobar, Josh Anderson and Gregor Blanco the range of the Braves fielders is average to below average.
This move was made largely for insurance to the Braves rotation, which has not been going deep into games as of late and Lawrence has the reputation of having a durable arm (pre-surgery). I do not expect Lawrence to do much, mostly because he gives up a lot of hits. As a reliever, it would be tough to justify bringing him in with runners past first base. As a starting pitcher, there would be no reason to put him out there over the current options. Charlie Morton, Chuck James and whatever is available on the trade market make more sense than Lawrence.
P.S. – A name I think would make sense for the rotation right now would be that of Paul Byrd of Cleveland for another tour of duty with the team. It is the last year on his contract, the man is a professional, and has playoff experience. I like the idea if he comes at a low-ish cost.
By Colin on Feb 2, 2009 | Reply
I can't find myself excited about this – I think we need to bring up Morton.