Toronto Blue Jays swap starting pitcher Shaun Marcum with Brett Lawrie from Milwaukee Brewers
The winter meetings are going well in the off-season period and Major League Baseball is preparing for a new challenge as 2011 looks set to arrive soon. There are 30 teams from all over the country looking to make the shift for
the right players in the free agency. Their objective is to strengthen their squads and while the top agents are expected to steer the most attention, numerous middle tier clubs are strategizing ways to resourcefully spend their assets.
The meetings are being held in Florida, at the Walt Disney Swan & Dolphin Resort and the market is expected to boil down during the coming few days as activity is expected to steam up. Negotiations will become more dynamic and
many teams will compete for the top-seeded baseball stars with mouthful of resources. The Boston Red Sox were successful in bringing in Adrian Gonzalez and many teams will be expected to do the same soon.
One recent development has come through, however, and it involved a trade deal between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Toronto Blue Jays. There has been a confirmation of a swap deal that sees the well established pitcher Shaun Marcum
of the Toronto Blue Jays move towards the Brewers for Brett Lawrie.
The move sees two sides in need of crucial support in weak areas seal the deal in an effort to bridge a gap in the formation. Shaun was rumoured to move to the Brewers but many never expected to see a trade deal involving Lawrie.
Shaun was impressive last season when he won 13 games and lost 8 in 31 starts. He established himself as the starting pitcher at the Blue Jays clubhouse. His Earning Runs Average went up to 3.64. He was surprised by the deal.
Doug Melvin, the General Manager of the Brewers was available for a comment on the deal. He said, "We have some young pitching coming along, but we didn't have someone immediately. We feel a lot better about our pitching staff
today than we did yesterday."
However, Alex Anthopoulos, the Blue Jays’ General Manager, wasn’t all too happy with the deal. He said, "Trading Shaun Marcum was not easy. This was our Opening Day starter in the American League East at the core of what we feel
is a very strong, young rotation. I swallowed hard on it. I agonized on this trade, probably the most difficult trade I've made. You can point to the Halladay (Roy Halladay) trade, but the difference was that 'Doc' (Roy Halladay) was very adamant he felt it
was time for a change and wanted to make a move. Shaun wasn't one of those players."
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