OTTAWA-Canadian Brett Lawrie (Langley, BC) is now a member of the Oakland Athletics.
The 24 year-old third baseman was traded by the Toronto Blue Jays this evening, along with three minor league prospects, to the Oakland A’s in exchange for 3B Josh Donaldson.
Originally acquired by the Blue Jays in December 2010 from the Milwaukee Brewers, he made his major league debut in August 2011 in Baltimore as a 21 year-old. In four seasons with Toronto he hit .265 with 61 doubles, 43 home runs and 157 RBI in 345 games.
In June 2008, Lawrie became the highest drafted Canadian position player ever when the Milwaukee Brewers selected him 16th overall.
Lawrie has a long history with Baseball Canada, joining the Junior National Team program in 2006 where he participated in the IBAF 18U World Cup as a 16 year-old and was named to the tournament’s all-star team. In 2007 he participated in the COPABE 18U Pan Am Championship and in 2008 played in his second 18U World Cup when the event was held in Edmonton. Later that summer, he was a member of Team Canada that participated in the Beijing Olympics. He also played in both the 2009 World baseball Classic and IBAF World Cup where helped Canada to a bronze medal and was also named to the 2013 WBC squad but was unable to participate due to injury.
