Brewers Draft Brett Lawrie

Well, if you were anxiously chewing your finger nails today, wondering who the Crew would select in the 2008 MLB draft, let me end your suffering.

Milwaukee selected Brett Lawrie.

Lawrie is an 18-year old from British Columbia and played for Team Canada, winning a bronze medal at the 2007 World Junior Championships.

As far as measurables, Lawrie goes 5-11 or 6-0 and is between 190 and 200 pounds. He throws and hits right (versus left...not wrong). Apparently he is the first catcher selected in the first round by the Crew since BJ Surhoff in 1985...wowie.

Basically the Brewers have been looking for a consistant catcher for years without success and recently have turned to plugging in free agents while they try and progress some prospects through the minors. They supposively had a real legit prospect in AA ball, Angel Salome. But if I remember correctly, I think that he had a suspension for steroids last season and I do not know how much that has hurt him. There is also a guy in West Virginia (Class A), Jonathan Lucroy, but I know very little about him .

Accoring to this MiLB link, he has a quick bat, and power to spare but is a pull hiter. They call him an average runner, which to me is a plus for a catcher. He has a good arm and quick feet, but his catching skills are still pretty basic, which to me says he was probably a very good high school catcher. My guess is that the mental part of the game is what will be his first task, and a continual learning curve for him. All in all, to me it looks like he projects as an above-average offensive catcher and average defensive catcher. My looks around the internet found one scout that said he hit the ball with more authority than Justin Morneau in his draft year.

This Q&A with Lawrie is pretty interesting. Apparently he was 17-for-35 (.486), with 8 home runs and 24 RBI on Team Canada's national junior team's spring tour in the Dominican Republic.

My guess is you won't see Lawrie in the majors any time soon. He likely won't be at AA or AAA ball for a few years, but if you like minor league ball and keeping track of prospects before they are on TV and playing in front of 40,000 fans, this guy might be one to keep an eye on.