UPDATE: Lawrie officially signs a minor league deal with Brewers
By Kevin Glew
Canadian Baseball Network
The Milwaukee Brewers officially signed Langley, B.C., native and former Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie to a minor league deal on Sunday.
The signing was made official 15 days after Lawrie had posted on his Instagram account that he was signing with the Brewers.
According to the Associated Press, the delay was because Lawrie, who has suffered from numerous lower body injuries, was subjected to an extensive physical evaluation by the club.
Lawrie, who has not played a major league game since July 21, 2016, will return to the organization that made him a first-round pick (16th overall) in the 2008 MLB draft. The sparkplug infielder played two seasons in the Brewers organization before he was dealt to the Toronto Blue Jays for pitcher Shaun Marcum on December 6, 2010.
But don’t expect to see Lawrie in a major league uniform any time soon. Brewers general manager David Stearns told the Associated Press that the Canadian infielder will now devote six weeks to "putting his body in the best position to succeed moving forward." Lawrie will progress to baseball activities after that.
Lawrie was called up by the Blue Jays on August 5, 2011 and with his all-out hustle quickly became a fan favourite in Toronto. He suited up for parts of four seasons with the Blue Jays before he was dealt to the Oakland A’s prior to the 2015 campaign as part of the package for Josh Donaldson.
In his sole season with the A’s, Lawrie belted a career-high 16 home runs before being traded to the Chicago White Sox in December 2015. With the Sox, Lawrie would bat .248 with 12 home runs in 94 games in 2016 prior to being sidelined by a leg injury. The White Sox released him the following spring.
In all, in 588 major league games, he has batted .261 with 71 home runs.