Dec. 10--The White Sox filled their most pressing need Wednesday at the winter meetings, acquiring Athletics third baseman Brett Lawrie in exchange for two minor-league pitchers.
Lawrie, 25, is a career .263 hitter with a .736 OPS over five major-league seasons and had career highs of 16 home runs and 60 RBIs in 2015, his only season with the A's. A 2008 first-round draft pick of the Brewers, he played four seasons with the Blue Jays before going to Oakland in the Josh Donaldson trade.
The Sox gave up left-hander Zack Erwin and right-hander J.B. Wendelken to try to solidify a position that has been a problem area for several years.
"There's definitely upside there," general manager Rick Hahn said. "The kid has a world of talent and a diverse skill set, the ability to help us both offensively and defensively. At age 26 (when the season starts), there's reason to believe his best days may well be ahead of him.
"If his performance level maintains what we've seen over the last few years, but with a little more consistency, he certainly will be able to help us."
On a conference call Wednesday night, Lawrie called his 2015 season a "stepping stone," as he was able to stay healthy, and he said he feels like he is "on the rise."
The Sox will have control of Lawrie for two seasons before he becomes a free agent, and MLB Trade Rumors projects they will owe him $3.9 million via arbitration in 2016. Hahn said that salary would leave room on the payroll to seek more upgrades to the offense.
Lawrie's defensive numbers weren't great in 2015. He committed 24 errors and had minus-3 runs saved, according to FanGraphs. But Hahn said he thinks it was a down year and Lawrie has defensive upside.
Though he has played third base for most of his career, Lawrie can also play second, giving the Sox flexibility to use him at two uncertain positions. Lawrie said he is comfortable playing either position.
Hahn said the Sox also liked his "high-intensity, high-energy" style.
"He certainly leaves it all on the field," Hahn said. "We've seen that intensity on display in terms of both the way he attacks defensively and offensively, and sometimes it has gotten him into a little bit of hot water and altercations with others. But we don't see anything wrong with adding more guys to the club that have a little bit of extra fire and a little bit of edge to them."
Lawrie had been waiting for a few days to see if he might be traded after reading Internet rumors. He is a former teammate of Sox left fielder Melky Cabrera and catcher Dioner Navarro and said he is happy to rejoin them.
"We're going to have a good camaraderie within the team, I believe, and we're going to try to make a push for this thing," Lawrie said. "I'm excited about it."
The Sox didn't give up any of their top 20 prospects, according to MLB.com, to complete the deal.
Erwin, 21, was a fourth-round pick this year and posted a 1.34 ERA in his first season in Class A.
Wendelken, 22, joined the Sox via the three-team Avisail Garcia trade with the Red Sox and Tigers in 2013 and posted a 3.20 ERA between Double-A Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte in 2015.
One-year focus: Manager Robin Ventura enters the final year of his contract in 2016, and if the Sox don't jump to a good start, there will be plenty of speculation about his managerial career.
Ventura said this week he understands it's the nature of the job.
"I've never been one to seek more years (because) it's going to make me feel any better or the security of it," Ventura said. "That's part of being in baseball. Even as a player, if you have one year left, come and do your job. Do the best you can and try to enjoy it."
Safety first: Spokesman Scott Reifert said the Sox will follow Major League Baseball's new recommendations that teams use netting to protect field-level seats between the dugouts and within 70 feet of home plate. He said the Sox are coming up with a plan for opening day but added he doesn't expect it to affect many more seats than are already behind netting at U.S. Cellular Field.
Camelback Ranch, the Sox's spring training facility, already meets the recommendations, Reifert said.
ckane@tribpub.com
