Attention, GMs: Brett Lawrie can jump a lot higher than Bryce Harper

Oakland A’s infielder Brett Lawrie isn’t in the same class as Bryce Harper. Not from a pure baseball talent perspective anyway.

Still, Lawrie is one of the hottest names at this week’s Winter Meetings as the A’s engage in talks to trade him to a team needing immediate help at second or third base. And perhaps he’ll be an even hotter name now that he’s proven he can jump higher than Harper.

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A lot higher, in fact.

As we wrote on Monday, Harper displayed his freakish athleticism by completing a 55-inch box jump. On Tuesday, Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Steven Souza, a former teammate of Harper in Washington, jumped into the fray with a 58-inch box jump. Then on Wednesday, Lawrie topped them both by a wide margin, completing a 64-inch box jump.

We can’t actually verify the jumping distance, though Lawrie attempted to here.

What we can say with certainty is that’s a mighty impressive leap. One that will have baseball people talking. But no, it won’t do anything to improve Lawrie’s trade value. In fact, the A’s are probably making some calls right now seeking assurance Lawrie won’t try that again until after he’s traded. Then he can be someone else’s responsibility should he face plant on the next attempt.

Lawrie’s case is a pretty interesting one. At 25, his best years should still be ahead of him, but he hasn’t instilled much confidence so far, having already been traded by the Toronto Blue Jays after a slow and inconsistent start. Given a full compliment of at-bats by Oakland last season, Lawrie hit .260/.299/.407 with 16 homers and 60 RBIs over 602 plate appearances. Decent numbers, but also indicative of his inconsistency, which is why the A’s seem willing to move on as well. 

It’s been reported the Chicago White Sox could be the most likely landing spot, and that actually sounds like a good fit. Lawrie would again get a full compliment of at-bats, and he’d be hitting in a much more hitter-friendly ballpark.  

It would also be good if he wants to attempt another 64-inch box jump. He can just stack up a couple dozen deep dish pizza boxes and have at it. In fact, that sounds like a local TV ad just waiting to happen.

BLS H/N: Cut 4 

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813