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One and Done: The White Sox have released infielder Brett Lawrie after just one season with the team. @WGNNews pic.twitter.com/cMwWpbX6Kg — Larry Hawley (@HawleySports) March 3, 2017

Lawrie was a first-round draft pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in 2008. The Toronto Blue Jays acquired him in a trade in December 2010 and he made his major league debut with Toronto in August 2011. He played 345 games with the Jays over four seasons before being traded to Oakland in November 2014 in the package to acquire Josh Donaldson.

His year in Oakland was the only one in which he played a complete season. He was on the disabled list six times in his Blue Jays tenure, three times with oblique injuries and twice with broken fingers.

He missed the last part of 2016 with leg injuries that were blamed on his shoe orthotics.

Lawrie is signed to a one-year deal for US$3.5 million. After his next full season in the majors, he will have accrued enough service time for unrestricted free agency.

Lawrie has been an above average third baseman in his career but his defence suffered whenever he was shuffled to second base. He has so far not developed beyond being a middling contact hitter with middling power who didn’t walk enough to have a decent on-base percentage.

The White Sox began a large rebuilding phase in the offseason when they traded ace pitcher Chris Sale and outfielder Adam Eaton.

Lawrie was still receiving treatment for his leg pain this spring. He had yet to appear in an exhibition game.