Lawton, an outfielder, made his major league debut September 5, 1995, with the Minnesota Twins, who signed him four years prior.

He was also selected to play in the MLB All-Star twice, both times as a member of the American League (AL) team (2000, 2004).

He was tied for second in the league caught stealing (19), and walks; fourth in stolen bases; eighth in runs scored; and ninth in doubles.

[12] Before the 1996 season, Baseball Digest described Lawton as "very versatile" and stated that he had good arm speed and a "very live bat".

In spring training during the 1997 season, Lawton was competing for the fourth outfielder spot on the Twins roster.

On June 14, while the Twins were playing the Houston Astros at the Astrodome, Lawton left 38 tickets for his family, who were visiting from Gulfport, Mississippi.

[21] On September 1, Lawton hit a game-winning triple against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the bottom of the tenth inning.

[24] On April 18, 1999, Lawton hit a grand slam in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Twins the victory over the Cleveland Indians.

[25] Todd Walker, the Twins infielder at the time, was Lawton's good friend since they met in the minors.

[26] On June 8, Lawton shattered his eye socket in two places after being hit by a pitch from Cincinnati Reds pitcher Dennys Reyes.

[28] During a game at the SkyDome against the Toronto Blue Jays, Lawton spat towards a 16-year-old fan who called him a racial slur.

During spring training in 2000, Lawton stated that his eye socket was fully healed after the injury he suffered in 1999.

[31] On April 9, 2000, Lawton failed to catch a ball hit by Carlos Beltrán in the seventh inning that would have kept Twins pitcher Eric Milton's perfect game bid alive.

[36] In February 2001, Twins general manager Terry Ryan stated that he did not plan on trading Lawton, contrary to other reports.

On July 31, 2001, the Minnesota Twins traded Lawton to the New York Mets in exchange for Rick Reed.

In his combined defensive stats as an outfielder, Lawton committed four errors; and made three assists, and 289 putouts.

[44] In the deal, the Mets sent Lawton, a players to be named later, Alex Escobar, and Jerrod Riggan to the Indians in exchange for Danny Peoples, Roberto Alomar, Mike Bacsik.

On April 18, 2002, in a game against the Minnesota Twins, Lawton separated his right shoulder after diving for the ball in right field, but played through the injury.

[45] On May 18, Lawton hit a two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Indians a walk-off win against the Baltimore Orioles.

To make room for Lawton after his activation, the Indians optioned infielder Zach Sorensen to the minor leagues.

On April 6, 2004, Lawton filed a report with the Philadelphia Police Department regarding a jewelry theft in his hotel room.

[60] Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield commented on the acquisition by saying "Lawton, we think, is a good fit.

[61] Lawton was slated to be the team's leadoff hitter after the departure of the man who hit in that position during the 2004 season, Jason Kendall.

On July 31, 2005, Lawton was traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for outfielder Jody Gerut.

[65][66] Todd Walker, the Cubs second baseman at the time, was happy that his team traded for Lawton, who had been his friend since playing in the minor leagues together.

[70] In exchange, the Yankees gave the Cubs pitcher Justin Berg, who was a member of the New York's minor league system since 2003.

[70] Yankees manager Joe Torre commented that adding Lawton to the roster gave the team more depth and described him as a "talented player".

I am truly sorry and deeply regret my terrible lapse in judgment.At the start of the 2005–06 free agent cycle, Lawton had eight teams that he would sign with.

[79] Lawton gave Mariners officials the permission required to release him, saying that "I went to them in a friendly manner and just said 'Hey, I'll be the guy you can send out' if they felt the need".

[81] Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi added Mike Morse to the major league roster in Lawton's place.