'stros trade Gose to Jays for Brett Wallace. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/07/astros-to-send-anthony-gose-to-blue-jays.html Wallace is all bat, no field.
Someone smarter than me tell me if the fact this kid has already been part of 3 trades since being drafted in '08 is a good thing or a bad thing?
http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/players/playerpage/1630094/brett-wallace Wallace demolishing pitching lately: Blue Jays 1B prospect Brett Wallace has three home runs in his last seven games and is up to 18 on the season. He also has six multi-hit games in his last seven, raising his average to .301. (Updated 07/27/2010). Injury Report No information available at this time (Updated 7/29/10). Fantasy Analysis Wallace is the future at first for the Blue Jays, but the 23-year-old might only make a brief appearance in the second half, depending if the team decides to make a move or not. He remains more of a long-term Fantasy keeper than anything for now, but is still worth stashing away in AL-only and deeper mixed leagues for the time being. (Updated 07/27/2010). http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091221&content_id=7835890&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb TORONTO -- Brett Wallace took his seat next to Aaron Hill and spent a good portion of the dinner picking the brain of the Blue Jays second baseman. It was July, and they both were in St. Louis for All-Star Week -- Wallace for the Futures Game and Hill for a starting role with the American League. The dinner was organized by the agent that Wallace and Hill share. Little did anyone at the table know that the pair of players could soon wind up teammates in Toronto. Wallace was acquired by the Blue Jays in the trade that sent former Toronto ace Roy Halladay to the Phillies on Wednesday. As part of the complicated deal, Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos sent outfield prospect Michael Taylor -- obtained from Philadelphia -- to the Athletics in order to land Wallace. As Anthopoulos maps out a long-term plan for the organization, he believes Wallace -- a highly-touted hitter who will play first base in Toronto's system -- will be a key part of the Blue Jays' future. If everything works out the way Anthopoulos hopes, Wallace and Hill could form the right side of Toronto's infield for years to come. "I actually had a chance to talk to him for a few hours," said Wallace, referring to Hill. "I'm excited about getting out there and playing with those guys." As things currently stand, Wallace appears headed to Triple-A Las Vegas to open the 2010 season. That could change quickly, though. The 23-year-old will be in big league camp with the Blue Jays during Spring Training, and he plans on doing everything he can to convince the club to bring him north come Opening Day. "Any time you go to a situation where you know they're trying to rebuild with youth, that's something that's exciting," Wallace said. "They're definitely not afraid to give young guys an opportunity, and I think my job now is just to go into camp, be in shape and be ready to play. Hopefully, I make it as hard as possible for them to send me to Vegas. "If they do, I'll continue to do as well as I can there and try to put pressure on them to bring me up. Hopefully, I can get there and help that team as soon as I can." The only thing blocking Wallace from an immediate promotion is the presence of Blue Jays first baseman Lyle Overbay. With only one year left on Overbay's contract, though, Toronto might be looking to trade him this winter. That would give Wallace an opening to really make a push for a spot on the Major League roster this spring. Last year, the left-handed-hitting Wallace hit .293 with 20 home runs, 63 RBIs and a .367 on-base percentage over 138 Minor League games spent between Double-A Springfield, Triple-A Memphis and Triple-A Sacramento. In his final 44 games of the season with Sacramento, Wallace hit .302 with a .505 slugging percentage. Anthopoulos, who also reeled in pitching prospect Kyle Drabek and catching prospect Travis d'Arnaud from the Phillies in the Halladay deal, is quick to note that there is a specific development plan in place for all the club's prospects. When someone is promoted to the big leagues, Anthopoulos wants it to be a situation where the player can be there for good. "Hopefully, they're going to turn some heads," Anthopoulos said. "But we do have a development plan in place for all of these guys. ... It's easy for us to be short-sighted, just to want to get these guys up here to show the fans how exciting they are, but really, we have a plan in place. "We don't need to rush. This is all about the long-term plan, building a core and developing these guys the right way." That is especially true for Wallace, who the Blue Jays have coveted for the past few years. In 2005, Toronto selected Wallace out of high school in the 42nd round of the First-Year Player Draft. Wallace did not sign and played college baseball at Arizona State. The Jays hoped to draft Wallace again in '08, but the Cardinals grabbed him first with the 13th pick -- four slots ahead of Toronto. Last July, St. Louis sent Wallace to the A's as part of the trade that brought slugger Matt Holliday to the Cardinals. As this winter's Halladay trade talks heated up between the Jays and Phillies, Anthopoulos called Oakland general manager Billy Beane to float the idea of a Taylor-for-Wallace swap. Eventually, Oakland agreed to the trade. "It did not come together fast at all," Anthopoulos said. "Oakland did not give this player up easily. I think they deliberated on it for a long time. This was not a quick, 'Yes.' This took weeks. We had a lot of debate, too, because Taylor is a great player as well." When Anthopoulos phoned Wallace to welcome him to the Jays organization, he told the young player how long Toronto had been trying to acquire him. Hearing that made Wallace even more excited about the new opportunity with the Jays. "He was like, 'We really want you to be a part of this. We're excited about getting you,'" Wallace said. "It obviously makes it easier to hear things like that. When he talked about the fact that I was someone they've had interest in for a while, I think that makes you feel better and you just get excited about the situation, to go play for that." Hearing Anthopoulos' message made things easier because the trade initially came as a complete shock for Wallace. In July, as rumors began to spread about the Holliday trade with St. Louis, Wallace knew there was a good chance he was headed to Oakland. This time around, Wallace had been following all the latest reports about the Halladay situation, but it was never reported that Toronto might be working on a side deal with Oakland. When Wallace received the news from Beane, he was stunned. "It was definitely a surprise," Wallace said. "As a fan of baseball, I had followed the trade rumors a little bit, as far as Halladay maybe heading to Philly or something. But no one ever really mentioned that there was a chance Oakland could get involved in that. I had no idea at all. "That was the biggest difference for me between this and the Holliday trade. With that trade, I knew it was coming. We had gotten word that it was probably going to happen. This was, literally, I had no idea it was going to happen. Then, one day I get a phone call." Wallace is just hoping the call to the big leagues is not far behind.
Thats a good deal to get Mike Wallace. I remember him being highly regarded when he was in STL's farm system.
I remember Wallace being highly touted but his minor league numbers aren't all that impressive. Poor walk rate and far from staggering slugging percentages. That probably factored into him being moved multiple times already. He doesn't statistically project to be anything special and the sample size is very significant. He's already nearly 24. Not that that's old but there is less room for growth and the ceiling is more known at this point. Still, it's probably a better fit than another speedy outfielder.
oh, it's coming. don't worry. unless they've left because they've walked away from astros fandom, entirely, due to today's very serious events.
From what I remember, he's had a MLB quality bat since he was drafted, but he has had defensive issues, which he's been in AAA for three years. He started out as a 3rd baseman, and the defense pushed him to first, and IIRC he is still kind of iffy. I remember reading a Bobby Heck quote about drafting Ryan Braun where the scouts were arguing back and forth about what position Braun would play, and Heck stopped the argument and said, "He'll play third or fourth... as in third or fourth in the lineup." This seems to epitomize the players the Astros seem to be going after. Good hitters or athletes, who may not have a track record of being associated with one particular position defensively in the field.
http://bluejaysdaze.blogspot.com/2009/12/how-great-is-brett-wallace.html 12.16.2009 How Great is Brett Wallace? When I started tgathering information about Brett Wallace and his minors career in hopes of learning more about the player who may help bring the Jays to a new level, I wondered about who had the same kind of background. Big guy, plays 3B in the minors, but not expected to stick there because his D isn't up to par. Someone who hit for power and average and made jumps early at each level. The closest guy I could come up with was none other than Ryan Braun. Ok, first and foremost, both are outstanding minor league player careers. They stand out across the board, and it's almost eery how similar their stats are at the same age. There's just 1 GIANT difference. Brett Wallace is always facing higher competition and coming out with the same results Ryan Braun did at that age. That, my friends, is extremely impressive. Here's a comparisson of what each player accomplished in the minors up to the age of 22, Wallace's current age. Ryan Braun 21 - Rookie (41 AB) and LoA (152 AB), .352 average with a total of 68 hits, 18 doubles, 10 HRs, .393 OBP, .632 SLG, and 1.025 OPS, and 11 walks to 40 strike outs. Flg %.891 Brett Wallace 21 - HiA (153 AB) AA (49 AB), .337 average with a total of 68 hits, 13 doubles, 8 HRs, .427 OBP, .530 SLG, .957 OPS, and 19 walks to 39 strike outs. Flg% .952 Ryan Braun 22 - HiA (226 AB) and AA (231 AB), .289 average with a total of 132 hits, 31 doubles, 22 HRs, .357 OBP, .514 SLG, and 0.871 OPS, and 44 walks to 100 strike outs. Flg %.890 Brett Wallace 22 - AA (128 AB) AAA (304 AB), .293 average with a total of 156 hits, 26 doubles, 20 HRs, .367 OBP, .455 SLG, .822 OPS, and 47 walks to 116 strike outs. Flg%.954 In terms of size, Braun is listed at 6'2 and 200 lbs, while Wallace is listed at 6'1" 245 lbs. He's a hefty guy in comparison, but when you look at their fielding percentages, the last of the stats I listed each time above, Wallace is a much better defender than is let on. He's no gold glove winner, but he is adequate at 3B. Alex Anthopolous has indicated that they view him as a 1B, so that's most likely where he'll end up. The position, however, may be the only place these 2 differ (and in speed, obviously). If Wallace can continue to "outpace" the progress that Braun made when he jumped to the majors and surprised everyone, the Jays are in for a good time. If they can get 30-40 HRs with a .300 and above average from Wallace, and add the performances they believe they can get from Hill, Lind, and Snider, they've got something cooking! When you add the fact that all of them put together will cost the Jays less than 10 million a year for the next 3-4 years, it's time to start thinking about who they'll need to "go get" to make the Jays a real stronghold in the AL East. In no way am I saying Wallace is the reincarnation of Braun, since those are some big shoes to fill. What I am saying is that he may even be better than Braun, a bold statement, but one I believe is supported by what he's done to this point. He's a gigantic bat for the Jays to grab, and that's something us Jays fans may live to enjoy for a long time to come. By Blue Jays Daze - Mat Germain at 9:43 PM Labels: Brett Wallace, Jays Top Prospects
MLB.com ranked Wallace as the #16 prospect in all of baseball: http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=7150991&topic_id=7962336
well i think that makes us all feel better. wonder why toronto did that? also, i don't know if she was referring to the impending wallace swap, but to add some fuel to the fire, alyson footer just twatted this: alysonfooter And one more thing. By the end of the day we're all going to think this was a good day for Houston. Please let it play out. Thank you. 7 minutes ago via Twitter for iPhone interesting....veeeery interesting.
