MLB reports:  Brett Wallace has experienced a baseball odyssey like few others  ever have.  Drafted twice, traded three times and playing in 4 different baseball organizations before his 25th birthday.  The man with the golden bat, Wallace has been coveted by many MLB teams yet somehow managed to move in three separate transactions over his short career.  Usually in these scenarios, we would consider the player to be more of a role type player and not likely to be a superstar in the making.  But considering the players and transactions involved, it is clear that Wallace has been in demand all along.  Now finally entrenched in Houston and playing every day in the big leagues, Wallace is finally fulfilling his early promise and making a name for himself as a future All-Star and possibly batting champion in the National League.

Wallace first hit our radars in 2005 when the Toronto Blue Jays drafted him in the 42nd round.  Unable to sign him, Wallace went on to start playing college ball for Arizona State University.  From there, Wallace blossomed into a 1st round pick, 13th overall for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2008.  Playing in the Cardinals minor league system at third base, Wallace was touted as the next Cards superstar hitter in the making.  With Pujols entrenched at 1st base and up-and-coming slugger Colby Rasmus also in the picture, the Cardinals appeared to be set offensively for years to come.

The plan was changed on July 24, 2009, where the Cardinals making a playoff push, traded Wallace to the Oakland Athletics with Shane Peterson and Clayton Mortensen for slugging outfielder Matt Holliday.  The plan worked as the Cardinals were able to make the playoffs and proceeded to sign Holliday to a long-term deal as protection in the lineup for their main superstar, Albert Pujols.  Wallace, played out the season in the A’s organization and the debate started as to whether his long-term future was at third or first base.

Part of the mystery Wallace was solved as Toronto finally landed its prized target on December 15, 2009.  As part of the Roy Halladay swap, the Jays acquired outfielder Michael Taylor from Philadelphia.  One quick transaction later, Alex Anthopoulos and Billy Beane followed through on a Taylor for Wallace trade.  Wallace was moved permanently to first base with an eye towards joining the Blue Jays as their new first baseman by 2011.  Or so we all thought.  As Alex Anthopoulos started to show the baseball world, he was not afraid to make multiple trades to get the players he wanted.

The Houston Astros in mid-2010 finally started their fire sale.  Franchise player Lance Berkman was traded to the New York Yankees and ace pitcher Roy Oswalt was moved to Philadelphia.  As part of the Oswalt trade, the Astros received young speedster outfielder Anthony Gose.  The Gose acquisition actually led to two further moves.  The Jays apparently were keen on Gose for sometime and were unsuccessful in originally prying him away from the Phillies in the Halladay deal.  The Astros with this knowledge, were able to trade away Berkman knowing that his replacement would come from Toronto if Gose would be a part of the equation.  Trade #3 was then consummated and Wallace found a home in Houston.

Sitting 1/3 of the way into the 2011 season, it is time to look at all four players involved in the three Wallace transactions and get a glimpse as to how each is performing.  In the process, it is interesting to note which teams ended up benefitting from being a part of each Wallace trade.  Let’s look deeper into the numbers of Brett Wallace and the Astros, Michael Taylor and the Athletics, Anthony Gose and the Jays, and Matt Holliday and the Cardinals.

Brett Wallace – Astros

So far, so good for the young Astros slugger.  Having made the team out of spring training, Wallace currently has a .308 AVG, .379 OBP, .442 SLG, 19/39 BB/K, 3 home runs, 22 runs and 16 RBIs.  For a young team in need of offense, the Astros could not ask more from Wallace.  For a kid that always known to be able to hit, the numbers back up the hype.  Having watched him play this year live, I can attest that he plays a fairly solid first base defensively as well.  With the Astros now having their future cleanup hitter getting his feet wet in the majors, they look to have benefitted as a team by acquiring Wallace.

Matt Holliday – Cardinals

Despite paying a heavy price to acquire Holliday in the first place, one cannot argue with the results.  A contending team that has made the playoffs with him on its roster, the Cardinals have been a better team with Matt Holliday.  Since joining the Cardinals, Holliday has since 2009 had an OPS each year of 1.023, .922 and .981.  Holliday hit 13 home runs in 63 games in 2009 and 28 home runs last year.  As Pujols protection, the Cardinals were able to sign Holliday to a long-term contract and bring stability to its lineup and clubhouse.  If the Cardinals had not traded for Holliday, he would have not as likely signed with the team as a free agent as his time playing in St. Louis played a large role in his decision to sign.  The other components of the trade, Peterson and Mortensen turned into expandable spare parts, role players at best.  While the Cardinals could have used Wallace’s bat, there was no room for him at first base and his glove did not project to allow him to stay at third.  The trade turned into a good win for the Cardinals, as strong of a return as the team could have ever expected.

Anthony Gose- Blue Jays

Once we get past Wallace and Holliday, the return on the last 2 Wallace trades still remain relatively unknown.  We start with Anthony Gose of the Jays.  Seen as a strong defensive player and future stolen base champion, the Jays acquired a player known more for tools over the refined and polished bat of Wallace.  So far in 2011, the 20-year old Gose at the advanced AA level has held his own, with a .272 AVG, .375 OBP, .391 SLG, 4 home runs, 22 RBIs, 33 runs, 27/41 BB/K ratio.  Having stolen 76 bases in 2009 in the minors, speed is clearly a big part of Gose’s game.  On the season, Gose already been successful 22/27 times on stolen base attempts.  With Adam Lind entrenched as the new first baseman for the Jays, the team appeared to have indicated by trading Wallace that there was no room for Wallace and that the potential of Gose had a higher value to the team.  With the Jays offense being up and down all year, I think the bat of Wallace rotating through first and DH would have been very useful for the team.  Time will tell on this swap, but at the moment all the Jays have is potential and hype in Anthony Gose while the Astros have defined production from Wallace.  Until proven otherwise, the Astros have the advantage over the Jays in the last Wallace swap.

Michael Taylor- Athletics

The last player to be reviewed is Michael Taylor of the A’s.  A highly considered outfielder once upon a time in the Phillies system, some analysts rated Taylor higher than current Phillies prospect Domonic Brown.  Since joining the A’s organization, Taylor has been sidelined by injuries and has not been able to fully get himself on track.  In 2010, Taylor hit .272 in AAA with 6 home runs and 16 stolen bases in 127 games played.  This year, Taylor has only played 15 games with 1 home run, but has hit .333 with a .795 OPS.  The potential is still there for Taylor but at 25 and in his second full season at AAA for Oakland, Taylor will have to produce to justify the A’s swap of Wallace for him.  Considering that the Athletics have one of the worst offenses in baseball and could desperately use Wallace’s bat in their lineup, it is clear that the A’s came up with the shortest end of the stick, so to speak, among all the teams involved in the Wallace swaps.  Considering the price that the A’s paid to get Holliday originally, including Carlos Gonzalez and Houston Street, losing Wallace and having Taylor stuck in AAA makes all of their trades look even worse.  I still hold out h0pe for Taylor, but another lost year could result in a required change of scenery for him.

It will be interesting to catch up with Wallace, Gose, Holliday and Taylor in another year and then five years from now and see the stage of each player’s career at that time.  Wallace and Holliday should still be proven commodities.  It will be Gose and Taylor as the wild cards that will either blossom or fail as prospects.  The future is bright and still unknown for both of these players.  Until then, we will continue to enjoy watching Brett Wallace as he continues to develop as a player in Houston.