Michael Taylor’s career as a Toronto Blue Jay is likely to be a short one. ESPN’s Buster Olney is reporting that upon the completion of the blockbuster deal between the Phils, Jays, and Mariners, that the Blue Jays will immediately swing Taylor to the Oakland Athletics in return for 1B/3B prospect Brett Wallace. Let’s talk about Wallace.
Brett was the best pure hitter of his draft class. However, his body and questionable position dropped him to the Cardinals. He was drafted as a third-baseman but could end up at first-base because of poor lateral range according to Keith Law. He has plenty of arm strength and can field the ball in front of him just fine. The biggest part of Wallace’s game is his bat. He makes pitchers pitch to him and has a great eye making him an OBP machine. His power will come. Don’t be fooled by the low SLG numbers from last season.
A deal for Wallace would either mean the end of Edwin Encarnacion or Lyle Overbay. I would imagine Wallace would be playing first-base in Toronto considering Overbay’s departure after 2010 (or perhaps sooner).
Why would Billy Beane give up a player that sounds like an ideal piece for him to build a team with? Well, they have quite a logjam at that position and Michael Taylor is still a hell of a player. The Blue Jays also have a bit of a logjam in the outfield with Lind, Wells and Snider already out there.
Derek can be reached at derek@peteprose.com
Derek Boucher is a native of Toronto, Canada. He covers all sports for Pete Prose.
E-mail him at derek@peteprose.com 