It’s hard out there for a prospect. first, you need to keep your body in one piece long enough to make it to the big paydays of the Major Leagues. Then you need to prove that all your blue chip hype and bluster isn’t in vain, as you struggle to make the required adjustments to stay up in the world of lofty paychecks and expensive hotels.
Travis d’Arnaud and Brett Wallace are like two sides of the same coin, in a way. Well-regarded prospects who also happened to get traded more than once during their ascent to the big leagues. Wallace was drafted by the Cardinals, traded to the A’s as part of the Matt Holliday trade then moved to the Blue Jays in the aftermath of the Roy Halladay deal.
With the Jays he did what he did at every minor league stop: he raked. He hit the ball and posted appealing minor league batting averages, though his power numbers worried some in the supercharged offensive atmosphere of Las Vegas. The Jays eventually shipped Wallace to Houston in exchange for Anthony Gose, one of their original targets in the lead-up to the Halladay deal.
Brett Wallace seems to have found a home with the Astros, though his role is uncertain. Just as many feared as his body developed and his number of minor league at bats grew, Brett Wallace hasn’t really shown a great deal of power at the big league level. He has shown a stupendous ability to strikeout, however.
