Scott Carson

Stats man Scott Carson is now in his 18th season as "third man in the booth" during Blue Jays telecasts.

Alex Anthopoulos.

It seems like an odd time of the season to be making a prospect-for-prospect trade.

Normally these types of deals don’t go down until the off-season, more specific, the winter meetings in December.

But Blue Jays rookie general manager Alex Anthopoulos, whose view of the path the franchise will take has been drastically different than those of us in the media and those of you in the seats, clearly would like this team to become more athletic. Chicks dig the long ball, as the old Nike commercial stated, but when the power dries up, like that old crony that sits in the left field bleachers above the Blue Jays bullpen, being a one-dimensional offence won’t be enough to make the playoffs. In fact, since 1969 only four teams that led the Majors in home runs won the World Series that season, while 30 teams didn’t even make the playoffs at all.

We’ve been seeing first hand this season just how reliant on the home run the Blue Jays have become. They’ve failed to hit a home run in 21 games this season. Their record in those games is 7-14 (.333), meaning that heading into this weekend’s series against the lowly Indians, the Jays are 46-35 (.567) when they hit at least one home run. That’s far too big a chasm to overcome and expect to be a contender.

So with his eye still firmly fixated on the future, GM AA decided to pull the trigger on a deal sending the near future for the distant future. Brett Wallace, one of the players acquired in the Halladay deal and expected by just about everyone to replace Lyle Overbay as the everyday first baseman next spring, was dealt to the Astros for 19-year-old centre fielder Anthony Gose, who was acquired earlier in the day from the Philadelphia Phillies for Roy Oswalt.

Gose has, apparently, been the apple of Anthopoulos’ eye for quite some time, having tried to get him as part of the package for Halladay in December and then inquiring about his availability again in the spring. As it stands right now, Gose is still quite raw as a professional hitter and his key attribute is speed on the bases, and speed in the outfield.

The key question is: why did the Jays sacrifice Wallace, who was thought by many to be the heir apparent at first, for an Single-A outfielder who is not exactly been tearing the cover off the ball in the Florida State League (.263, four home runs)?

There’s a couple things to look at here.

First, no one is ever going to confuse Wallace with a lean, athletic baseball player. He’s a big-bodied slugger who likely would clog up the bases once he got on. In Adam Lind and Travis Snider, two names mentioned as replacements at first next season, they have depth at that position even though neither has played much time there. Both Lind and Snider are more athletic than Wallace, something that Anthopoulos is clearly trying to bring into the equation. He’s already done it twice this season by acquiring Fred Lewis from the Giants and Yunel Escobar from the Braves.

While the Jays continue to slug their opponents into submission, the injection of those two players has brought the speed element back into the offensive strategy. Second, it’s my understanding that Wallace had flat-lined at Triple-A Las Vegas. He had 16 doubles and 11 home runs through the end of May, but has just eight doubles and seven doubles over the next two months.

If we take GM AA at his word, Gose should become a fixture in the Jays’ outfield in three years. I realize that probably won’t be quick enough for you seamheads that expect a rebuild to take place by next Thursday. But it’s another piece of the puzzle and a good pickup for the future while the rest of baseball is dealing in the now.

WHO’S NEXT?

We’re all still waiting to see if one of the Jays’ relievers, specifically Scott Downs, has a new postal code by the end of business on Saturday.

The Yankees are apparently hot for the left-hander and the Jays asked, according to media sources, for Joba Chamberlain in return. And if not Joba, then at least one of their top prospects, a price that the Yankees have balked at.

There’s also a lot of talk about MLB home-run leader Jose Bautista peaking the interest of the Atlanta Braves, Phillies and San Francisco Giants. I think that unless a team comes to the Jays with a Vito Corleone "offer they can’t refuse," then Bautista will remain a Jay. And based upon they way that Anthopoulos has gone about his business, I think that’s a strong possibility.