The Toronto Blue Jays re-acquired former top prospect Brett Wallace Monday, but he returns to the organization as minor league depth rather than as a future building block.
The Blue Jays acquired the 27-year-old from the Baltimore Orioles for cash considerations in a trade that provides them with a left-handed bat capable of playing first base for their top minor league affiliate.
Originally acquired from the Oakland Athletics for Michael Taylor in 2009, Wallace was unofficially part of Toronto’s haul in the Roy Halladay trade (the Blue Jays acquired Taylor in the Halladay deal). At the time, Wallace was viewed as a doubles machine capable of hitting for average and getting on base. Yet one year later, the Blue Jays traded him to Houston for Anthony Gose in an exchange of highly-regarded prospects.
Wallace played parts of four seasons in Houston, hitting 29 home runs in 311 games while batting just .242/.313/.391. That disappointing performance was enough to prompt Houston to release him this March and make him a free agent.
Wallace has 10 home runs with a .265/.329/.389 batting line in 90 games with Baltimore’s triple-A Norfolk affiliate. He’ll report to Toronto’s triple-A affiliate, where he’ll replace some of the left-handed depth that was lost when Dan Johnson was promoted to Toronto to replace the injured Adam Lind on the Blue Jays’ active roster.
