Wallace, Drabek

[Cropduster]

Brett Wallace and Kyle Drabek, I noticed these guys are quite high on the prospect list. First time poster here, what do you guys/gals think about these kids?

"Wallace was the best pure hitter in this year's draft, but fell to the Cardinals due to questions about his ultimate position. He's playing third base right now, and the Cardinals intend to keep him there until he plays himself off it; he has plenty of arm and is fine on balls in front of him, but lacks lateral range … severely. Still, his bat is so special that if he can improve to just a win below average at third, he'll be a star. He makes hitting look easy -- he hits lefties (.387/.479/.484 in 62 at bats last year) and righties, all pitches, all areas of the zone, whatever's thrown at him -- and has pull power to right and doubles power the other way. Sure, his body type is unusual for a pro baseball player -- he has enormous thighs, but it's muscle, not fat, and emphasizing that only detracts attention from what really matters: Brett Wallace will hit."

couldn't find much on drabek though. another thing, michael taylor or brett wallace?

[GoldenSeals]

Welcome Daveyboy.

Brett Wallace may struggle initially if he gets a chance with the Jays, but could flirt with 20 HR potential. In his prime he's projected to be a perennial basher, 30 HR, 100 RBI, but the main concern I have along with many people is his ability to stick at 3B. If he does, then the trade helps the Jays, as they have a more pressing need at 3B. If he is better then Edwin Encarnacion defensively, this allows the Jays to explore a trade with him. If he can't stick at 3B, then the trade becomes moot in my opinion, as they already have a defensive liability in LF in Adam Lind. This would mean either Lind would have to shift back to LF (assuming a trade of Overbay occurs), or Lind and Wallace become a 1B/DH tandem. Then the question is who mans LF? I'm assuming Travis Snider will be put back to his original position (LF).

Michael Taylor has 5 tool potential. He can bash HR's, Steal bases, hit for average, and has a pretty good arm, which could be used in RF (for the Jays). He's been compared to Curtis Granderson, and Hunter Pence, and just appears to be a little more polished then Wallace right now. Jays could use a bit of speed as well, but sounds like this trade will go through.

I'm not bashing Wallace in any way, and think he will eventually end up a 30/100 guy, but as a fan of the Toronto Blue Jays, I'd rather have Michael Taylor right now manning RF.

Kyle Drabek has #2 starter potential, with a chance of being an ace. He needs another year in the minors to develop his changeup but appears to be the real deal. He has a fastball that averages in the mid 90's, that can reach 97 (miles per hour, not kilometers for us Canadians). His fastball looks to have some movement. Along with his + Fastball, he has a 12-6 curveball that was rated the best in his draft class. He also throws a rarely used slider, but the limited video I saw didn't look like a terrible pitch.

Big question mark with Drabek is his mental makeup. (Hence my projection as a #2 starter, but most say he's a future ace) Scouts have questioned it, but also read that this might no longer be an issue.

Overall the price for the prospects was steep. On top of having to trade the best pitcher in baseball (not talking fantasy wise), the Jays had to fork over $6 million to get the pitcher they wanted. (This is all based on assumption).

To the casual fan, this trade might look like a terrible trade - the Toronto Star is bashing it, but I don't agree. I think this was a pretty good return, and much better then the proposed Angels offer.

Both Brett Wallace and Michael Taylor's future are bright. From a fantasy perspective just beware that Wallace may eventually end up as a 1B, or even heaven forbid, a full-time DH.

A little birdie told me that a prospects article will probably be written on the players involved in the trade.

[Patlazer]

Anthopoulous already said he projects as our 1st baseman. Maybe they don't have much faith in Lind's defensive abilities there. I don't know if he's ever played 1st but a transition from 3rd to 1st makes more sense than OF to 1st.

I think I heard Taylor projects as a LF/DH, as does Snyder and Lind. Either way there would have been a logjam somewhere. Wallace is supposed to be a better hitter than Taylor, and the Jays have always wanted him so I have no problem with that.

Taylor's speed is over-rated and I think more valuable to us poolies than the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East. Plus he's a very big man, I read a great article on another site about big men and how quickly they lose their speed (profiling Matt Kemp).

I was initially excited about Taylor and confused about Wallace, but after reading tons of info on both I'm happy with the trade.

Hopefully we can trade Overbay at some point during the season when they feel Wallace is ready to come up.