Padres Add Brett Wallace On A Minor-League Deal

Once upon a time Brett Wallace was one of the top prospects in the game. Wallace was a first round pick of the Cardinals back in 2008 and a centerpiece to the trade with the Oakland A’s that landed them Matt Holliday. Alas, like so many other big prospects before him, Wallace bounced around and was unsuccessful with a couple of different teams. The Astros gave him a chance for four years to win the job at first and due to injury and ineffectiveness, it didn’t work out. 

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Today, per Baseball America’s Matt Eddy, the Padres inked the former first round pick to minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training.

The 28 year old was in AAA for both the Orioles and the Blue Jays last season. Combined, Wallace hit .282/.350/.426 with 17 homers and 56 RBI.

Wallace has more experience at first base than third at this point, but can play both.

In my opinion, Wallace does have a chance to make this team as a bat off the bench and could even push Yonder Alonso and Will Middlebrooks for some playing time if he performs well enough in Spring Training.