In The System: Brett Wallace

Position: 3B/1B DOB: August 26, 1986
Bats: Left Throws: Right

Wallace was acquired in a trade with the Oakland Athletics for OF prospect Michael Taylor (who was previously acquired in the Roy Halladay trade). Ironically, but obviously not coincidentally, Wallace was previously drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 42nd round of the 2005 June Draft, but chose not to sign. Three years later he was the Cardinals first pick (13th overall) in 2008.

Wallace split 2009 between 3 teams, AA-Springfield and AAA-Memphis with the St. Louis Cardinals organization and AAA-Sacremento with the Oakland A's and combined to hit .293/.367/.455 with 20 HR and 63 RBI in 532 AB. The power numbers are still not exactly where the Jays would like them to be but they are an improvement over '08's totals of 8 HR and 36 RBI in 202 AB, with a .337/.427/.530 clip. His full minor league stats can be viewed at Baseball-Reference here.

Up Yours Paxton, Toss Off Eliopoulos!

Just read a very interesting article over at The Tao of Stieb, called James Paxton and Jake Eliopoulos are "Good Canadian Boys".

It would have been really interesting to watch these two talented Canucks rise through the Jays' system together. Instead, Jays fans will have to settle for the debut of first-round pick RHP Chad Jenkins in 2010.


Jenkins was selected by the Jays with the 20th overall pick and signed with the Jays on August 15th, 2009. The 21 year-old (1987-12-22) agreed to a contract with a $1.359 million dollar signing bonus. Here's an interesting article from Jenkins' Kennesaw State University website.

Here's a link to a complete list of the Jays' 2009 draft selections and their signing dates. Another noticeable player who didn't sign with the Jays was third-rounder (99th overall) RHP Jake Barrett. Skimming through some years of Jays' draftees and I just realized they drafted current A's prospect Brett Wallace in the 42nd round back in 2005. Wallace eventually signed with St. Louis after being selected 13th overall in the 2008 draft. Too bad we weren't able to get his name in some ink.

Although it's probably safe to write off Paxton and Eliopoulos, the Blue Jays selected LHP Brad Mills again in 2007 after failing to sign him in 2006. He was selected in the 22nd round in 2006 and elected not to sign. A year later Mills signed as a 4th round draft pick. Mills made his Blue Jays' debut in 2009, making two starts and posting an 0-1 record with a 14.09 ERA in two rough outings against the defending World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies.