So the initial shock is slowly fading. Maybe a more reasoned view will come out.
It was a shock because I had, I think we all had, penciled Brett Wallace into first base next year. Yeah his numbers at Vegas could be better but you can't change your view of a prospect because of 4 ok months of baseball. Doing things like that cause teams to do stupid things like trade Yunel Escobar for Alex Gonzalez. Letting a few months of baseball chance your opinion about a player is a foolish thing. Clearly Wallace wasn't hitting poorly enough to make a person decide he was no longer a prospect. I still expect him to be a very good major leaguer.
All that said, we do have other options at first base. Adam Lind is going to be a part of this team for a long time and, to me, he's too young to bury at DH. Lind is a big target at first base. He seems to make the catches well. We have seen him play a few (very few) innings at first and he doesn't look out of place. I'm relatively sure with a little bit of work he could be a decent first baseman.
Now the player we got, Anthony Gose. At first look his numbers don't seem all that impressive. But looking a little more closely they do seem better. He is only in his second full season of pro ball and just 19 years old. When he was drafted in the second round of the 2008 draft, he was both a pitcher and a batter. He apparently threw a 97 mph fastball. Last year at 18, he hit .263/.323/.353 with 76 steals in 96 attempts. Only 2 home runs but then just 18 years old. This year, moved up to High-A he is hitting .263/.325/.385, with 4 home runs, 36 steals in 63 attempts. Not great base stealing but clearly he has the speed to steal, so I'd expect his success rate will improve as he learns how.
The lack of power isn't troubling, most kids put on muscle as they leave their teens. Scouting reports I've seen say he is expect to fill out as he ages.
His defense in CF is supposed to be great. Speed to cover all the ground needed and an arm that can throw 97, you have to figure he'll get his share of assists. One scouting report I saw said they expect him to win a Gold Glove one day.
The other factor is that it is easier to find first baseman than it is to find good CFers.
The thing is that everyone had Wallace as one of the top prospects in baseball. I don't think anyone would have had him out of the top three of Jay prospects. He has the potential to be a special bat. While I don't think it is as lopsided a trade as I did at first glance, but I can't help but think we should have gotten a little bit more for Wallace. I guess the hope is that our scouts saw something in Gose and that with coaching he can be a special CFer.
I wonder if this mean Jays don't have as much faith in Jake Marisnick. Jake is about 4 months younger and is just at Rookie League now.
Let's put up a poll to see what everyone thinks.