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These Kids Are Alright is FanHouse's look at minor league prospects who could have a fantasy impact in the near future.Even if you don't avidly follow prospects or the minor leagues, you have probably heard of Brett Wallace before. Remember, he went to the Oakland A's in the Matt Holliday trade. At the time of the deal, R.J. White mentioned that Wallace will likely end up at first in the future. He has played five games at first base for Oakland's Triple-A affiliate (the Sacramento River Cats), while staying at the hot corner 24 times. Another thing he's been doing? Hitting home runs.
In 62 Triple-A games for the Cardinals' affiliate, Wallace had six home runs and 19 RBI. In exactly half the appearances to this point, Wallace has the same 19 RBI and has already exceeded the home run total with seven. He's hit a home run every 18 at-bats since the trade. He actually had a stretch last week where he hit five home runs in four games and is hitting .341 in his last 10 games.
We already knew Wallace, the first-rounder from Arizona State could hit, but it's nice to see the power stroke emerge. Plus, he's in a better situation to get immediate playing time than he was in St. Louis. The A's are way out of the race for 2009, and are looking to get into rebuilding mode quite quickly. They are plugging along with Adam Kennedy at third base. They've been getting by with the uninspiring trio of Tommy Everidge, Daric Barton and Nomar Garciaparra at first base. Eric Chavez is reportedly going to be ready to go for next season, but we've heard that song and dance before.
The simple fact is that the path is really clear for Wallace to begin making noise in Oakland pretty soon. When September call-ups happen, he'll be on the first bus to Oakland, and then the A's will have every reason to see how major league ready he is. You can look for him to help in deep AL-Only leagues this September, and he's a must-own in mixed dynasty leagues (in AL-Only dynasty leagues, he should have already been picked up).
A final note: Wednesday is Wallace's 23rd birthday. What better time to hype him up?
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