Brett Wallace, who ranked as one of Baseball America‘s top 40 prospects in back-to-back seasons as a minor leaguer, has been released by the Astros after hitting just .242 with a .704 OPS in 311 games through age 26.
At one point Wallace looked like a good-hitting third baseman, but his defense required a shift to first base and his bat simply never developed enough for him to be an asset there. As a prospect he was a major piece in three big trades--including being the centerpiece of the Cardinals-A’s deal for Matt Holliday--but when exposed to the waiver wire by the Astros recently he passed through after going unclaimed by all 29 other teams.
Wallace could latch on somewhere as a bench player, but if not he’ll sign a minor-league deal and head back to Triple-A for a sixth season after hitting .308 with an .875 OPS in 375 games already.
