Brett Wallace vs Josh Bell

Well, you can always play Wallace some at 3B and live with bad defense. He’s not a butcher – he’s surehanded and has a nice arm. He just has no range at all. So, for a year or two you can leave him there and live with it, using a late innings defensive replacement. I don’t think I buy it, though. Oakland values defense too highly for that. Still, they have been starving for offense, so its certainly possible they go that route… Im not confident enough in Wallace the rookie’s bat to live with subpar defense over there, though.

I was under the impression Doolittle can probably play LF. I also still think Carter can handle the OF – and it might even be a better fit for him than 1B.

Thing is, take Wallace out of the equation and there is still a big logjam, so its not like playing Wallace at 3B solves all the problems anyway. As you note, there are at least five guys who could help the major league team whose best position is probably 1B/DH.

Fox, I don’t see as much of an asset or really in their plans. He’s a platoon/super sub they can use in a few spots and live with what he brings. Maybe his primary job description is backup catcher, too.

Logjams often work themselves out until spring – which isnt fun for fans, but often makes the most sense. I would think they probably start the year with Barton and Fox in the majors and the other guys in the minors. Then again I never expected them to break camp with those kids last year, either. We’ll see who gets hurt, moved, etc… Fox, Barton and Doolittle don’t have a lot of trade value, but if Beane was motivated to move them its not like he would have a hard time doing it and getting something useful back. Long term, I think its Wallace and Carter at 1B/DH and Doolittle in the OF/bench. Alternatively, I would prefer Wallace at DH, Carter in the OF, Doolittle off the bench and pick up somebody for 1B (not like its hard). Brian Cashman had a great quote about DH’s – applies almost equally to 1B:

“You can turn left, you can turn right, you can look up and down and you’ve got a DH begging for a job,” Cashman said. “The DH market, you’ve got opportunity there. You should be able to take advantage of that if you’re a club.”

So, really, Wallace and Carter are the only guys I need to worry about in terms of long term plans. Everybody else is fungible. That’s not to say they’re worthless, but if they get stuck in a bad spot with lack of ABs I just live with it.

Here’s a video that I shot of Wallace taking grounders before a Triple-A game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AomsDHb7WPo

He does have limited range but he’s pretty agile, has soft hands and his arm is good. A NL front office member told me he thinks Wallace could be an adequate defensive third baseman.