In today's (Insider-Only) report on the Arizona Fall League, Keith Law talked Anthony Gose, whom the Astros traded to Toronto for Brett Wallace:
When the Jays traded Brett Wallace to Houston for Gose two summers ago, I didn't understand the deal, as Wallace was a polished, disciplined hitter while Gose was all tools but didn't have great performances or advanced mechanics. Wallace, it turns out, had a fatal flaw that was exposed in AAA and now in the majors -- he cannot turn on inside pitches, so he tries to go to the opposite field instead; with minimal defensive value and no apparent way to fix that flaw, he was expendable for the Jays. Gose, meanwhile, is no longer a tools goof but the kind of high-upside prospect Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos has said all along that he wants in the organization. Gose still needs work in some areas, including developing a viable two-strike approach, but the risk the Blue Jays took in acquiring him appears to be paying off in a huge way.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
