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When the news that the Astros would sign Jerome Williams broke, questions immediately arose about the 40-man roster implications. But, the Astros wouldn't need to make a move until Williams was officially signed and completed his physical.
Both of those things happened on Thursday, so we have our roster move, and it's a doozy.
The Astros designated Brett Wallace for assignment.
Wallace appeared in 79 games across two stints for the Astros last season, collecting 14 doubles, 13 home runs and 36 RBI. He has spent parts of each of his last four seasons (2010-13) with Houston, appearing in 311 career Major League games. His splits sort of made him a match to platoon with Jesus Guzman, but that's not to be.
Wallace was picked up as a secondary piece of the Roy Oswalt trade when the Astros traded Anthony Gose, acquired from the Phillies, to the Blue Jays for Wallace. The first baseman was then immediately installed in the lineup, taking Lance Berkman's place. Wallace hit .222/.296/.319 in 159 plate appearances that season and could not hold onto the job. He bounced between the majors and the minors for the next three seasons, much like the fan base's feelings on him bounced between love and hate over that time.
Even still, there are some who are disappointed in the outcome because Wallace may still have some upside. But, the fact is he's a .242/.313/.391 career hitter in 1,077 plate appearances. We don't know definitively about players until they reach around 1,500 PAs,but Wallace is close enough for us to have a pretty clear picture of the player he is.
Basically, the Astros traded their least interesting position player for a league-average starter.
Yay?
