First off, Billy Beane did a nice job in getting two of the Cardinals top-10 prospects for Matt Holliday, who kind of sleep walked
through the first half of the year and was very mediocre. Add that to the fact that Holliday is a Scott Boras client and a free agent after the 2009 season, and I figured that the 29 year-old left-fielder would not have quite the market the A's had hoped for. However, Billy Beane dealt at the right time (in the midst of a Holliday hot streak) and landed the A's a couple of good youngsters. The top name of the three coming to the A's is the 13th overall pick from the 2008 draft, Brett Wallace. The powerful hitting third-basemen was the Cards' second ranked prospect coming into the year, behind only Colby Rasmus, and could find his way up to Oakland sometime in August. The 22-year old Marin native is hitting .289 with 11 homers and 35 RBI in 356 minor league at-bats this year and very well could be the A's third-baseman of the future.The other two guys who the A's got in the deal aren't to shabby themselves. They got themselves
s a potent right-handed arm in Clayton Mortensen (2007 supplemental pick), the Cards' #6 prospect coming into the season, and top starting pitcher. They also got a speedy, 21 year-old outfielder in Shane Peterson (2nd round pick in 2008). Mortensen wasn't quite dominating in AAA ball when acquired, but he's sporting a respectable 4.37 era to go with a 7-6 record and 82 strikeouts in 105 innings this year. Mortensen will report to Sacramento at first, but he could be the first of the three guys acquired to make their debut in Oakland. Peterson was hitting .296 with 7 home runs, 47 RBI and 12 stolen bases in 95 minor league contests in 2009. He was with the Cardinals AA team at the time of the trade, but also could report with the other two to the A's AAA team in Sacramento.
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