Acquired in the Matt Holliday trade with the Cardinals in July, Wallace was assigned to Sacramento and quickly proved that the hype surrounding his offensive skills was justified. He batted .302 with nine home runs, 28 RBIs and a .365 on-base percentage in 44 games.
"He's spent more time in Triple-A than Chris, so he's ahead of him in that respect," Lieppman said. "But I'd put him in that same category, where he's similar to where Buck was in '07."
Questions abound regarding Wallace's defensive prowess at third base, prompting speculation that he'll eventually end up at first base, but Lieppman suggests that Wallace is better on defense than people who haven't seen much of him think.
"He's a little bit unorthodox in his actions and his throwing, but he gets the job done," Lieppman said. "And the important thing is that he wants to stay at third base. Growing up, [former A's third baseman] Carney Lansford was his guy, and he's committed to being a good third baseman. So that's where we're going to keep him this spring, and we'll kind of go from there. But I'd say he's probably going to be in the big leagues at some point this year, too."
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