That showing continued a run of poor recent hitting from last season, when he batted just .189/.309/.318 in 256 big-league plate appearances. The Padres outrighted Wallace last November, then re-signed him to a minor-league deal a month later.

Wallace, now 30, was once a first-round draft pick of the Cardinals, as well as one of the keys to the 2009 trade that brought Matt Holliday to St. Louis. Since then, though, Wallace has struggled to get established in the big leagues as he hasn’t balanced his below-average defensive performances at the corner infield spots with the level of offensive production once expected from him. In parts of five career seasons spent with Houston and San Diego, he’s batted a modest .238/.316/.389 with 40 home runs and a cumulative fWAR of -1.4.

The 30-year-old Wallace collected 256 plate appearances with the Padres in 2016, batting a meager, .189/.309/.318. That showing plus Wallace’s below-average defense made him worth -0.8 fWAR last season. The Padres, perhaps unsurprisingly, outrighted Wallace last month rather than taking him through the arbitration process.

The 32-year-old Stammen spent parts of seven seasons on the Nationals’ staff (with a career 3.91 ERA, 6.8 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9, with even better career numbers as a reliever) before struggling with injury issues in 2015. He signed a minor league deal with the Indians prior to the 2016 campaign but did not debut until late June and ended the season with Triple-A Columbus, finishing his season with a 3.62 ERA, 9.2 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9 across three minor league levels.

Villanueva, 25, was once a top prospect in the Cubs system, but they non-tendered him after he missed the entire 2016 campaign after breaking his leg in Spring Training. He batted .257/.314/.438 with 20 home runs in 536 plate appearances split between Double-A and Triple-A in 2015.

San Diego was Arcia’s fourth organization in 2016 alone, as the former top prospect was designated for assignment by the Twins and bounced from Minnesota to Tampa Bay to Miami to San Diego on waivers. Once hoped to be the Twins’ right fielder of the future, Arcia hit just .203/.270/.366 this year and has batted a combined .219/.286/.369 in his past 287 plate appearances between the 2015-16 seasons. The 25-year-old unquestionably possesses pop — he’s homered 44 times in 1075 career plate appearances — but has looked consistently overmatched by left-handers, shows a lack of discipline at the plate and rates as a negative defender in the outfield.

Wallace, meanwhile, hit .189/.309/.318 in 256 plate appearances with San Diego this past season. The 30-year-old is a former top prospect himself, but the former first-rounder has never established himself as a quality regular or even a reliable bench option in the Majors. Wallace has had productive stretches — including above-average season totals in 2012 and 2015 (in small samples of work) — but he’s a cumulative .238/.316/.389 hitter. That’d cut it for a catcher or a defensively strong shortstop, but for a corner infielder the production is light.

The names added to the 40-man are headlined by Guerra, who was one of the centerpieces of last winter’s Craig Kimbrel blockbuster. Guerra was joined by Manuel Margot, Carlos Asuaje and Logan Allen in the trade that sent Kimbrel to Boston, and though he took a step back with a dreadful season (.202/.264/.325 in Class-A Advanced), the Padres still saw enough upside to dedicate a 40-man spot to him. Prior to the 2016 season, Guerra rated as a Top 60 prospect in the eyes of Baseball America, MLB.com, Baseball Prospectus and ESPN.

De La Rosa, 25, has pitched exclusively at Triple-A this year, working to a 4.03 ERA with 6.9 K/9 against 5.6 BB/9 over 22 1/3 frames. That represents a career-worst K:BB ratio in his professional career.

The southpaw spent time in the Diamondbacks bullpen over the past two seasons, putting up a 4.21 ERA in 51 1/3 total frames. De La Rosa bounced from the D’Backs to the Athletics and then to the Dodgers in recent months before reaching San Diego on a waiver claim.

The 28-year-old Wallace, a former top prospect, will make his first big league appearance for a team other than the Astros. He hasn’t seen the show since 2013, but owns a career .242/.313/.391 slash in just over 1,000 career plate appearances in the majors. Wallace has (as usual) hit Triple-A pitching well this year, slashing .305/.380/.460 while carrying a 21.1% strikeout rate.

Here are the day’s further minor moves:

• The Rays announced that right-hander Brandon Gomes has cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Durham. He will be invited to Major League Spring Training. The 30-year-old Gomes found himself designated for assignment last week following the Wil Myers trade.
• Infielder Ian Stewart has joined the Nationals on a minor league pact, Matt Eddy of Baseball America tweets. As Eddy notes, Stewart seems to be a solid match for a Nats’ roster that currently features all right-handed-hitting infielders (if you count Danny Espinosa, who currently sits atop the depth chart at second and is a much better hitter from the right side than the left). Soon to turn 30, Stewart — not unlike Espinosa himself — has failed to maintain the promise of prior MLB seasons, but has shown significant power capability in the past. Stewart will receive $800K in the bigs plus a possible $350K in incentives, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweets.
• The Padres have signed first baseman Brett Wallace to a minor league pact (via Eddy, on Twitter). Like Stewart, Wallace was once a highly-valued prospect. But the 28-year-old has yet to end an MLB campaign with an above-average hitting line, and he does not offer the kind of defensive value that lets his bat play. That said, he could still have some upside remaining and will provide San Diego with a depth piece at a position of need.
• The Red Sox agreed to terms with lefty Casey Crosby (again, via Eddy). Per Eddy, Crosby landed amongst the Tigers’ top thirty prospects seven times. The oft-injured 26-year-old only received three big league starts in Detroit, however, and continued to have control issues after being converted to relief last year at Triple-A.
• 28-year-old outfielder Adron Chambers will head to camp with the Cubs, Cotillo tweets. After seeing minimal playing time at the big league level from 2011-13 with the Cardinals, Chambers spent last year at the Triple-A level with the Astros and Blue Jays. Over 206 plate appearances, he slashed a rather typical .283/.351/.411 in the highest level of the minors.
• The Reds have added several more minor league signings, also via Cotillo. In addition to the previously-reported signing of Ivan De Jesus, Cincinnati has locked up outfielder Jermaine Curtis and righty Nathan Adcock. Curtis, 27, managed only a .675 OPS at Triple-A last year for the Cardinals, and will be looking for a fresh start after spending his entire professional career in that organization. The 26-year-old Adcock has thrown 104 MLB innings over the last several years, mostly in relief, working to a 3.86 ERA in that stretch.
• The Twins have made a series of additions, per a club announcement (via Dustin Morse, on Twitter). Among them are outfielder Wilkin Ramirez and second baseman Jose Martinez. The former is a 29-year-old who has called the Minnesota organization home since 2012. Last year, he put up a .262/.305/.368 line at the highest level of the minors. Martinez, soon to turn 29, slashed .276/.345/.372 at Triple-A last year with the A’s.

This will be Wallace’s second stint with the Blue Jays organization, as Toronto originally acquired him from the A’s in exchange for Michael Taylor, only to flip him to the Astros seven months later, in exchange for Anthony Gose.

Wallace, a former first-round pick and top prospect, has yet to figure it out at the Major League level, though he does have some Triple-A success under his belt. He was having a solid season with Baltimore’s Triple-A affiliate in Norfolk, hitting .265/.329/.389 with 10 homers in 374 plate appearances, and overall he owns a career .300/.366/.479 batting line at that level. However, the 27-year-old has batted just .242/.313/.391 in 311 games over parts of four seasons with the Astros.

The Blue Jays likely felt they needed some first base depth after promoting Triple-A first baseman Dan Johnson to fill in for the injured Adam Lind and Edwin Encarnacion.

Wallace, 27 and now with his fifth organization since being selected 13th overall less than six years ago, is coming off a season in which he batted just .221/.284/.431 with 13 homers in 285 plate apperances for the Astros. Wallace has never hit much in 1077 PAs at the big league level, but he's crushed Triple-A pitching to the tune of a .308/.375/.500 triple-slash in more than 1600 PAs.

To call Wallace a well-traveled first-round draft pick would be an understatement. Originally selected 13th overall by the Cardinals in the 2008 draft, he was traded to the A's for a half season of Matt Holliday a year later in 2009. Oakland held onto Wallace for just five months, however, as he was flipped to the Blue Jays in exchange for then-top-prospect Michael Taylor. Seven months later, Toronto turned around and traded him to the Astros in a one-for-one swap that sent Anthony Gose to the Blue Jays.

Now looking for his fifth organization since being selected 13th overall less than six years ago, Wallace is coming off a season in which he batted just .221/.284/.431 with 13 homers in 285 plate apperances for the Astros. Wallace has never hit much in 1077 PAs at the big league level, but he's crushed Triple-A pitching to the tune of a .308/.375/.500 triple-slash in more than 1600 PAs.

JANUARY 6: The Astros have designated Brett Wallace for assignment to make roster space for newly signed pitcher Jerome Williams, the club announced via press release. Once the game's 27th overall prospect, Wallace never found sustained success in Houston.

Playing the corner infield (mostly first base) over four seasons with the Astros, Wallace never earned more than 379 plate appearances in a season and accumulated a .242/.313/.391 slash (including 29 home runs) in 1,077 plate appearances. Last year, he received 285 plate appearances and put up a .221/.284/.431 line, striking out over 100 times while drawing just 18 walks. (His 36.5% strikeout rate was the worst in the league amongst players with at least 150 plate appearances.)

On the other hand, Wallace is still just 27 years of age and has shown the ability to get on base in the upper minors, where his career Triple-A OBP has approached the .400 mark. And Wallace began to translate his power into production at the MLB level, hitting 22 long balls in his last 539 trips to bat over 2012-13. Wallace is out of options, notes Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter), which complicates his situation for clubs that might like to take a chance on his upside.

• A team official told Joel Sherman of The New York Post that the Yankees have no interest in Pedro Martinez even though he's looking to return (Twitter links). The Yankees changed their mind about Carlos Silva after the right-hander agreed to get in shape and pitch in the minors.
• Mike Petraglia of WEEI.com spoke to Russell Martin, who said the Red Sox expressed interest in signing him this offseason but were concerned about his injured hip.
• Rays prospect Chris Archer holds no ill-will towards the Cubs for dealing him, writes Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune.  The right-hander was a part of the deal that brought Matt Garza to Chicago.
• The Yankees did not send a scout to watch Doug Davis' workout yesterday, reports George A. King III of The New York Post.
• In his Insider-only blog post, ESPN's Buster Olney spoke to some executives that said Manny Ramirez's reported PED use may have altered the future of former Diamondbacks GM Josh Byrnes and manager Bob Melvin. Arizona led the NL West for most of the 2008 season, but were knocked out of postseason race when the Dodgers made a late charge after acquiring Manny at the deadline.
• ESPN's Jerry Crasnick profiled Brett Wallace of the Astros, who was traded three times in the span of 371 days. "The way I choose to look at it, the teams that traded for me all had a plan for me and believed in me," said the first baseman. "But it definitely makes you step back and see the business side of baseball. When you get traded one year out of the draft, it's an eye opener. It doesn't matter how much a team likes you or doesn't like you. Things can change. Things are going to happen, and anyone is touchable."

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• Patrick Mooney of CSNChicago.com hears from Cubs sources that the team isn't talking to the Rangers about Michael Young. The Cubs maintain that they’re comfortable with Jeff Baker and Blake DeWitt at second base.
• Kyle McClellan solidified his bid to become the Cardinals' fifth starter today. As MLB.com's Matthew Leach reports, the converted setup man pitched five shutout innings against the Braves, which presumably lessens the chances that the Cards look outside of the organization for starting pitching. I took a look at McClellan's role in St. Louis last week.
• Brett Wallace collected four hits and drove in seven today, according to MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli. The Astros acquired the first baseman from the Blue Jays last summer after obtaining Anthony Gose from the Phillies in the Roy Oswalt deal. Wallace is vying to become Houston's everyday first baseman.
• As MLB.com's Adam McCalvy reports, the Brewers optioned pitching prospect Mark Rogers to Triple-A today because they weren't confident his shoulder stiffness would go away in time for the season. Once he's at full strength, Rogers remains a candidate to fill in for Zack Greinke, who is expected to miss a few starts with a fractured rib.

• The three newest members of the Dodgers are happy to be in Los Angeles, writes MLB.com's Ken Gurnick.
• The Rangers were the biggest winners at the deadline, writes Scott Miller of CBSSports.com.
• Yunesky Maya tells Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald (Spanish link) that he has been training hard and "in about three weeks" the Nationals can save him a spot on the roster (translation courtesy of Nick Collias).  Earlier today the Nats confirmed that they have inked the 28-year-old hurler to a four-year deal.
• Major league sources tell Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that a three-way trade was discussed in which Mike Lowell could have landed with the Yankees.  In the discussed deal, the Red Sox would have sent Lowell to the Rangers, who would then send the veteran to the Yankees.
• Daniel Barbarisi of The Providence Journal writes that despite his strong first half, Clay Buchholz still couldn't bring himself to relax at the deadline.
• The Giants haven't talked to Carlos Delgado's people since this winter, tweets Mychael Urban of CSNBayArea.com.
• MLB.com's James Hall writes that Indians manager Manny Acta is happy to have July 31st in the rear view mirror.  Jake Westbrook, Kerry Wood, Austin Kearns, and Jhonny Peralta were all shipped out in advance of the deadline.
• The future of Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu is clearly in doubt, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
• Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos had his eye on center fielder Anthony Gose for quite some time, writes Jordan Bastian of MLB.com.  Anthopoulos finally got his man in exchange for first baseman Brett Wallace.

Here is the latest from around the baseball blogosphere, a day before the non-waiver trade deadline…

• Phoul Ballz spoke to Lakewood Blue Claws manager Mark Parent about Jonathan Villar's inclusion in the Roy Oswalt deal. Parent managed Villar this season.
• Pale Hose Pariah looks at the trade value of Lance Berkman and Brad Hawpe.
• River Ave. Blues wants to see the Yankees swing a trade for Berkman to be the team's designated hitter.
• 1 Blue Jays Way breaks down to the Anthony Gose–Brett Wallace swap.
• The Process Report tackles the Adam Dunn to the Rays rumor.
• Meanwhile, SD Sports Net wants to see the Padres trade for Dunn.
• Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness explains why the Dodgers shouldn't add a starter before the deadline.
• Pittsburgh Lumber Co. calculates Paul Maholm's trade value.
• Scouting The Sally compares the trade value of top prospects Jesus Montero and Wilmer Flores.
• Blogging From The Bleachers breaks down the various Cliff Lee hauls.
• Bleacher GM steps into Dave Dombrowski's shoes for a little while.
• More Hardball looks back at some terrible trades from the 1990's.

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.

• Anthopoulos explained the trade to MLB.com's Jordan Bastian. He's attempted to acquire Gose from the Phillies multiple times before, and sees him as a potential impact center fielder.  Upside over certainty.
• ESPN's Keith Law says this trade "could not possibly make less sense to me," and views Wallace as "twice as valuable a prospect as Gose."
• Dustin Parkes of Drunk Jays Fans points out that value has been lost by the Jays at some point.  His colleague Andrew Stoeten isn't concerned about that, but wonders if the deal is "indicative of an organizational shift regarding the timeline for contention."  He also wonders if the Blue Jays feel they are "jumping off on [Wallace] before his value drops."