DOWNTOWN — Even though they cannot commit to his glove, the Cardinals had Brett Wallace’s bat in their crosshairs for the 13th pick for awhile. They figured only one thing could keep Wallace from being their first selection in this year’s draft.

Those so-called Moneyball guys out in Oakland.

As the players the Cardinals expected to go early in Thursday’s first round came off the board, the Cardinals narrowed their choice at 13 to two players – Wallace and high school RHP/OF Aaron Hicks. They figured Hicks would be there at No. 13, but they were hoping Oakland would pass on Wallace, even though he had all the numbers (and the look-past-it body type) that the Athletics are known to value. Wallace, before going to Arizona State, was a Bay Area prep star.

When Oakland took Rickie Week’s brother, Jemile Weeks, the Cardinals’ pick was easy.

“It’s too difficult to walk away from a guy who has this kind of chance to hit,” said Chuck Fick, the Cardinals scout who spotted and followed Wallace. “His value will be more offensively. I think he’s a dangerous hitter. Not only a good hitter, he’s a dangerous hitter. At any point in time, he has the ability to hit it out of the yard.”

Wallace, 21, is hitting .414 and slugging .762 for the Sun Devils this season. He has 21 home runs and 81 RBIs and he’s stolen 16 bases. With one more home run he’ll tie Barry Bonds with the fourth-most homers as a Sun Devil with 45. Wallace said in an conference call this afternoon — as mentioned in the previous blog entry — that he is eager to sign with the Cardinals as soon as his college season is over.

Depending on how he grades out with the staff there in Florida, he could start with a Cardinals’ full-season team, though no higher than High-A Palm Beach.

The Sun Devils moved Wallace back to third base — he said he played their in high school — to get Ike Davis (drafted 18th by the Mets) in the lineup at first base. Wallace also got exposed to left field while with Team USA.

“I can play wherever they need me,” Wallace said.

The Cardinals acknowledge that there’s no guarantee what position Wallace will play as he advances, and that they could quickly find their first-round pick manning the same position as their franchise player, Albert Pujols. Wallace has improved at third throughout this season, Fick said. He short arms the ball, but his arm is good enough to stick at the position. He continues to improve his footwork and his reactions at the position, enough that he’ll start his pro career at third.

As an infielder with his bat “his value to us his tremendous,” an official said.

Wallace won his conference’s triple crown as a sophomore with a .404-16-78 line, and he claimed the crown again this season with a .414-21-81 line.

“You debate a lot with these guys — is their bat going to come?” Luhnow said. ”That’s a big question. But in this case, he’s proven so much more than a lot of other players. There’s not a ton of question marks when it comes to the bat.”

Luhnow said: “His path to the big leagues is swinging the bat.”

They believe the bat will also be the answer when it comes to his position.

Luhnow believes he can succeed “quickly” in the minors because of the bat, and perhaps that will push him as well. He is the kind of hitter who, as Luhnow described Wednesday, goes quickly in drafts.

“He’s always hit,” Fick said. “He’s not a washout at the position. We will find a place for him. I said the same thing (to chairman Bill DeWitt Jr.) the other day. He’s a professional hitter. Everything else will fall into place.”

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