deadline deals

well the tigers and white sox both dealt for pitchers, but neither got the best one available. i still don't quite understand why people thought halladay was so overpriced. if i were running a contending al team, i would have done almost anything to get the one guy who owns the al east. at least the sox ended up with a pretty good pitcher in peavy.

good luck to them the rest of the way, but when the yankees beat you in 7 don't say i didn't tell you.

latest pirate trade rumor

so the pirates are rumored to be trading lefty reliever john grabow to the cubs. this trade will make grabow the 9th player off the opening day roster to be traded. 9/25 gone. that is just crazy. oh yea, and the total salary of their current active roster is just over 21 million, and that includes grabow's 2.3 million salary. the current highest paid pirate is paul maholm at 2.5 mil whose most important role was probably being part of the allen & ginter code.

update: make that 10/25 as they threw in tom gorzelanny

nix that giants trade

forget about the possible trade i outlined below because the giants just traded alderson for freddy sanchez. i'll score this one as a major steal for the bucs. this makes me feel like the current gm knows what he's doing.

now i'll be keeping my eye on alderson autos like this orange version.

lets make a deal: giants

why the giants want halladay: so i just read an article on baseball prospectus stating that the giants' odds of making the playoffs would more than double with halladay. this, of course is all based on lots of fancy math that i dont care to try to understand. there was also another fancy article over there explaining how much money a team stands to earn if the team makes the playoffs. it breaks down like this: a team earns an additional 25 million for losing in the first round, an extra 45 million for losing in the league championship, 75 million more for losing the world series and 105 million for winning the world series. if you're the giants, why not trade some of your stockpiled pitching talent for a 28% chance of at least 25 million in extra revenue while only paying halladay about 6 million for the rest of the season.

a third article on prospectus detailed the giants windfall of young pitching with madison bumgarner leading the way. while the giants may be reluctant to include young madison, they still have many other great pitching prospects. i think the blue jays would take a deal including tim alderson, jonathan sanchez, and angel villalona. wouldn't the giants become instant favorite for the wild card and big time contenders in the nl this year? look at 2010's starting rotation. lincecum, halladay, cain, and bumgarner (in may). oh yea, and who could forget the 126 million dollar man, barry zito? sounds like favorites to win it all to me.

probability of this deal getting done: low, the giants need offense. they'll dangle that youthful pitching to try to get a big stick. although, with philly getting lee, its a better chance that before.

p.s. philly got lee, but did you notice that all 3 players that the jays wanted are still available?

i like razor

i'll come out and say it. i like razor. i like their ebay store and their vision for selling individual cards in the bay. if i were to start my own card company, i'd honestly follow much of their business practice. i know a lot of people get their panties in a twist about hand delivering products for beckett to review, but wouldn't you do the same thing if you were in their position. really, its just good business to get some of your best product in front of collectors. i dont like beckett as much as the next guy, but they still are the most visible card information source. if i were to change one thing, i'd support the main blogs much more. other than that, i really like what razor is doing.

buy it now

get your hands on some brian matusz cards now. of any prospect out there, i think he is the surest thing. the kid was absolutely dominating in college and team usa. he has been ripping through the minors. next stop, orioles starting rotation. i think he'll be there sometime after may of next year. the o's will keep him down there just like weiters to save a year of arbitration.

this nice patch auto from last year's team usa set just hit the market. i'm guessing it will go for under $60. so before you go bust a box of series 2 topps to get your marcus giles and orlando hudson relics, consider picking up a nice brian matusz auto.

another crazy day in baseball

josh willingham hit 2 grand slams yesterday against the brew crew. as amazing as that may sound, there was once a young hot hitting 3rd baseman for the cardinals that accomplished the same feat in one inning! fernando tatis hit 2 big fly balls with the bases loaded in the same inning 10 years ago.

you may remember tatis from his hot 97 bowman chrome rookie cards back in the day, but here is a nice on card auto from 99 skybox. i can't imagine that it will go for very much, and its a must for any tatis collector.

this guy is worth a championship

at least thats what the phils think. kyle drabek is holding up the halladay deal. not him personally, but the phils seem unwilling to inclde him in any deal for halladay.

this is totally stupid. i dont know how any one can say that drabek's potential is worth an actual breathing, dominating halladay. now, drabek has been pretty dominating too, but its double a.

to each his own, and if you'd like to make a drabek auto your own, check out this auto rookie from bowman sterling. they've been going for about 20 bucks in the bay.

lets make a deal: detroit

why detroit wants halladay: they are currently leading the al central by 2 games over the chisox. i've seen numerous statistical analysis about how halladay would add 3-5 wins for a team. this would all but insure a division title for the tigers. the real value in halladay is having him pitch at least 2 games in any playoff series. you have to like your chances there. he also has pitched his entire career against top teams like the yankees and red sox and has proven to be able to handle these teams. so now you'd have halladay along with the rest of detroit's pitching staff, and suddenly they look like big time contenders.

detroit does have some nice young pitching prospects, but i see this deal working like this. dontrelle willis is currently earning 10 million this year working through his anxiety issues in triple a. he's due 12 million next year. the tigers have also been trying to get out of magglio ordonez's contract. he'll likely make his clauses, and that would put him at 18 million in 2010 and 15 million in 2011. so here is the deal. halladay and wells to detroit for willis, ordonez, and one prospect.

why this works for both teams: detroit gets halladay!! nuff said. they also dont take a big hit financially and they are out from under the ordonez contract. they are saddled with wells' contract instead, but he is alot younger than ordonez, and they really have a good shot at winning the next 2 titles. toronto gets rid of the awful wells contract. they also get more financial relief after 2011 and some of those compensation picks as well. dont sleep on willis who has proven that he is an effective pitcher in the past. if he can get his head straightened out, then this would be a really good deal.

probability of this deal getting done: medium. this is my dark horse deal if the phils are stupid and refuse to give up kyle drabek.

before there was doc halladay...

there was doc gooden. dwight gooden was born too late. can you even begin to imagine the hype that would surround him if he were drafted two years ago? 07 bowman draft would be the absolute hottest item right now if they had autos of gooden in their product. a 19 year old who goes 17-9 with a 2.60 era and leads the league with 276 ks. thats exactly what doc did in his rookie campiagn of 1984.

many might think that he had reached his ceiling. how could you possibly improve on those numbers. well, in 1985, doc did just that. here is his line for the year: 24-4, 1.53 era, 16 cg, 8 sho, 268 k. that line ranks up there with some of the best pitching seasons ever.

sadly, doc got caught up in drugs and derailed his promising career. today, you can pick up a nice on card auto from 2005 ud origins for a reasonable price.

lets make a deal: phillies

why philadelphia wants halladay: they are 5.5 gmaes up on florida and atlanta. i have serious doubt that either of those teams will actually push the defending champions, but winning the division isnt the goal here. the goal is winning another world series, and having halladay would surely make them the NL favorites for this year and next. the asking price is also very reasonable. the phils certainly have a deep farm system, and losing the likes of kyle drabek, j.a. happ, and dominic brown wouldnt be considered mortgaging the future. really i think the blue jays could get one more piece from them. also, remember this, if halladay were to leave after next season, the phils would get 2 first round picks.

probability of this deal getting done: high, it makes sense for the phils, and they have the resources necessary to get this deal done.

top rookie

with training camp about to open, its officially football season. the last 5 months have been hard. football is my favorite sport to watch (baseball is my favorite to collect.) so my question for today is which rookie will have the biggest year? last year it was a pair of matts. ryan and forte had spectacular years and their cards were some of the hottest selling ones in the industry.

who will it be this year? will it be a high profile guy like stafford, sanchez, or moreno? or will it be an unknown free agent or later round pick? look for rookie rb james davis to make a splash if anything happens to jamal lewis. the depth chart is clear in front of him if the usually durable lewis starts to break down in his tenth season.

if you don't like press pass, i'd opt for this ud icons auto numbered to 99.

you're witnessing history

one thing i love about baseball is the chance for the extraordinary. each and every game has the chance to be historical or to see a first. today, mark buehrle made history as he threw the 17th perfect game in regular season major league history. buehrle, who is my pick as the next 300 game winner, has faced the minimum number of batters before though. he faced 27 batters in his 2007 no-hitter against texas. his only baserunner that game came when he walked sammy sosa in the fifth inning. after only 2 pitches, buerle picked off sosa.

great job by mark, but what seperated this game from the other 16 is that it included another spectactular event. josh fields hit a grand slam to help fuel the 5-0 win over the tampa bay rays. this was the first grand slam in a perfect game.

want to pick up a nice josh fields auto? check out this on card beauty from 2005 turkey red.

and the winner is:

Sophie K. Sophie, cards have been sent. i hope you enjoy. thanks to all who participated!

first contest

to celebrate the new record for most visits in one day (thanks mario!) i will be holding my first contest. to enter, just leave a comment with your name and how you found this site. the winner will receive this 2008 razor metal base robbie weinhardt auto. this card was limited to 199 copies. also, you will be receiving a 2005 topps chrome update ricky romero black refractor #214/250.


update: the contest will end tonight at 10 pm est. all you have to do is leave a comment and tell me where you heard about this site, and the cards pictured above could be yours!

underrated: 1996 finest refractors

back in the day, these were the hottest cards out there. im talking about the gold refractors from 1996 finest. i was never lucky enough to pull one of these, but luckily, they can be had on ebay for some decent prices.

check out this jeff bagwell. like most inserts from this time period, it will go for much less than it highest book value from years ago.

lets make a deal

new series that will be running until the non-waiver trading deadline. its called lets make a deal. ill come up with trades that could land the jewel of this trading season: roy halladay. first up is the chicago white sox.

before i start, i want to give my thoughts on trading halladay. first, i like the idea. it has to be done if you're toronto. second, the price will be at least 2 first round caliber plays and another very good prospect, or 1 good prospect if the jays can swap out vernon wells' contract for another big, but less hurtful, contract.

why chicago wants halladay: they are only 3.5 games back of detroit right now in a very winnable central division. halladay would almost certainly make them the favorites right away. the chisox would feel much better with gavin floyd as there #3 man if halladay were their ace.

what it will take: gordon beckham, aaron por- wait hold up, if it takes beckham, chicago is not doing this deal. they would be more likely to do the wells deal. so its wells and halladay for jermaine dye and pithing prospect john ely.

probability of this deal happening: low. money wise, chicago has all their money tied up in pitching, 1b, dh, and dye. since wells would need a spot and chicago would need some payroll relief, dye makes the most sense. the only problem is that dye has been their most productive offensive player this year. replacing him with wells, who will make twice as much next year, is just plain offensive.

i search for this everyday

www.ebay.com
michael robinson finest

disappointment.

everyday i get up and type that search into ebay. im looking for my last piece of the rainbow. ive missed out on it twice. im looking for a 2006 finest michael robinson gold refractor. the last one went for only 9 bucks. i wasn't paying attention to the time and forgot to bid. that was a tough one to take. the one before it went for $30, and i just wasnt willing to pay that. this has been a tough set to put together. im not even really expecting to find the 1/1's. i have the base, refractor, xfractor, blue refractor, blue xfractor, green refractor, green xfractor, black refractor, black xfractor, and the gold xfractor. just missing the regular gold. does anybody have one of these laying around somewhere?

new favortie set

ive been following ricky romero cards lately, and ive been waiting for this one to pop up. its picture at the left and found in 2005 topps chrome update and highlights. there are loads of good rookies from today's stars in this set.

i particularly like the red x-fractor parallel. ive always like x-fractors and colored refractors so it makes sense that id like a combination of the two. i picked up romero's black refractor numbered to 250 last week for 6 bucks. this red refractor is numbered to 65. hopefully i can snag it for under $10, but i have a feeling it may go for over $20.

just another recent ebay purchase (jarep)

i recently picked up this beauty from the bay. i had tried to win it earlier in the year but was outbid. i made sure that didn't happen this time. i won the auction for $3.35. throw in another $3 for shipping, and it will be mine for a total of $6.35. it was a little bit more than i wanted to pay, but i dont see these available very often.

the shipping is a bit steep. not that $1 or 75 cents really means that much, but i dont see how these sellers justify charging $3 or more for standard shipping. i charge $2.25. its about $1.25 usually for shipping itself, 11 cents for the for the toploader and penny sleeve., and 45 cents for the bubble mailer. i swear the bubble mailers have gone up in price about 33% in the last year or so. my total expenses for shipping are about $1.80 so i guess i could come down some as well, but $3, even though its pretty standard, just makes me mad some times.

what do you charge for shipping?

the blue jays biggest problem

21 million, 23 million, 21 million, 21 million, 21 million. ring a bell? im not talking about how much cc sabathia or mark teixeria are making. its how much vernon wells is making over the next 5 years. vernon wells and his 9 home runs and .303 on base percentage is going to make over 20 freaking million a year over the next 5. trading halladay is not what the jays need. it only makes sense to trade him if they can convince someone to take wells' contract along with halladay's.


as far as wells is concerned, you can pick up a nice on card auto of him here.

one of my favorite auto sets

besides being one of the most recognizable designs in all of baseball, the 1952 topps design lends itself perfectly to the on card auto. that's why i loved it when topps brought back the design for a rookie set.

check out this dan uggla from the 2006 '52 topps rookie edition featuring a nice on card auto. hurry though, there is less than 2 hours left on the auction.

2009 allen & ginter autos

is it just me or does the auto checklist for '09 allen & ginter really suck? this biggest auto is michael phelps, but as far a baseball players go, you're looking at longoria and hanley ramirez. the next best include, this phil hughes, which seems like its grossly overpriced, ryan howard, and joba chamberlain.

if you're looking for hits, i'd pass, but i guess allen & ginter is really for the set collectors to begin with. still, would it be too much to ask for a few more top player autos? i'd be happy with roy halladay, dan haren, nick swisher, and ian kinsler. you wouldn't even need a pujols or a-rod to make me happy.

jump on it now

if you witnessed brett anderson's dismantling of the red sox on monday, you were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of what this guy is capable of. in the past, anderson has been pegged as a command/control lefty, but with a steady 92-94 fastball that occasionally touches 97, he is much more than that.

home runs have been a problem, but he hasn't surrendered any in his last 3 starts covering 19 1/3 innings. he does indeed have good control as shown by his 2.54 SO/BB ratio, and honestly, at 21 years old, the guy has tremendous upside but still a lot to learn.

anderson has some autos available from his time with team usa in 2005. i recommend jumping on this one now instead of buying a impulse blaster and a couple packs from target.

flashback 1996

it was the summer of 1996. i was a cocky 11 year old little leaguer that was certain i would one day go to lsu on a baseball scholarship. when i told me dad about my intentions, he just scoffed and said 'not when you've got blue and white down the road." he was speaking of penn state which was about an hour and a half drive from my home town. he turned out to be absolutely right.

the college world series matched my lsu tigers against miami. it was the bottom of the ninth, two outs, one man on for second baseman warren morris. lsu was trailing 8-7 until morris deposited the first pitch just over the right field wall. it was his first home run of the year and first walk off HR in college world series history.

my pirates eventually traded for him and he had a stellar rookie campaign in 1998. unfortunately it would be his best season as a pro before retiring in 2006. i bet this card won't get much more than the opening $0.99.

would you take this chance?

here we have an interesting auction. it is for the redemption pictured above. as you can see it's a 2009 finest redemption for rookie #10. it is also a gold refractor of whoever rookie #10 turns out to be. the $200 buy it now price might seem a bit high, but what if it's stephen strasburg? what if it's autographed? surely if that were the case, this redemption would be worth much much more based on the sales of his other low numbered autos. so i ask 2 questions. what do you think strasburg's chances of making it to the bigs this year are? and what do you think the chances of him being redemption #10?

2009 topps magic football

i'm really liking 2009 topps magic football. i love the fact that the players are in their college unis. i know this isn't for everyone, but when you're a penn state football fan, it's nice to see some cards of your favorite college players sporting the blue and white. it looks like paul posluszny autos are going in the $7-$8 range. i may have to pick up one of these. i might also snag a derrick williams and dan connor while im at it.

a big purchase yesterday

so i picked up the card to the left yesterday to send over to mario at wax heaven. its my little way of saying thanks for keeping me entertained for the last year and a half. its a shame he doesn't get paid for all he does. i mean, i pay over $200/year to read about penn state football, and mario provides way more articles.

i was also able to secure the gold and black refractors for him as well. so, mario, keep a lookout for the final pieces of your 2007 miller finest collection. they will be in the mail as soon as the xfractor arrives.

some talent for a change

so the pirates traded 2/3 of their starting outfield away for the second consecutive year. the first move, trading nate mclouth, didn't make any sense to me. it wasn't the fact that they traded one of their more talented players. i've come to expect that. the really disappointing thing was that it seemed like they could have gotten a lot more for him. if they had kept him until the trading deadline, i think the pirates could have made a big score with some top prospects.

i was really excited about the other trade. the pirates essentially exchanged nyjer morgan for lastings milledge. to me, that was huge. milledge is a very talented player. probably the most talented player the pirates have had since bonds. this was a steal. i don't mean to knock morgan, but he wasn't a baseball player. a great athlete? yes. a good baseball player? no. this trade make perfect sense, and i'm hopeful for the future. i'm going to try to lowball this milledge card to add to my collection.

recent ebay pickup

i started buying chris hernandez autos while researching last year's (2008) draft. in my analysis, he was the 3rd best pitcher in college in 2008 behind strasburg and brian matusz. he was so good that chris was selected to be part of team usa. while all the the usa pitchers fared really well, chris was probably one of the bottom 2 in the rotation.

unfortunately, 2009 was not kind to chris. his hurricanes didn't do very well this season, and he didn't make the cut this time around for team usa.

hopefully, this will motivate him to turn in a stellar 2010 performance. if he could just match his freshman campaign, we are looking at the top 5 pick easily. the final cost of the card to the right was $5 shipped.

busting wax vs. ebay

so every time i look at iamjoecollect's site, i'm tempted to buy some wax. it does look fun and exciting, but when it comes down to it, i just can't pull the trigger. ebay is just far too enticing. i would much rather spend 8 bucks for the 2 autos that i actually want. its just too frustrating to spend $60 on a box to get 2 autos that i don't want. its not really a money thing either. sure, if i'm not going to get the cards i'm after, i'd rather get the good hits so i can recoup my money. i think i'll just stick to letting joe collector buy the boxes, and he can show me what he gets.

another recent ebay conquest

a nice 3 color patch of the new guys in the collection, hank blalock. i picked up this beauty for $3.75 shipped, or $1.25 per color.

before there was silk

one of the more interesting non-auto & non-game used inserts over the past couple years has been the unique topps silk line. they seem to be a hit with played collectors. its refreshing to see an insert line be so successful without using a sticker auto or a tiny piece of jersey, bat, base, or band aid.

however, this idea was alive and well over 12 years ago. 1997 leaf featured an insert called "dressed for success." though i've never seen one, this auction describes the card as a cloth card. it's also serial numbered. donruss was so ahead of the curve back in the day. does anybody have one of these cards?