My First Auto From The ColeTrain trade

Gerrit Cole has been absolutely ridiculous this year for the Houston Astros.  He along with former Pirates teammate Charlie Morton are creating one of the best rotations in baseball with Verlander, Keuchel, and McCullers.  When the rumors were circulating that Cole might be on the block I wanted to see the Pirates get a good haul back for the 2011 number one overall pick.  After all, the Bucs had to lose 100 games in 2010 to get the right to draft the former UCLA star.

So far the pieces acquired from the Astros have been performing well, albeit none at an elite level like Cole is.

Colin Moran is batting .278 with two homeruns and 15 RBI with an OPS nearing .800.

Michael Feliz, who took over Cole's number 45, has struck out 19 batters in 14 innings while posting an ERA of 3.21 in 16 appearances out of the bullpen.

Jason Martin, a twenty two year old outfielder, has been hitting the hell out of the ball in AA Altoona.  He currently has an OPS of .899 with 2 HR and 4 triples in 22 games.  He could be an interesting prospect to keep your eyes on as he continues to develop.

Joe Musgrove, who was used as a starter and long man in the Astros bullpen last year, will begin his rehab starts today.  I am really looking forward to seeing what he can do as I think he will be a valuable piece to the Pirates retooling of the roster over next few seasons.

Even though he has yet to make his Pirates debut, Panini put him in their Diamond Kings release as a member of the Pittsburgh baseball club.  This blue foil autograph ran me $5.20 for my winning bid.  Not a bad price to pay for a card numbered to only 25 copies.

As always, I love the look and design of Diamond Kings.

McCutchen Mailday #127 + 128: I struck gold!!!

I've shown off a few Topps Tribute Forever Young relics recently.
This gold /15 is my most recent

I also grabbed another parallel for 2016 Donruss

I Held The Coveted Card and a McCutchen Mailday (120-126)

Yesterday I went to the Chantilly Virginia sports show with my brother because he wanted to attend a few of the Jacksonville Jaguars player signings. It was my last day of vacation and I tagged along for the ride. In less than two months I will be an uncle as my brother and his wife are expecting a baby girl in Early May. I viewed this little get away to be one of the last times him and I get to hang out without a baby or our ladies around.

I really wasn't interested in any of the player signings except Antonio Brown, but his prices were way too high.

Instead I just browsed the dealer's area and picked up some supplies, dime box cards, and some vintage I needed.

Oh and I got to see an authentic T206 Honus Wagner in person AND get my picture with it.

BOOOM!!!!!

This sure beats the heck out of all the reprints I have seen in my time.

I did find this unique oddball card talking about the prized card in the 25 cent bin.

As if that wasn't enough, I also grabbed a bunch of supplies, some vintage, and a few Cutch cards I needed.

When I got home these were in the mailbox.

I will return to normal updates to show all the Cutch cards I have gotten between my 72nd new PC additions and 119th new PC additions.

Holding the Wagner and getting a trio of Cutch rookies needed an immediate update though.

Overall though, I am very very happy with how the Cutch collection has grown to Supercollector status over the past year.