McCutchen Monday: Another Slabbed Cutch

Here's my latest Andrew McCutchen slabbed 2008 Bowman Futures Game graded 9.5.  I got this for using up some ebay bucks that I had lingering from a few months back.  It only cost me $2.70 shipped after discount.

It's my 6th graded card of Cutch

The Future is Now!!!

Wow! Yesterday's game was intense.
The Pirates had a top 5 farm system in the MLB heading into the 2014 with many analysts having them either 1st or 2nd.  The emergence of Gregory Polanco to the big leagues proves the efforts that the Pirates have put into scouting in the past 5 years.  Polanco was highly regarded as a top 15 prospect in all of baseball and a top 3 outfield prospect behind only Byron Buxton and Oscar Taveras. Polanco is a true 5 tool talent and his arm last night preserved a Buccos win.

One player that is having a breakout season and will be on display in today's All-Star Futures Game is switch hitting outfielder Josh Bell.  As many of you know, Josh Bell is one of the main reasons why their is a signing bonus cap in the Amateur Draft now.  After sending out letters to teams asking them not to draft him, the Pirates rolled the dice and drafted Bell, a consensus top 15 prospect entering the draft.  He signed with the Bucs for a record high $5 million and began his pro career.  In 82 games in A ball, Bell is hitting a .328/.375/.492 line with 9 HR and 51 RBI.  He looks every bit like the player as advertised when drafted.

Another player that is having a very good season is switch hitting shortstop Alen Hanson.  Hanson will need to continue to improve defensively at shortstop, but is hitting very well in AA as a 21 year old.  His 8 HR, 17 SB, and .274 batting average really don't provide realistic viewpoints on what he is able to do.  I've seen close to half a dozen games of Hanson in AA this year and when he makes contact with the ball, it is a quick short stroke and the ball just jumps off the bat.

I won the above card a few months back and even though it's a triple sticker auto card, I have to say that this is one of my favorite cards in my collection because of the 3 top prospects on it. The low numbering to 10 copies helps.

Gerrit Cole Series 2 variant

Welcome Back Gerrit Cole!!!!

To honor the return of the young right hander, I'm going to show off a variant from Series 2.  It's the Futures Game variant.  Topps used some of the top players and their Futures game jersey variants from a few years ago for these Series 2 variants.

Feeling Blue: The Jamo Patch Story

It shouldn't be a secret to anyone that reads my blog that I have been a HUGE fan of Jameson Taillon since he got drafted 2nd overall in the 2010 draft.  I saw him make his Bradenton debut (high A ball), his Altoona debut (AA ball) and saw him make one of his first starts in AAA.  I already had mentally prepared myself to attend his MLB debut game this year no matter where it was.  Unfortunately that won't be happening.  It was recently announced that one of the league's top prospects Jameson Taillon will be going under the knife for Tommy John surgery.  As a baseball fan, I can't worry because so many other pitchers go through it and fully recover the next year.  But as a Pirates fan, I have to be worried.  Remember Bobby Bradley?

Does it suck? Yes!  Does it make his cards cheaper now?  Absolutely!
Did I just buy 2 high priced patches before the news?  Unfortunately, yes.

Last October I showed off one of the most badass patches I own.  It featured the crown from the USA part of the 2012 Futures Game jersey.  It was the second of the Futures Game patches I bought of Jameson Taillon.  The first could be seen here dating back to February 2013.

I decided though that two of those cards weren't enough and was out to get more.

By negotiating with the sellers offer prices, I recently just purchased the above two cards for an additional $115 shipped.  I should note that the asking prices on these two cards was $175.  This brings my total to 4 of the 25 card print run.

My favorite one pictured above is the letters T and A from the back of his jersey and is numbered 2/25

The other one I purchased features the letter U and is a part of a star from the front of the USA jersey.  This is numbered 15/25.

To show off the others see below

Wanna see something badass? JUMBO PATCH!!!!!

I recently made a purchase from the land of badassdom!

What happens in badassdom! Everything is exclamated! EVERYTHING!!!!

Velociraptors ride sharks while holding dynamite and uzis!

Badassdom is fricking awesome!!!

Oh and I get cards like this!

2012 Bowman Futures Game Jumbo Relic numbered 25/25!

eBay 1/1!!!!

CHECK OUT THAT CROWN!!!!!

This is my 2nd Jumbo relic of Jamo from the 2012 Futures Game, the other can be seen HERE!

You wanna see the back!!!

F YEAH!!!!

BADASS!!!!!

My newest Jameson Taillon hit

Jameson Taillon has been my favorite Pirates prospect since the day he got drafted by the Bucs back in 2010.  The Pirates farm system is currently one of the best in baseball and Jameson is now the Pirates top ranked prospect again (Gerrit Cole is no longer considered a prospect).

2012 Bowman Chrome Futures Game Patch 9/10 Jameson Taillon

I managed to grab this very low numbered (9/10) for just shy of $10 many months ago.

It will be interesting to see how good the Pirates pitching staff is for years to come as new Bucs arrive starting in 2014 with Taillon and followed by guys like Tyler Glasnow, Nick Kingham, and Luis Heredia.

Jamo just got promoted to AAA so it will almost be a certainty that he is in the majors next year barring an injury.

More Gerrit Cole Goodies

Gerrit Cole is fricking good!!!!
He's had a few rough starts as of late, but other than that I can't say enough good things about the future arm in the Pirates rotation.  He'll likely be up by the end of June and could be a key piece to the Pirates finishing above .500 baseball for the first time in 20 years.

I managed to snag a 2012 Bowman Futures Game jersey relic of the young hard throwing righty for $8.

89/199

My journey for Gerrit Cole doesn't end with one jersey card though...

I've been on a streak of buying Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon autographs like crazy.  I managed to grab a 4 card lot of Gerrit Cole autographs (2 were numbered to 99) for less than $40.  Less than $10 a card for on card autographs of (hopefully) a future ace.  Hell yes!!!!

2011 Leaf Valiant Blue AUTO 6/99

2011 Leaf Draft AUTO 

2011 Leaf Draft "Refractor" AUTO 48/99

The real highlight of this post is that I was able to meet Gerrit Cole at a Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (minor league Phillies) vs. Indianapolis Indians game.

Gerrit was extremely generous to the fans asking for autographs.  He went around and signed photos, balls, posters, cards, for anyone that dangled something in front of him as he came out of the walkway to the clubhouse.

Here's my OMLB signed by Gerrit.  It's a shame it's not on the sweet spot, but when I asked if he could sign it there, he laughed and said "I'll probably get in trouble if I do."  I guess Mr. Boras doesn't want his agents signing for free on the sweet spot of baseballs.  Oh well...I still love the fact that Gerrit was signing before the game 

Feeling Blue

Today was a really lousy day.  I've been having trouble breathing again so I went to the doctor last week for some blood work.  This week I had more blood work done along with an X-Ray.  I was diagnosed with a blood disorder called polycythemia.

I'm feeling down so I thought I would share my feelings in blue cards that make me actually happy.

Jameson Taillon is one of the top 15 prospects in baseball.  Him and Gerrit Cole should be quite the pitching duo for the Bucs for many years to come.  This is a part of Jameson's 2012 All-Star Futures Game jersey.  The card is number 6/25.

Continuing the blue theme is a jersey swatch of Andrew McCutchen's All-Star game jersey from 2012 Topps.  

 And to close things out I have a 2010-11 Luxury Suite Marc-Andre Fleury jersey and stick relic card.  This beauty is numbered 82/100.

Starling Marte Collection Update

I'm going to take a look at my Starling Marte collection today.

Starling Marte became only the 27th player in Major League history to hit a HomeRun in their very first pitch of the MLB career when he went yard on Dallas Keuchel of the Houston Astros last year.

The above cards are from 2012 Topps Minor League Baseball.  I scored both relics for a combined $10 shipped which is a pretty sweet deal if you ask for my humble opinion.

Starling became one of my favorite players to root for in the minor leagues when he gave me a broken bat of then Pirates prospect Aaron Thompson.  He also signed 6 autograph baseballs for me along with a few cards.

Marte has a cannon for an arm and could become a key part to the Pirates future outfield setup.  His biggest issue is pitch recognition and swinging at pitches outside the strike zone.  He doesn't walk often and that's why he won't be a good batter to hit in the leadoff spot for the Pirates in 2013.  He did manage to get 12 steals in only 43 games though so he shows potential of being a baserunning threat on the bases.

If anyone has any Starling Marte cards they are looking to trade please hit me up with a trade offer.

PTR: Where are they now? It's all in hindsight....

2010 Signature Sensations #SS-AL Andy Laroche AUTO

2009 UD Winning Materials Jason Bay/Manny Ramirez JERSEY

Jose Bautista 2005 Bowman Draft Futures Game Jersey 

yes I know I've shown this card as recent as 2 weeks ago, but I have more followers now that may have missed it.  Besides, it's my only Bautista Pirate card I have that's not a dull base card.


On this day in 2008 recently acquired Andy Laroche, from the Jason Bay/Manny Ramirez blockbuster trade, was officially named the Pirates everyday starting 3rd basemen and the Pirates optioned Jose Bautista to the minor leagues.  It's easy for fans to blame the Pirates front office for "not making the right move" in regards to the prospects aquired for Bay.  It's also easy for fans to say the Pirates should have kept Jose Bautista.  Heck, I've said it before, Jose Bautista is an absolute beast NOW and was traded for minimal return.  The reality though is that the Pirates payroll in 2008 was very high for where they were competing at and the farm system was absolute crap.  There was no depth at all in the organization.  They needed to completely overhaul the organization from top (Jason Bay) to bottom (aquiring players in Low A ball with high upside - Bryan Morris).  The Pirates are still technically rebuilding, but are actually looking for veteran upgrades instead of trading veterans for prospects like years past.

From Baseball America, Andy Laroche was a guy that in 2008 was a highly coveted top prospect in the Dodger organization.  He was cited as organization's best player in 2007. The only player above him was Clayton Kershaw. 

What does all this mean????

Well in hindsight now, it's easy to say that the Pirates should have tried to acquire better talent now than what they got in trades like the Bay or Bautista or Freddy Sanchez deals.  The fact of the matter is though that the Pirates needed to get bad (albeit really bad in 2010) before they could get better.  Would I like to have Jose Bautista in the Pirates lineup now.  Hells fricking yeah.

Was he worth $1.8 million dollars in 2008 with a possible increase to arbitration the following year?
Let's see .242/.325/.404 slash line
77 K to 38 walks
12 HR with 44 RBI

I say no way.  Andy Laroche at the time could have put up similiar numbers given the same amount of plate appearances for $325K  That's smart "moneyball" on the Pirates half in 2008.  Not so great looking now though.

So where does that leave the Pirates now regarding the Jason Bay trade that eventually bumped Jose Bautista out of his starting job by acquiring Andy Laroche?
From Boston
Craig Hansen's final MLB game was in 2009
Brandon Moss is playing for the Phillies AAA team
From LAD
Andy Laroche designated for assignment by Oakland A's in 2011
Bryan Morris, the last hope of making something positive out of the Jason Bay trade

2010 Bowman Futures Game 116/199

2011 Bowman Futures Game 79/99

Bryan was selected to the 2010 Futures Game for his very strong start in FSL A Bradenton. He is currently in AA Altoona and has started to be converted to a shutdown bullpen guy. 

To show how much prospects can change, it should also be noted that in 2008 a current Pirate was highly ranked by Baseball America as the Dodgers' 7th best prospect.  James McDonald, acquired last year for a 1 month rental of Octavio Dotel, was cited as the Dodgers' organization's best control and best curveball in 2008.


Xavier Paul, claimed off waivers in 2011 by the Pirates, was cited as best outfield arm in Dodgers Organization 2008.  His aggressive baserunning this season for the Bucs has won 2 games by my count so far despite what WAR says. 




After saying all that I'm exhausted and still excited for what the 2011 Pirates are going to bring.  2011 National League All Star Kevin Correia is on the mound tonight vs. the Brewers.  Let's go Bucs!