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.

Card Show Pickups pt1

Last weekend I mentioned that I was heading to the mall for some card show pickups.  I came away with a bunch of vintage which I will show off tomorrow and a handful of cheap under $1 cards to fill in some voids.  Up first are the cheap under $1 cards I grabbed.

 Nothing too fancy above.  Just a couple of inserts and a pair of 2014 Gypsy Queens.  Josh Bell was recently announced as an All-Star in the Florida State League (A+ ball)

These were the two cards I was most excited to see dumped in the quarter bins.  Both are numbered parallels of one of my favorite all-time ballplayers, Jason Bay.  The 2005 Donruss Classics on the right is numbered to only 100 copies.

If you're a fan of vintage cards, you're going to have to check out my lot tomorrow as I was able to grab a lot of cheap vintage including a Clemente for $2.  Whaaaaaaatttttt?????

It pays to be patient....

When the Bowman Platinum redemptions for the dual autos of Josh Bell and Bubba Starling were hitting eBay in 2012, they were going for well over a $100 due to the high expectations of both highschool teenage outfield prospects.  Bell suffered a season ending injury early in the season and Bubba didn't meet the expectations of the Royals fanbase.

Fast forward 18 months later and I was able to grab this dual auto of the young prospects for just over the price of a blaster.  Josh Bell is still making many sites top 100 lists, but Bubba has slipped due to his ineffectiveness at the plate in A ball.

I got a chance to see a few games with Josh Bell last year and the dude is an absolute power presence at the plate. In several at bats he was being pitched around as if he was the 2001 version of Barry Bonds. Minor league stats can be deceptive and I can say with full certainty that barring injury, Josh will be an impact player in a few years.

2013 Heritage Minors Team Set

I like Topps Heritage.  I said it, let's move on.
I came across someone selling the Pirates team set from Heritage Minors and pulled the $8 trigger for ten cards.  Dilson Herrera is no longer part of the organization as he was the centerpiece to the trade that brought Marlon Byrd, John Buck, and cash to the Pirates for their playoff push.

Of the 9 players still with the organization, 4 of them are listed as top 100 prospects in baseball (Taillon, Heredia, Hanson, and Polanco).  One is not too far removed from being on that list and if he can prove he's healthy, will likely return to being a top prospect (Josh Bell).

The Pirates future is bright, but....

The future star of this set though is Jameson Taillon (seen below)

Last minute road trip gets me 3 autographs of top prospects

A last minute idea for a road trip caused me to stop in Lakewood, NJ on Sunday August 11th to see the Phillies and Pirates A- ball teams collide.  The West Virginia Power (Pirates) were finishing up their road trip against the Lakewood BlueClaws (Phillies) and had won the previous 2 games of the series.  On paper, the Power should have came out swinging some big bats as the BlueClaws starter had issues throughout the season.  I got to the stadium around 4 pm for the 5:05 start and gates opened shortly after my arrival.  After finding my seat, I went to the 3rd base dugout to seek out some autographs.

Many players stopped by but I only had cards for 2 players on me and a cheap "official league" ball on hand.  Rather than get the ball signed by the entire team I held onto it waiting for certain players I wanted to display in my collection.  

Up first was 2013 Futures Game All-Star Dilson Herrera.  Dilson was extremely fan friendly signing close to a dozen cards for one guy and signing until everyone in the surrounding area got autographs.  He signed my ball right on the sweet spot.

From a distance I could see Tyler Glasnow signing and went into a little bit of a geek mode as I think Glasnow has the potential to be as good as the Pirates top pitching prospects (Cole and Taillon).  Tyler is only 19 years old and is dominating in A ball.  Through 97 innings pitched he has given up only 53 hits and has a 2.75 Strikeout to Walk ratio (140:51).  He only has a 2.50 ERA with an 8-3 record.  Not bad stats for a 19 year old in his first taste of full season ball.

As the game was getting ready to start, Josh Bell came over to sign for a bunch of fans as well.  When I first got there he told a couple fans he would be back to sign before the game and that he had to get loose first.  So often is the case with top prospects that they don't actually come back to sign for everyone.  Josh was the exception.  He signed cards, ticket stubs, balls, hats, photos, etc until everyone was taken care of.  He doesn't have a long name to sign for, but his signature is clean.  No squiggly signs or anything like that.  Also he was doing number inscriptions on everything he signed.  

2012 Leaf National Young Stars IP AUTO 

2013 Topps Pro Debut IP AUTO

Above are the 2 cards that Josh had signed for me before the game.  Below is the ball signed by all 3 of the Pirates top prospects.

Tyler Glasnow #24
Josh Bell #2

Dilson Herrera #31

I'll take $1, Bob (pt1)

When my local mall puts on a card show, it's normally got one table where you can buy cards for $1.  They're all in penny sleeves inside toploaders.  I normally wouldn't drop $1 on each of the cards, but for some reason I always find myself getting a fix at that table.  They also run a "deal" where it's 12 for $10 or 25 for $20.  

I did the 25 for $20 and grabbed some Pirates and Penguins cards.

The selection of Pirates players was weak.  Very weak actually.  There was only a few Cutch cards and I had all of them.  There was no Walker, Jones, Hanrahan, or Bays.  I sure as hell am not going to lay down a $1 for a Zach Duke 2010 Topps Gold Parallel so I went with some of the younger pitchers who've never thrown an MLB pitch before to add to my collection.  Oh and I got a lot of bull (El Toro).

Here's what I picked up as I tried to fill in some of my player collections.

Up first a few cards of the future ace Gerrit Cole

2012 Bowman Platinum Top Prospects
2012 Topps Debut

2012 Leaf National Sports Convention Young Stars
2012 Topps Heritage Minors

Cole was the number 1 overall selection in the 2011 draft and has the potential to be a front of the rotation starter with his devastating triple digit fastball and slider.  Prices on cards featuring him are already starting to skyrocket thanks to him being a top 10 prospect in all of baseball.  I managed to grab 4 of his cards at the table.

All four are new additions to the PTR.  Even though it's unlicensed I was really excited to add the NSCC promo of Cole to my collection.  More on that card later on though...

Next up is another potential future ace Jameson Taillon.

2012 Bowman Platinum Top Prospects
2011 Bowman's Best
2012 Topps Debut Minor League All-Stars

While Cole possesses a higher ceiling and is closer to the big leagues, I personally like Taillon more.  I got to see his AA debut last year when he got promoted to the Altoona Curve to face the Trenton Thunder.  Taillon's curveball is knee buckling when working properly.  He faced an All-Star loaded Team USA lineup while pitching for Team Canada during the WBC and was incredible in that too.  

I also grabbed 4 new Pedro Alvarez cards that I didn't previously have

2011 Bowman gold parallel
2011 Bowman International parallel

2012 Bowman Blue Parallel 383/500
2012 Bowman International Parallel

Ooh Bowman parallels.  I likey.  Prior to these I never had an international Bowman card.  I'm glad El Toro was my first. LOL!  The blue parallel from 2012 Bowman is numbered 383/500.  

2012 Leaf National Sports Convention Young Stars

The final card of my $10 haul was another unlicensed promo card from the National Sports Convention.  This one featuring the highest bonus paid to someone outside the first round.  Yes I am talking about Josh Bell, the switch hitting 5 tool talent that will be gracing the outfield grass with Cutch and Marte in 3-4 years.  I included a scan of the back below.

I was hoping to find some other Young Stars from this set, but when I asked the dealer if he had anymore he said "those shouldn't even be in there." I guess the Cole and Bell were my free 2 cards in the 12 for $10 deal.  I'll still take it though.  Tomorrow I'll show off the 13 Penguins I grabbed for $10 to complete the 25 for $20 deal.

Contest Winnings for Brewers Series & 2 Autograph Card pickups

On this day in Pirates history

Mississippi State Bulldog southpaw Paul Maholm was drafted in the first round of 2003.
Maholm would go on to win 53 games with the Bucs including the most wins in the history of PNC Park.  He's currently with the Cubs on a 1 year deal with an option for a second year.
The above Clear Path to Greatness Auto cost me $1.28 shipped.  It will likely be my last Maholm autograph I choose to pickup since I now have 3 autographs of him.

To recognize the MLB Draft tomorrow, I thought I should show off the first and second round draft picks from the 2011 draft.  I didn't even know this card existed until Greg sent me an email giving me the heads up about one popping up on ebay.  The card is numbered out of 25 and features autographs of Gerrit Cole and Josh Bell.  The dual auto ran me a pricey $55 shipped, but some copies of the card have sold for up to $90.  I really like the basic design of this card, but it sure would be nice if there could be team logos on these guys. 

I've talked about Cole fairly recently and how he's likely going to earn a promotion to AA soon since he's currently leading many pitching categories in the Florida State League.

Josh Bell, the powerful switch hitting corner outfield prospect has been out most of the season after tearing the meniscus in his knee in late April.  The 19 year old had a batting average of .274 with 11 RBI and 1 HR in his 15 games before the injury.  The Pirates organization does expect Bell to recover before the season is over.

The Pirates just wrapped up beating the Brewers 6-5 to win the series.  The team when having 10 or more hits in a game are now 11-0 in 2012.  Not to mention that the team improves to 20-0 when winning after the 7th inning.  Jason Grilli and Joel Hanrahan continue to be 2 of the game's best setup man/closer act in the majors.

Since the Bucs won, someone will get a choice of a Paul Molitor/Alan Trammel 1978 Topps rookie card or a 2011 Bowman Sterling Taylor Jungmann Auto.

Let's see who our winner is shall we

 It was a 3 game series

 so I had to randomize it 3 times

to determine that Spiegel won the contest.
Molitor/Trammel 1978 rookie or Jungmann Auto
Choose your card Spiegel

The Pirates have an off day Monday, then will face the Reds in Cincinnati. 
How does a Barry Larkin jersey card sound for the winner of that contest?  You guys interested in that?

Let's Go Bucs!  Beat those Reds (again)!

Don't forget to check out my 2012 Archives blaster I opened  earlier today to see if there's anything you're interested in.

BTW...Diamond King I need your address to send out your Frank Robinson relic and Joe Morgan 1975 Topps.

Bryce Harper AUTO and a rant

Last year I showed off my dual auto of Bryce Harper and Jameson Taillon from 2011 Bowman I got as a birthday gift.  Since Harper will face off against the Pirates tonight, I think it's fitting to show it off again.

There's been a lot of Bryce Harper hate going on lately, but I love the guy.  He plays the game the way it's meant to be played.  Hopefully he keeps that hustle up his entire career.  If he does, he will likely be inducted into Cooperstown one day because his talent level is through the roof. 

Bryce Harper was selected by the Washington Nationals 1st overall in his first year of being eligible for the draft.

Last night, Chunter (who runs an awesome Braves blog) asked if "And btw, do the Pirates fans regret not having Bryce Harper (could they have gotten him) or do they just hate him like everyone else? They probably could have taken a shot at him. Then again, his agent was (is) Scott Boras..."

Had the Pirates finished the 2009 season with a worse record than the Nationals did, I think the Pirates would have selected Bryce Harper regardless of who his agent is.  I'm going to go on a little rant now and it's in no way meant to offend anyone, but I'm tired of people thinking that the Pirates front office is afraid of dealing with Scott Boras and that the team is cheap.

Prior to Bob Nutting taking over primary ownership of the Pirates in 2007, yes the Pirates chose to not deal with Scott Boras clients and they were cheap in how they handled their business.  This was proven by the Pirates selecting college relief pitcher Daniel Moskos instead  of one of the top catching prospects to come along in a generation Matt Wieters.  This was also proven when the Pirates chose to not go after Prince Fielder or BJ Upton in the 2002 draft when they selected Bryan Bullington.  After the draft, the then front office stated that they saw Bullington as a solid #3 or #4 starter.  You don't use the #1 overall selection to draft a midrotation starting pitcher.

The current Pirates front office doesn't shy away from Scott Boras represented draftees.  In the current front office's first draft they selected the Scott Boras represented, power hitting lefty Pedro Alvarez.  Pedro has had an interesting start to his young career, but if the end of the 2010 season and most recent 2 weeks have proven, Pedro Alvarez has intense power that can change the game with a single swing of the bat.  I think that Pedro will be a fixture in Pittsburgh for years to come.

The only notable Boras client in the 2009 draft when the Pirates could select was prep pitcher Jacob Turner.  The Pirates felt that the 2009 draft was very deep in prep pitchers and chose to instead grab college catcher Tony Sanchez who could help build strong relationships with some of that prep talent selected in later rounds.  They had a plan and targeted Sanchez not because Turner was a Boras agent, but because they felt they could get similar pitchers to Turner in later rounds which is exactly what they did.  Based on Turner's pro career so far, it doesn't look like he would have been a sure fire can't miss prospect anyway.  Besides Stephen Strasburg and Dustin Ackley no player from this draft has emerged as a superstar. 

In 2010, the Pirates had missed the opportunity to get Bryce Harper, but there were other Boras clients still on the board when the Pirates selected 2nd.  The Pirates instead chose to go after prep starting pitcher and future ace Jameson Taillon.  Jameson was not only the best prep pitcher in the 2010 draft, but also considered by many scouts to be the best pitcher in the entire draft with comparisons to Josh Beckett and Roger Clemens.  The Pirates then gave Taillon the largest draft signing bonus in the history of the franchise and also signed fireballing prep pitcher Stetson Allie who many teams thought was unsignable.

 In 2011, the Pirates held no punches back in going big and drafting Scott Boras represented players.  They selected previous NY Yankee 1st rounder Gerrit Cole with the 1st overall pick.  Cole is compared to pitching superstars Stephen Strasburg and Justin Verlander early in his pro career.

With the 1st pick on day 2 of the 2011 draft, the Pirates went after the unsignable Josh Bell and offered him the largest draft bonus awarded to a 2nd rounder EVER.  Josh Bell was represented by Boras and had sent letters to teams stating that he fully intended to attend college and don't draft him.  Proving my point that the current Pirates front office was not afraid of Boras, they drafted him and signed him.  He recently injured his knee playing in A ball, but looks like the power hitting switch hitter the Pirates drafted prior to getting injured.

So in my very long winded response, no the Pirates would not have passed up Bryce Harper if he was still on the board when the Pirates selected #2 overall in 2010.  The Pirates front office will spend money when it makes sense (see Andrew McCutchen's 6 year contract extension, bringing in Derrek Lee at the trade deadline last year, and the enormous amount of spending in recent drafts).

All that being said, I'm very happy with the Pirates getting Jameson Taillon in the 2010 draft.  Here's his numbers so far for the 2012 season as a 20 year old.
1.76 ERA
30.2 IP
33K
0.82WHIP (6 Walks/19 Hits)
.172 opponents batting average
0 HR allowed

Yup I'll take a future Verlander/Clemens/Beckett ace like pitcher with 6+ years of control.

DON'T FORGET TO ROOT FOR THE BUCS TO WIN THE SERIES AGAINST THE NATIONALS TO TRY TO WIN SOME FREE CARDS. 

Pirates Future Outfield pt3

Concluding my posts on the future of the Pirates outfield where I have already looked at Robbie Grossman and Starling Marte, I will now take a look at 2011 2nd round draft pick Josh Bell.  Josh Bell was seen as a top 10 talent in the 2011 draft, but sent out a letter to teams stating he intended to go to college and did not want to be drafted.  With the 1st pick of the 2nd day, Pirates GM Neal Huntington selected Josh Bell with the intent to get him signed.  Recognizing that the new CBA rules would limit the amount of money the Pirates could spend in the amateur draft, the Pirates figured that worst case scenario they would have a protected pick for the 2012 class.

In the final seconds of the signing deadline the Pirates announced that they had agreed to a $5 million signing bonus with Bell.  It was the largest signing bonus ever given to a 2nd round draft pick.  This has lead to many of the large market teams saying it was unfair what the Pirates did.  I say thanks for paying 2/3 of AJ Burnett's salary to those large market teams. 

 Josh Bell 2011 Elite Extra Edition Elite Series AUTO 48/50

I think that the new CBA rules lack any sense of reasonability though.  The Pirates in 2011 had the 8th worse record in all baseball, but get the 16th most draft pool money.  How is that fair?  Every team in their division gets more money to allocate towards the draft including the World Series Champions St. Louis Cardinals.  Personally, I think Bud Selig just has it out for the Pirates.  That's the end of my rant.

Josh Bell 2011 Donruss Elite Extra Edition AUTO 136/692

We now return to our regularly scheduled program.  Pirates Future Outfielders Part 3
Josh Bell profiles as a power switch hitting right fielder.  In his senior season at Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas, Bell hit .548 with 54 RBI and 54 Runs scored while only striking out 5 times in 147 plate appearances.  He also hit 14 HRs his senior season.  His bat should enable him to move up the ladder quickly through the minors and could be major league ready by the end of 2014 (one year before Andrew McCutchen becomes  a free agent).

Both of the above pictured autographed cards were the most expensive cards I have ever bought of a Pirates prospect before they took one professional swing or pitch.  However, I feel so strongly that Josh Bell is going to be ridiculously good and may be an All-Star for many years to come. 

I'm looking forward to seeing all of the Pirates athletic outfielders in the future.  Now if they could only improve the pitching....

Join me this weekend as I look at some of the Pirates top arms in the farm system.