Collecting Cleveland Indians Topps team sets from 1952-present, as well as post-war minor and major league autographs.
After being drafted in the 39th round of the 2002 draft–a draft position not known to make many majors leaguers, he would go on to spend parts of three seasons in the majors–to include an All-Star selection. And there is no denying he was a masher in the minors, highlighted by his 2011 campaign with the Cubs AAA affiliate when he hit .331/.405/.664 with 38 HR and was selected the Pacific Coast League MVP.
Relief pitcher Louis Head was drafted in the 18th round by the Cleveland Indians in 2012. He was a very good bullpen arm while moving up through the Cleveland organization, and seemed like he had the potential to make the big leagues at some point. But in 2018 he struggled[…]
Casey Blake was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 7th round of the 1996 draft. He would spend all of the 1997 season with the Dunedin Blue Jays, hitting .238/.319/.332 with 7 HR. Other notable future major leaguers on that team included IF Ryan Freel, pitchers Kelvim[…]
Jake Westbrook is, I think, one of the more underrated Cleveland Indians players in history.
Trayce Thompson was a very well thought of prospect for the White Sox. From 2009-2015 he consistently rated one of their top prospects, ranking as high as #2 following the 2012 season. He made the majors in 2015 and held his own over 122 at-bats. But the White Sox traded[…]
Troy Johnston was drafted by the Marlins in the 17th round of the 2019 draft out of Gonzaga. In 2019 he hit .330/.402/.610 with 10 HR for Gonzaga. He has almost as many walks (20) as K (26). The Marlins assigned him to Low-A to start his pro career and[…]
Colton Shaver was drafted by the Houston Astros out of Brigham Young in the 39th round of the 2017 draft. This season between High-A and AA he hit .248/.361/.481 with a career-high 21 HR. He also had career-highs in strikeouts (129) and walks (63). Shaver clearly has power, and a[…]
Jason Delay was drafted twice while playing at Vanderbilt University. 11th round pick in 2016 by the San Fransisco Giants 4th round pick in 2017 by the Pittsburgh Pirates He has not been a great hitter as a pro, with a career line of .237/.314/.340 with 11 HR. Despite a[…]
Michael Toglia was the Denvers #1 pick in the 2019 draft, 23rd overall. He was taken out of UCLA. He is one of my favorite players in the low-minors, so I was thrilled to get this autograph. Very much a power-hitter in college. His senior year he hit .314/.392/.624 with[…]
Some Texas Rangers pitching prospects I got this season. All were on the short-season Spokane club. Josh Smith, p, Texas Rangers – 2018 draft pick (25th round out of Grand Valley State). Solid first season as a pro, going 3-2 with a 2.91 ERA/1.53 WHIP over 34 innings out of[…]