Collecting Cleveland Indians Topps team sets from 1952-present, as well as post-war minor and major league autographs.
There were all acquired late in the season from consignments. Some neat stuff. Emilio Pagan, p, Oakland Athletics – 10th round pick of the Mariners back in 2013. Came to the A’s in 2017 as part of the Ryon Healy deal. He got 62 innings in with the big league[…]
I am really bummed out about the Yandy Diaz trade. This season he hit .312/.375/.422 over 109 at-bats–good for a 115 OPS+. I know that he was not a traditional power hitter because of his low launch angle, but considering his exit velocity it’s not like he is having to[…]
I am pretty excited to add this autograph to my collection. Despite being from Hawaii…I really like Augustana, a D-2 team from South Dakota. Two years ago they came through the islands to play Hawaii Pacific. That Augustana team was not considered contenders, though they did garner a couple pre-season votes[…]
Alberto Guerrero was signed as an international free agent by Marlins in July 2014 out of Panama. This season he spent all of 2018 at Low-A pitching out of the rotation. He more than held his own: over 69.2 innings he only allowed 61 hits while striking out 63. Good for a[…]
Abel Duarte was signed as international free agent by Yankees in October 2013 out of the Dominican Republic. 2018 was the first season where he spent any real time in affiliate ball. And it was a very decent showing. In Low-A he pitched 23.2 innings in relief, allowing only 20 hits[…]
Matt LaPorta was a really well thought of prospect with the Brewers. He was drafted 7th overall in the 2007 Draft, and in 2008 was rated the #23 prospect in baseball. His mix of power, speed and contact skills made him one of the best prospects in the game. Then[…]
Daniel Mengden as drafted by the Astros in the 4th round of the 2014 draft out of Texas A&M. He came to the A’s in the July 2015 Scott Kazmir deal. Mengden was never a flashy prospect, but his instincts and ability to throw strikes meant that he projected to be[…]
I was really happy to add this autograph to my collection this week– it’s one less guy that I have to stress out about getting this coming season. Richie Palacios is one of the Indians better prospects. He was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2018 draft out of Towson[…]
I got this autograph in 2016. At the time Daniel Zamora was playing with the Pirates A-ball team in West Virginia. He was having a very nice season pitching in relief, allowing only 23 hits while striking out 39 in 33.1 innings. The numbers are great, but what I really[…]
Mitch Keller was a 2nd round pick of the Pirates back in 2014. He was a high school selection out of Iowa. Baseball America rated him the Pirates #12 prospect coming into the season. And he will probably be higher on the next list. This season, spent mostly between AA[…]