Philadelphia Phillies State Of The Union For 2016
The Phillies have not had a winning season since 2011 after putting forth a decade straight of them. A promising second half to the year – coupled with full seasons by Aaron Nola and Maikel Franco could have them inch closer back to achieving that mark in the next few years. The management finally started the rebuild halfway through the year, have continued it so far this winter – and the financial flexibility in going forward should really be shaped up in a few more seasons. It may be a tough campaign in 2016 for the win loss column, however the team has a lot of young players to watch and be excited about.
Chuck Booth (Owner/Lead Analyst) Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
I was lucky enough to watch a record 224 MLB Games live last year – spread across all 30 MLB parks in every day of the campaign last season.
Unfortunately I saw the most home games (33 Games) in Philadelphia with my brother living close by. There is nothing wrong with Citizens Ball Park, it was the team that was tough to watch.
When you have Jeff Francouer as your #4 hitter for half of the year, there is something wrong with that. I love the guy, and Frenchy had a decent year, it just said a lot about the depth of the Roster in 2015.
At the end of the year Philadelphia’s management started to trade away Veterans from the glory days of the World Series, and you can start to see the healing begin.
The dealing continued with Ken Giles sent to Texas for a bunch of stud arms coming back. Now the Phillies are looking forward to a bunch of young talent coming to the big leagues in the next few seasons.
The old guard is still there with Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz holding down the Starting First Base and Catcher respectively. Howard is an average offensive threat only now that makes $25 MIL. Read the rest of this entry
Odds To Win The American And National League For 2016
Back to Back AL pennants and this years World Series Winners. They should the biggest favorite to win their respective division so far on the board. As such, should be the favorite to win the AL Pennant as well. This website has them listed as +1200 to win just their league championship. This is the best odd on the board for the entire offseason, and I have plunked down $50 on them. It baffles me how the oddsmakers still give this club no respect.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part-Owner) Follow @stokes_hunter21
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I can’t express enough on the awesome value that the odds are singing to me right now. The KC Royals at +1200 when most gambling establishments have this same odd for the World Series?! Bet this all day long.
If you looked to the last post I did on the League Odds, you will see almost a perfect record of me dissecting the odds.
All 3 favorite odds clubs for the AL are ridiculous. Boston may be right on course for the top ranked Junior Circuit team, but at +450? No way. The Rangers and Astros are also not a given to be that high of an odd either.
Toronto is also an excellent odd to wager this week at +850. Come on guys really. You have them listed at the same odd as the New York Yankees?
The Mariners, Twins and White Sox all have great odds listed for their League Championship totals. I am not saying they will win, but all have a punchers chance. Minnesota won 83 games in 2015, and the White Sox and M’s have decent winters thus far from acquiring talent.
Speaking about a shot based on value, the Marlins are listed as +3000 favorites to win the World Series on some sites, yet have been listed as +6000. Read the rest of this entry
Injuries To Pitchers Cost The Most Harm To Teams For Financial Flexibility
Zack Greinke makes $34.4 MIL per year with the Diamondbacks. It represents about 30% of their entire payroll. A lot of small market teams have laid off spending 9 figure contracts on Starting Pitchers because they are more susceptible to breaking down with long term injuries from their arms. 30 MLB Pitchers had Tommy John Surgery in 2015, and that comes with a 12 – 18 months healing period.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer) Follow @stokes_hunter21
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Player contracts are sure to hit well over he 4 Billion Dollar mark in 2016. While the war is waged in the trenches of General Managers offices, the MLB will tell you that there is nothing wrong with the current system in baseball in terms of parity.
After all, the Kansas City Royals just won the World Series and they were not a top 10 salaried team. The Mets also not in the top 10, were in the Fall Classic.
Record 9 figured contracts are being doled out like Benjamin Franklin’s are going out of style.
In 2015, $579 MIL worth of cash was paid out to guys on the Disabled List, and Pitchers took 57.7% of the pie in that category. Starters were almost worth $248 MIL – and Relief Pitchers took down the other $86 MIL of that.
$334 MIL worth of payroll is about the sum for 3 average teams. That is a lot of dough spent to guys that only pitch 30 – 34 Starts – or produce just 4 – 70 Innings worth of work in Relief. Read the rest of this entry
Texas Rangers State Of The Union For 2016
The Rangers rose from the AL West ashes in 2015 and won their first Division Title in 4 years. It came off the heels of 2 injury riddled seasons that plagued any chance to make the playoffs. The club has about $140 MIL worth of salaries to pay in 2016 but should consider spending out another $10 – $15 MIL. They recently filled their need for Starting Pitching and could use a breakout campaign from either Joey Gallo or Jurickson Profar to help the cause. The club will also hope Yu Darvish can come back at full strength.
Chuck Booth (Owner/Lead Analyst) Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
The Rangers have done a decent job in adding depth in the last few days to the Starting Rotation. The club has brought back fan favorite and 17 game winner for them in 2015 – Colby Lewis on a 1 Year deal worth $6 MIL.
Then John Daniels agreed to sign A.J. Griffin to the Pitching Staff even though he hasn’t pitched in the Majors of the last 2 years in recovering from Tommy John Surgery.
These are small moves in the grand scheme of things, but should help make sure that Yu Darvish can come back from his own Tommy John Surgery in his own good time.
You also have to factor that Derek Holland has faced a multitude of health issues over the last 2 years, most notably his spinal injury in 2015. It is a good thing the club traded for Cole Hamels last year. Read the rest of this entry
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – December 23, 2015
Fleer
Glenn Braggs, former Cincinnati Reds outfielder, is my guest today.
We talked about his time in 1990 World Series, his dramatic catch in the playoffs and he reveals which teammate had a hand grenade in their locker.
It is a World Champion episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
New York Mets State Of The Union For 2016
The Mets made it to the World Series in 2015 after a subpar start heading into the Trade Deadline. With a ton of pitching and some decent positional players still on the roster, they could set themselves up for a lengthy run in the NL East. After tinkering with average players in acquisitions (other than Neil Walker – who is a comparable replacement for Daniel Murphy), it looks like GM Sandy Alderson is done constructing the offense for 2016. I think this is a critical error.
Chuck Booth (Owner/Lead Analyst) Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
It has been a decent offseason for the New York Mets so far. They have resigned Bartolo Colon, filled in the spot at 2B with an almost equal amount of talent for Daniel Murphy, while adding Asdrubal Cabrera is also a wise move.
The organization even resigned Jerry Blevins to the Relief Core. There is still potential to add another arm or 2 for late innings in the Bullpen.
On Tuesday, it was announced the OF Alejandro De Aza has joined the club for a one year deal at $5.75 MIL (and $1.25 MIL in incentives). This guy can play all 3 OF positions, but he really should be a 4th OF on a championship team caliber style of team. Read the rest of this entry
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – December 22, 2015
Baseball Hall of Fame
I help a town in North Carolina honor Hoyt Wilhelm and finally Wade Boggs will get his number retired by the Red Sox.
Meanwhile I fight my allergies.
It is a small deed leading to good things episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Odds To Win The 2016 World Series
I agree that the recent signing of Johnny Cueto and the Dodgers failing to ink Hisashi Iwakuma leveled the playing field in the NL West, and might even slightly favor San Fran right now, but for the Giants to vault other teams that far up the chain is not right. The 2nd best odd on the board should not be from the NL West. The Mets, Nationals, Royals, Blue Jays and Red Sox all deserve to be slightly favored over the Giants. As such, they go from the best odd from last week, to the worst value play this week.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
Just like we outlined here last week – the San Francisco Giants at +1600 was the best odd on the board. They jumped all the way from +1600 to +900 in just 7 days.
Conversely we said that the Dodgers were not a great wager at +1200. and they dropped to +1500, which is now tied for 10th with the Diamondbacks, Pirates and Rangers for the best odds.
Chicago finally broke the stalemate with the Toronto Blue Jays atop the list, going from +800 to +750. The Jays fell into a tie with the Boston Red Sox at +1000 and a tie for 3rd overall behind Chicago and San Francisco in the National League.
We also said to stay off the Rangers and Pirates, and both shifted downwards. We continue to like the Yankees at +2000, even though they didn’t change from last weeks odd.
Baltimore did go from +4500 to +5000 over the last week.
The Cardinals took the hit with some cabbage bet on the Cubs, and at are at +1200.
The Mets also are the best odd they have been at for the whole winter. Read the rest of this entry
Boston Red Sox Payroll In 2016 + Contracts Going Forward
With adding the contracts of David Price and Craig Kimbrel in recent player moves, this pushes Boston to near $200 MIL in team payroll for 2016. I think they should try to add a few pitchers near the 2016 Trade deadline. With a lot of money tied up in the future, any player they take on should have their contracts end in 2016. Boston stands to pay 17.5% for money spent over the $189 MIL limit. They could run with a $220 MIL salaried club in 2016 and only pay around $6 MIL in additional fees. Do it, and pale it back afterwards.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part-Owner) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
Well the Boston Red Sox are finally going to join the Dodgers and Yankees as teams that cross the Luxury Tax Threshold for 2016. This was made possible by recently picking up David Price for 7 YRs at $31 MIL average per year.
Already in 2017, the team is committed for around $162 MIL – and that is without their stalwart DH of David Ortiz anymore. 2018, the salary obligations are at $151 MIL, and the franchise has already lumped $139 MIL on the books fr the 2019 cash.
This is a leap of faith for the franchise, as they were always reluctant to pay top dollars for Free Agent Pitchers.
Last year’s signings of Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez are looking like poor moves right now, however they can be helped with bounce back years in 2016. Read the rest of this entry
Los Angeles Dodgers State Of The Union For 2016
The Dodgers need to start spending money like right now, otherwise they stand to jeopardize themselves winning a 4th straight NL West title in 2016. Both the Giants and D’Backs have signed ace pitchers this year, and added another good Starting Pitcher besides the point. The club does have several young pieces and Depth at Roster to pull off a blockbuster trade forth coming – or they still have enough resources to acquire players for their 2016 run. The clock is officially ticking gentlemen.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
The Dodgers are having the same kind of offseason the Baltimore Orioles had in 2014 – going into 2015.
If everyone remembers that year, they rejected a couple year contract with Grant Balfour, when he failed a physical, and they did the same thing with Grady Sizemore.
That club also traded back to back 50 Saves guy Jim Johnson. By the way, the 2014 O’s won the AL East with a 97 – 65 record.
Key cogs in the wheel were new Closer Zach Britton, and Super Utility man Steve Pearce. A lot of parallels can be made between that squad and the Dodgers.
Late last week, the Dodgers pulled out of a three year deal wish Hisashi Iwakuma because they had concerns with a physical.
For the whole winter they have watched the Giants sign Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija, while the Diamondbacks stole Zack Greinke way from them, while trading a kings ransom for Shelby Miller. Read the rest of this entry
New York Yankees State Of The Union For 2016
The 2015 New York Yankees started off extremely strong at 21 – 12, before they finished the last 129 Games at just 66 – 63. With surprising years from Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira, the club still hosted the Wild Card Game with 87 wins. The club has done a couple of nice winter moves in picking up Starlin Castro and Aaron Hicks for backup players, however the Bullpen is weaker, and the Starting Rotation has many health concerns. New York will need to address those before the season opener.
Chuck Booth (Owner/Lead Analyst) Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
Okay so one of the things that happens when you own a website is you lose some of the hardcore enthusiasm for the team you love the most. This is my story with he Yankees. Don’t get me wrong, they are still my favorite club, it is just I cover all 30 MLB teams a lot more than I used to.
Having said this, I have been railing on the Yankees for a long time on how they have conducted themselves. I traced it back to 2014, when they could have reset the Luxury Tax Threshold by trading Ichiro Suzuki, Hiroki Kuroda and Brett Gardner at the Deadline.
Instead, the club went for a half ass attempt to make the playoffs with Derek Jeter in his last season as Shortstop.
I do give Brian Cashman some credit in 2015 for the club making the postseason. I maintain that his building of the team was still flawed.
Bullpen withstanding, he has known his Starting Pitching situation has been in health peril since Masahiro Tanaka was diagnosed with a UCL injury in July of 2014.
Joe Girardi squeezed every ounce of the Veteran Lineup that he could last year. Who would have predicted the squad would have had 30+ Homer years from Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira?
That helped the club jump out to a fantastic start, and then coasted with a .500 record for the last 4 plus months to the 1st playoff Wild Card spot. They lost to the Houston Astros in that game at Yankee Stadium.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – December 21, 2015
Topps
Today’s podcast is a message to Cornelius NC Mayor Chuck Travis and the board of commissioners to honor Hoyt Wilhelm and preserve the baseball diamond where he began his Hall of Fame journey.
It is a call to action episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Teams That Should Take Advantage Of A Weak Penalty For The Luxury Tax In 2016
In the last year of the current CBA, there is potentially only one more year to take advantage of a feeble penalty as a first time abuser in 2016. With Boston set to join the Dodgers and Yankees as abusers, I took a look at other teams who should consider the 2016 campaign as a rare gamble to dole out some cash in seeking a World Series trophy before the new CBA is authored in prior to the 2017 season.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part-Owner) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
The Boston Red Sox might just be on to something. They will be penalized for the 1st year of going over the new $189 MIL limit in 2016, but it is also the last year the CBA may have the percentages.
Currently right now, there is a 17.5% penalty for spending dollars over $189 MIL. The Dodgers and Yankees are the only other teams that are budgeted over the mark in addition to Boston.
On the cusp are the Detroit Tigers, sitting at around $177 MIL – while the Giants and Angels are nearly at $170 MIL. The Cubs are also near the $165 MIL area.
Why not spend like crazy in 2016 – and take advantage of the system as it is presented towards you? Read the rest of this entry
St. Louis Cardinals State Of The Union For 2016
St. louis continued their great play in the MLB since the turn of the millennium – with an MLB best 100 wins in 2015. The organization has transitioned to the next core of young nucleus, while still holding on to a couple of capable veterans. Considering they have plenty of depth, and lots of payroll flexibility coming forth, the franchise could orchestrate a blockbuster trade soon. St. Louis could always sign 1 – 2 Starters via Free Agency as well. As it stands right now, the club has a payroll of around $133 MIL listed in 2016. They can afford to add about $15 – $17 more million without batting an eye.
Chuck Booth (Owner/Lead Analyst) Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
The Cardinals continue to be the model franchise in the Major Leagues. With 9 NLCS births since 2000, this club has thrived with rolling over the roster, and not making mistakes on the Free Agency watch.
2016 shouldn’t be any different for competing for a playoff spot. St. Louis won 100 games in 2015 – and may top the century mark in 2016 again. Crazily enough though it might not be enough for a Division win.
I think I can safely say the Cards and the Cubs are the two best all around teams in the big leagues right now.
I am still giving the nod to Chicago as the favorite right now, but that may change with some winter alterations.
Word has come down that Matt Holliday has been taking reps at 1B this offseasons. If he were able to convert that to his positional arsenal for the next few years, than that would free up Matt Adams to be traded.
Among the moves the club has made over he last week was trade Jon Jay to the Padres for 2B Jedd Gyorko. This is a classic Cardinals move. Read the rest of this entry
Milwaukee Brewers State Of The Union For 2016
New Milwaukee GM David Stearns has his hands full trying to compete in the NL Central for the next several seasons. Really the club should be starting a full scale rebuild that includes trading Ryan Braun. Jonathan Lucroy and potentially Wily Peralta. With dealing with the Cubs, Cards and Bucs all in the NL Central, expect a 100 loss season coming forth for the club.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
The Milwaukee Brewers owner just sent out an open letter to all of the fans explaining to them his gratitude, and promised that the organization is committed to winning long term. I liked his candor, but it will be some time before this team has many victory laps.
The NL Central has turned into a fierce 3 club race, with the Reds and Brewers being left in the dust. Cincinnati has already thrown the white flag this week in trading Todd Frazier and now potentially Brandon Phillips. They would have already traded Aroldis Chapman as well if it weren’t for a domestic dispute.
The time to rebuild for the club is now. I would think the club should also entertain trade talks with Ryan Braun and Jonathon Lucroy over the next 6 – 8 months. Read the rest of this entry
Atlanta Braves State Of The Union For 2016
Before the recent deal for Shelby Miller the Braves had been questioned on whether the rebuild they are currently going through was going to work. Now all of a sudden, the club going through trading of all veterans – starting with Jason Heyward a year ago, looks so much better. The next year or 2 is still going to be painstakingly to endure, but the organization now has a promising future. Atlanta will enter a new park in Sun Trust Park, located in Cobb County, GA for 2017 after playing one more year at Turner Field in 2016.
Chuck Booth (Owner/Lead Analyst) Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
John Hart knows how to build teams in the Majors. He was at the forefront of the Cleveland Indians in the 1990’s when they signed a bunch of young nucleus players to multi year extensions. It was a trend that worked out for nearly a decade.
A pile of organizations copied this template. I must admit I thought he may have been a bit past his prime when the Braves finally hired him on last year, but he seems to carrying out the mission with Atlanta as well.
Of course taking over for Frank Wren – there was not much to go but up. Dan Uggla, Derek Lowe and B.J. Upton ultimately cost the former GM his job, but it should be noted he did orchestrate 3 decent trades in acquiring Justin Upton, Michael Bourn and Javier Vasquez much earlier.
The Braves did the right thing in dismantling the 2013 to 2014 squad. It would have cost too much money to re-sign Brian McCann and Jason Heyward – and Justin Upton may soon reel in a 9 figure sum.
Atlanta also traded away Craig Kimbrel and Andrelton of late. The haul for Kimbrel was nice, while Simmons was set to make $53 MIL over 5 years. Not huge cash, but for a guy more noted for defense, and with a team rebuilding, losing the dollars owed was a more significant move.
I also can’t emphasize enough how awesome it was to rid themselves of the Melvin Upton JR. contract. Read the rest of this entry
Toronto Should Trade For Ryan Braun
Ryan Braun has been the starter in RF for the Brewers for almost a decade. However, he has battled several thumb injuries, and is now 32 Years Old. Since Milwaukee will not likely be contenders for the next 3 – 4 years in a tough NL Division, they should really start to rebuild. Toronto also needs to look past 2016 – when both Encarnacion and Bautista are Free Agents. If they can’t come up with the funds to sign either of them in extensions, they should pursue Braun in the next 6 – 8 months.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
The Toronto Blue Jays have played it conservative for 2016, but still have a realistic shot to win in 2016 because of their offense. Going beyond 2016 looks extremely difficult when you factor in they may lose both Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista following next year.
This would be a shame, but both players should be able to command around $20 MIL per year for at least the next 2 – 3 years after this upcoming one. That may be too much for the Canadian club to afford.
Our website has spoken at length of how Toronto must capitalize on this opportunity. As of right now, I don’t think they have enough pitching to get it done in the playoffs either.
Free Agency will be a tough sell for the franchise to bring in any ace pitchers or premiere offensive stars in the coming years. You also may have a tough time to crack those deals when the Canadian dollar is hovering around 70 cents for every American Greenback right now.
I say go after Ryan Braun via a trade in the next 6 – 8 months. Read the rest of this entry
Exploring The 1927 New York Yankees
The 1927 New York Yankees epitomize dominance in athletics. Nearly a century later they are still mentioned any time a team is lapping the field in their particular sport.
Led by future Hall-of-Famers Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, the Bronx Bombers went 110-44 and swept the Pittsburgh Pirates in the World Series. Looking back at the squad reveals a number of compelling tidbits.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – December 20, 2015
MARK J. TERRILL/ASSOCIATED PRESS
It is Sunday and time for The Sunday Request.
@sullybaseball think there’s chance he didn’t want reinstatement? Prodigal thing good for his business. His case 4 reinstatement was a joke
— Ed Connealy (@edcfromkc) December 15, 2015
I had never thought on it, but man does Pete Rose seem to have ulterior motives.
Maybe bet against this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Baseball Hall Of Fame and Alan Trammel; Stacking Up Against Yount, Ripken, Ozzie, & Larkin
Now that we’ve taken a look at how Alan Trammell stacks up against other shortstops in the Hall, let’s take a look at how he stacks up against Shortstops in the Hall from his era which include Robin Yount, Cal Ripken Jr., Ozzie Smith, and then specifically against Barry Larkin as he was not in the Hall at the the time this was originally written.
I took a look at standard Hall of Fame stats as well as some simple Sabermetrics and then others like awards, games played at other positions, etc. Finally I took a look at Baseball-Reference.com’s who are they most like for their career. Take a look at how Tram faired…
Opt-out Clause Is A Black Eye For Baseball
opt-out clause – a clause that permits signatories to a contract to opt out of particular provisions, or to terminate the contract early.
I make no bones about it, I abhor the opt-out clauses that are being given to major league players today. MLB players today make millions of dollars a year and still they ask for and get opt-out clauses in their contracts. What is up with that?
To my way of thinking it is simple out and out GREED on the part of players and their agents. An opt-out clause in a baseball contract makes it totally one sided in favor of the player. The plan probably was originated by an agent that realized that there was more money to be made by negotiating more contracts. The players today have no loyalty to their teams or their fans what so ever and their single focus is putting more money in their pockets. They claim that they are doing all they can for the team but that is all BS, or they wouldn’t bail out of a contract if it was advantageous to them.
READ REST OF THE ENTRY
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – December 19, 2015
Baseball is recommending putting more nets for fan safety at ball parks.
That seems like a no brainer, doesn’t it?
Better to be safe than sorry in this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Ranking The Top Rookie Baseball Card Classes From Topps For The Last 31 Years; 10-1
For the last couple of days, I’ve been ranking the top rookie classes for the last 31 years from Topps Baseball Cards with rankings from ranked 31-21 and yesterday we covered 20-11. Today we wrap up with my top 10, but before we get to that, here’s a little more background…
To start off, I am only going to use Topps and not any of its offshoot brands like Bowman or Finest. I’ll use the standard series cards and include traded/update sets as well. The term rookie card had only been defined in the last decade so things may not always be apples to apples. From 2006 on, a Rookie Card can only be established once a player has played in a Major League game. This makes update sets incredibly important as they catch the late call-ups in their sets.
Additionally, Topps backed off rookie cards for a while it seemed by allowing Bowman (their rookie card brand since 1989) to get the first cards of players like Mariano Rivera, or other manufactures may steal the Rookie Card title altogether like Fleer did with David Ortiz. You’ll also notice duplication of some rookie cards in the ‘80’s since the players cards that came out in traded sets were considered XRC (extended rookie cards) since the cards were only sold in set form and away from the standard sets.
I’ll look at Hall of Famers, potential Hall of Famers, impact players, overall potential, etc. and remember…the PED era has nothing to do with anything in my opinion. Here we go…
Ranking The Top Rookie Baseball Card Classes From Topps For The Last 31 Years; 20-11
Yesterday I started looking at the top rookie classes for the last 31 years from Topps Baseball Cards and ranked 31-21. Today we move on down the list, looking at the classes ranked 20-11. Before we get to that however, here’s a little more background…
To start off, I am only going to use Topps and not any of its offshoot brands like Bowman or Finest. I’ll use the standard series cards and include traded/update sets as well. The term rookie card had only been defined in the last decade so things may not always be apples to apples. From 2006 on, a Rookie Card can only be established once a player has played in a Major League game. This makes update sets incredibly important as they catch the late call-ups in their sets.
Additionally, Topps backed off rookie cards for a while it seemed by allowing Bowman (their rookie card brand since 1989) to get the first cards of players like Mariano Rivera, or other manufactures may steal the Rookie Card title altogether like Fleer did with David Ortiz. You’ll also notice duplication of some rookie cards in the ‘80’s since the players cards that came out in traded sets were considered XRC (extended rookie cards) since the cards were only sold in set form and away from the standard sets.
I’ll look at Hall of Famers, potential Hall of Famers, impact players, overall potential, etc. and remember…the PED era has nothing to do with anything in my opinion. Here we go…
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – December 18, 2015
LucasFilm Ltd
A new Star Wars movie is coming out. Not sure if you heard about it.
The last time we had a decent Star Wars movie was 1983. A lot has changed since then, especially in baseball.
The Force is with this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Ranking The Top Rookie Baseball Card Classes From Topps For The Last 31 Years; 31-21
I’ve been slacking on the baseball card side of this blog so far and want to start righting that ship starting today. Being close to 40, I started collecting cards 31 years ago when I bought my first packs and eventual box of 1985 Topps baseball cards. There has been a ton of change in the industry, but Topps remains consistent as the only licensed manufacture of cards by both MLB and the Players association.
With that said, I had recently gone through some cards and was amazed at some of rookie card classes in recent years, which gave me an idea to rank the classes since I’ve been collecting.
Let’s take a look at what that looks like…
Pittsburgh Pirates Must Continue To Strengthen Bullpen
Recent history shows that good things happen when the Pittsburgh Pirates pay close attention to their bullpen. 2016 should be no exception.
In 2012 the Pittsburgh Pirates found themselves in the middle of ‘Epic Collapse II.’ While their miserable finish to the season would extend one of the most notorious streaks in professional sports, that particular season served as a blueprint to illustrate how the team could improve its fortunes going forward.
That blueprint was not found at an everyday position; nor was it found with the men tapped to start the game on the pitcher’s mound.
It was found in the bullpen.
An Open Letter To Commissioner Robert Manfred: Reinstate Pete!
Dear Commissioner Manfred,
I have been a fan of Major League Baseball ever since I laid eyes on Howard Johnson and the 1991 Mets. From that point on, I have followed the game of baseball with a passion. From countless games in person at Citi Field and Shea Stadium, to repeat watching of old games on YouTube and video cassette; I have followed the game with a passion and vigor. Baseball, to me, is a game rich with history and legacy.
That is why I am perturbed at the fact Pete Rose hasn’t been reinstated into MLB and can’t be on the Hall of Fame ballot.
Look, I understand the frustration. The man bet on baseball. In fact, the man bet on everything. He had a serious addiction. He went underneath the table and bet on his team to win. Yet, it wasn’t a 1919 World Series situation with “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and the Black Sox scandal.
He never manipulated a lineup for a loss. Mr. Rose NEVER bet against his team. If he purposely bet against the club he was managing and doctored results to his favor, then THAT’S an issue. However, that has never been proven, thus I believe it’s a bit over the top to STILL have a lifetime ban.
Jose Bautista Bat Flip HR in Context of Toronto Sports Moments
How does the famous bat flip HR from Jose Bautista compare to other Toronto sports ‘big moments’?
To all Blue Jays fans, the holidays are upon us. It’s that time of year when even the most miserable people smile, where when you hold the door open for someone you’re almost guaranteed to get a ,“Thank You.” However some of the saddest people this year might be Toronto Blue Jays fans.
Jays fans aren’t feeling so hot about this offseason so far, the lack of moves, and the departure of Alex Anthopoulos, and even some believing Mark Shapiro was sent by Donald Trump to ruin Canadian baseball and ‘Make America Great Again’ there hasn’t been too much to cheer about.
It was only sixty-two days ago that us as fans witnessed one of the greatest moments not only in Blue Jays history, but in recent Toronto sports history.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – December 17, 2015
Marvel Studios
What are the Dodgers up to?
Is the team falling apart and letting the other NL West clubs, like San Francisco and Arizona, take over? Or are they building something that we can’t quite see right now but will be dominating.
It reminds me of Tony Stark in the cave during the first Iron Man movie. He built something powerful right under everyone’s noses and turned failure into victory.
Maybe that’s what the Dodgers are doing.
Avengers Assemble for this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
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