Some

Here is the address to send the UPC code;

Hank Aaron and Sandy Koufax confirmed for 2011 Topps Baseball Cards

With apologies, I've been battling a flu bug that has had me foggy headed and in bed for the last five days, this is my first post in a while, but its big news on several fronts.

Sandy Koufax and Hank Aaron are confirmed signers for 2011 Topps Baseball releases.  As you remember, Koufax was announced and then mysterious pulled a day later, but can now be confirmed along with Aaron to do on card signatures for 2011 releases.  Both Koufax and Aaron are not big signers so this is great news for collectors and a sign of things to come for the 60th Anniversary of Topps Baseball.

Both will appear in 2011 Topps Heritage and in the new Gypsy Queen release which will be modeled after the 1887 N174 Gypsy Queen baseball cards.

Some great free cards from Panini are only a Tweet away

You already know about our contest, but here is another one you might not know about.  Panini has set aside 15 Material and Signature Cards to be given away to a random followers of their Twitter account.  These cards will be released one at a time for each 50 new followers they get.  So if you follow us on Twitter, make sure you follow Panini too.  If you don't follow us or Panini yet, what are you waiting for?   To check out the cards, use this link to get to The Knight's Lance.

Brand new SPEED-break™ of a hobby box of 2010 Panini Gridiron Gear Football Cards with some nice Mojo right at the top.

I have to admit that after the first two packs of this break I though this box was loaded, but things settled down for a bit.   I love the look of these cards but this is definitely a multiple purchase set builder, especially considering there are 100 Rookie cards and only 18 in a box.  But I'm certainly not going to have a problem picking up another box or two.

Here is the break.

Another Sneak Peek at our Contest Prize Package

Thanks to Topps for adding the following boxes to our prize package.

A hobby box of 2010 Baseball Update Series.  This release is based heavily on the All-Star game, so finding top players is like shooting fish in a barrel.  The SPEED-break we did of the Update Series is our most viewed YouTube video to date.

A retail box of 2010 National Chicle.  After some initial buzz about the Ruth card, things settled and Chicle found its audience.

A retail box of 2009 Bowman Draft Picks Football cards.

So with this, plus the box from Press Pass, the prize package is shaping up rather nicely.  But wait... there's more to come.

There is still time to enter the contest, details can be found using this link.

Rookie Blogger is a Great Read

We've always tried to send you to other blogs that are great and we have found a young startup that should make you take notice.  From The Cheap Seats is an no-frills, straight up, good writing blog on all New York sports.  It pulls no punches and obviously comes from someone who has deep sports knowledge, not just a fan spewing rants.  Its a great read.  Use this link to get to From The Cheap Seats and tell them you go the link from All About Cards.

Sneak Peek at part of our Contest Prize

We are getting emails asking "what is in that prize package."  Thanks to Panini, Press Pass, SAGE and Topps, it will be a great.  We don't want to give it all away just yet, so we will reveal the contents of the package one item at a time until voting is over.

So here is your first sneak peek at what will be in the prize package.  This first box comes to us thanks to Press Pass.

It's a Hobby Box of Press Pass 2011 NASCAR Racing cards. Just released this week, this box comes with 30 packs of cards and it can be bought for around $70 to $80.  For more information about this box and a checklist, you can visit their web site page using this link.

On our next reveal, we will show you one of the boxes that has been sent to us from Topps.

A quick voting update, please use the polls you see to the right side of this page to make your vote count.  Leaving a comment is not enough.   It might appear from the comments that certain cards are clearly in the lead to win but the numbers from the polls do not reflect the comments and if we were to stop the voting today, the winners might surprise you.  For more information on voting and entering the contest, use this link.

Enter to win our year end contest. Voting is open for the 2010 Sports Card Awards

UPDATE: LEAVING A COMMENT WITH YOUR VOTES WILL NO LONGER GAIN YOU ENTRY INTO OUR CONTEST.

Fan voting for the 2010 Sports Card Awards is officially open.  Use the polls on the right side of this page to cast your votes.   To see a description of the nominees, use the following links

The Sickest Card of the Year - use this link
Fan Favorite Set of the Year and Box Most Likely to Contain Mojo - use this link

We are still pulling together our prize package for fans who vote.  Thanks to Panini, Press Pass, SAGE and Topps, it will be several different boxes of cards and a maybe even a loose hit or two.   I will announce the prize package shortly.

There are three ways to enter our contest.

1 - Leave a comment on this post telling us how you voted.
2 - Leave a comment on our Facebook page telling us how you voted.
3 - If you want to enter but keep you choices private, send us an email telling us how you voted to AllAboutCardsAwards (at) yahoo (dot) com


Want to pick up another bonus entry?  There can pick up one per person using one of the following methods

1 -  Setup a link on your blog sending people to this post, then email us the link so it can be verified.  If you can update the link when we announce the contents of the prize package, that would be appreciated.

2 - If you don't have a blog, start a topic on your favorite card forum or Facebook card collecting group linking to this post, then email us the link so it can be verified.  To get the entry, you must be the first person to set up a link on that forum.  It will be easy to tell with time and date stamps who is the first.

Stay tuned to this blog in the coming weeks as we announce our nominees and winners of the 2010 Sports Card Awards in the following categories

Best Baseball Trading Cards                                            Best Premium Baseball Cards
Best Basketball Trading Cards                                         Best Premium Basketball Cards
Best Football Trading Cards                                             Best Premium Football Cards
Best Hockey Trading Cards                                             Best Premium Hockey Cards
Best Alternative Sports Cards                                          Best Ultra Premium Cards

and Best Sports Cards of the Year

Here are the nominees for The Sickest Card of the Year

Let’s face facts; its doubtful that anyone out there has seen every single card produced this year.  So narrowing down and picking the sickest card of the year is a daunting task.  Even getting it down to a few nominees is difficult.  So we decided to go to the people who know these cards, the companies that make them.  We posed the question, “What was the single sickest card you produced this year?”  What we found was even having intimate knowledge of every card they’ve designed this year, our question was not an easy one to answer.  But after much internal discussion, they did come to a consensus.  

But now it’s out of their hands because you, the collectors, will have the final say.  You will decide which of these five cards is “The Sickest Card of the Year.”

Here are the Nominees

 2010 Panini Certified Football Immortals Ernie Davis Game Worn Materials

Panini had a lot of ways to go with their selection this year.  The depth of their insert cards is impressive.  This card may not be as loud as some of their others but it is sick and an excellent, meaningful choice.  This card is the first ever memorabilia card for Ernie Davis.  Davis was the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy, the number one NFL draft pick of 1962, died of leukemia at the age of 23 before he played a single down of football in the NFL, and was profiled in the movie “The Express.”  The piece of material used for this card is from Davis’ 1962 College All-Star Game that Panini bought at auction for $23,900.  There is a behind the scenes video story of the jersey and the how this card came to be at Panini’s Blog, The Knight’s Lance.

2010 Press Pass Five Star Racing Classic Compilations Dale Earnhardt Sr./Dale Jr. Patch Auto Booklet

Press Pass is the only card company covering racing.  You would think with that kind of monopoly and control they could phone it in.  But they don’t.  Their releases look fantastic. With the tons of logos and wide variety of materials that racing has to offer, from firesuits to tires to sheet metal, they are able to come up with some really sick looking cards.  This is from their recent Five Star release and the booklet speaks for itself.  Not only two of the greatest drivers of all time, a father/son combo.  With the great autographs and fully embroidered patches that are as good as any we’ve seen in any sport, even if you are not one of the 38% of people in the US that identify themselves as racing fans, you can tell this is one sick card.

2010 SAGE Autographed Football Jimmy Clausen, Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy Triple Auto

SA-GE is a small company putting out a big product.  With collectors trending heavily towards rookie speculation, this company is producing an exclusive run of cards to satisfy that craving.  But as with any boutique company making a carefully watched over product, its gonna cost you big time.  Not so with these cards.  This hand numbered, triple auto came from a box of 2010 SAGE Autographed Football.  For about $100 you get 12 packs with one auto per pack, and you’ll never see a redemption card.  That many pulls at that price point is sick and this is their sickest.

2010 Bowman Baseball Stephen Strasburg Red Auto 1/1

It’s Topps so it had to be a Strasburg, but which one. Even more than the Superfractor, this Red Auto 1/1 caused a huge buzz in the collecting community this year.  With bids on eBay reaching near one million dollars and then quickly going away, this card was moved to Huggins & Scott Auction House and finally sold for $19,975.  In the process, it pushed the value of all the Bowman Strasburg autos sky high.  Being able to get that kind of return on your collecting investment makes this one truly sick card.

2009/10 Upper Deck SPx Hockey Shadowbox Wayne Gretzky Auto

Originally when I posed the “your sickest” question to Upper Deck, their pick was this card.

It's a Great Walking Leaf Entomology Card from their redemption program included in the 2009 MLB Goodwin Champions release.  This card is working the sick angle on a whole bunch of levels.  That is an actual bug... in a card... and the card is 5 inches by 7 inches... and its about the thickness of a summer paperback novel.  You can see a great video on all the cards from the Entomology series using this link.  If you want to see what these are reselling for now, follow this link.

The first thought was “it’s a bug, what does that have to do with sports?”  But if Allen & Ginter can have Chihuahua inserts, why not a bug?  The problem is the release date for the set was September 2009.  Even though the redemptions took until 2010 to fill, we can’t count it for these awards.  But it certainly gets an honorable mention. 

Then Upper Deck came back with the 2009/10 Gretzky Shadowbox Auto.

Pictured above is the insert card without the auto.  No picture of the complete auto card was available.  This highly innovative set of inserts from the SPx Hockey line was very popular with collectors.  The insert without the auto goes for close to $100 on eBay and with Upper Deck's exclusive on “The Great One,” pulling this card had to have been sick.

So that will do it for this year’s nominees.  Attempts were made to get nominations from other companies.  No one was excluded from the process.

Voting will begin on this category along with Fan Favorite Set of the Year and Box Most Likely to Contain Mojo in the next day or two, so you have some time to think about your picks.

You’ll also have the opportunity to enter to win a prize pool of several boxes of cards, all of which will be explained when voting begins.

Stay tuned for details.

UPDATE:  TO VOTE AND ENTER OUR CONTEST, USE THIS LINK

Nominees for Fan Favorite Set and Mojo for the 2010 Sports Card Awards.

Here are the Nominees for the 2010 Sports Card Awards in the categories of Fan Favorite Set of the Year and Box Most Likely to Contain Mojo.  Nominees for The Sickest Card of the Year will be announced Wednesday.  At that point, voting will be opened and details on how to enter our year end awards contest will be released.

Fan Favorite Set of the Year

There is a reason this category is called "Fan Favorite"  You selected the nominees and you will select the winner.  Taken from your suggestions, these are the cards you love to collect, the cards for set builders.  You have no problem buying boxes and boxes of these because the goal is to collect them all.  Here are the nominees.

2010 Donruss Elite Extra Edition

2010/11 Panini Rookies & Stars Basketball

 2010/11 Score Hockey

2010 Topps Allen & Ginter Baseball

2010 Topps Chrome Football

2010 TRISTAR Obak Baseball

Box Most Likely to Contain Mojo

Base cards?  We don't need no stickin' base cards.   Hits.  That's what this category is about.  Your Billionaire Uncle (Everyone has one of those, right?) is buying, so price is no object here and should not be taken into consideration in your voting, but not all of these boxes will break the bank.    These are the high hit percentage boxes that speculative collectors are ripping into with screwdowns and magnetic holders at the ready.   Yes, its a lottery system but you have to be in it to win it.

2010/11 In The Game Ultimate Memorabilia 10th Edition Hockey

2009/10 Panini National Treasures Basketball Cards

2010 Press Pass Five Star Racing

2010 SAGE Squared Football

2010 Topps Triple Threads

2009/10 Upper Deck The Cup Hockey

Once again, The Sickest Card of the Year nominees, contest details and voting instructions will be announced tomorrow.

UPDATE:  TO VOTE AND ENTER OUR CONTEST, USE THIS LINK.

Box Break of 2010 Panini Limited Football Cards

Here is a little football sorbet to help cleanse your palette of today's games.  A box break of 2010 Panini Limited Football Cards. Bon appetit!

Phase 1 of our awards contest is closed

Congratulations to all our "early adopters" you've earned yourselves extra entries.  To what?   You don't know... yet.  Expect some more information mid-week.

There will still be chances to enter when the nominees are announced as voting begins.  But now, the window to pick up these early entries is officially closed.

Contest update for the 2010 Sports Card Awards and last chance to pick up an extra entry

UPDATE:  For Contest and voting details, use this link.

Here are links to see the Nominees

The Sickest Card of the Year - use this link
Fan Favorite Set - use this link
Box Most Likely to Contain Mojo - use this link

This is your last chance to get an extra entry (SORRY. ADDITIONAL COMMENTS TO THIS POST NO LONGER COUNT TOWARDS EARLY ENTRIES)  for what is shaping up to be a really nice, rather large prize package of a several hobby boxes of sports cards.  I'm not releasing the actual prize info yet, but its the kind of contest prize I would be happy to win.


All you have to do is leave a comment with your suggestion for the following three award categories that you, the collectors, will vote on;

Sickest Card of the Year
Fan Favorite Set of the Year
Box most likely to contain Mojo

But do it TODAY, because as soon as we make our announcements, this phase of the contest is over. (THIS PHASE IS NOW OVER)

Want to pick up another entry?  Spread the word about our awards and this contest.  You can post a link on your blog and for those that don't have a blog, post a topic on your favorite site of forum.  Email us the link to AllAboutCardsAwards (at) Yahoo (dot) com and if it can be verified, you'll get an additional entry.

Koufax might not have signed an exclusive with Topps, Questions abound, no answers to be found.

No, Virginia... there is no Santa Claus... or, at the very least, we can't confirm it.

In an earlier post about my gift wish list, I was giddy about the announcement that Sandy Koufax had signed an exclusive deal with Topps for autographing cards.  I decided to Google "Koufax Topps Auto" tonight in hopes of getting more details and the Beckett Blog's story on it was the first hit.  I followed this link and got to a page that said "Sorry, no posts matched your criteria."  I thought that it was odd for a story that was written a day ago to have a bad link.  I did a site search and came up with nothing on the Koufax deal.  The story had disappeared.

Then I went to the place where I got the original photo of the signed mock up and it was gone too.   Not good.  Something was up.

Well..one of our earliest followers, Night Owl, picked up on this too and did a little detective work and without giving it all away, we can neither confirm nor deny that the Sandy Koufax has signed with Topps at this time.  Use this link to get to Night Owl's post on the matter entitled "Will this card exist or not?"  Nice work Night Owl.

Thursday Night Football, Thursday night SPEED-break of Topps 2010 NFL trading cards Jumbo HTA box.

The Indianapolis Colts take on the Tennessee Titans and we take on a jumbo box of Topps 2010 NFL Trading Cards.  You can watch this at half time, take that bathroom pit stop, refresh you chips and still make it back in time for the second half.  Enjoy.


Next SPEED-break... 2010 Panini Gridiron Gear Hobby Box.

Will Baseball Card values skyrocket thanks to the winter meetings?

In a previous post I touched briefly on the Jayson Werth - Washington Nationals deal.  Now, thanks to the Boston Red Sox deals during the winter meetings, I'd like to show you two cards I ripped from packs this year.

 A Topps Tribute base card of Adrian Gonzalez and a Carl Crawford Peak Performance auto.  With apologies to the good citizens of Baltimore and Toronto, the AL East is going to be a tough division to play in next season. But as the separation in pay between your common player and your mega contract player widens, should we expect the value of there cards and common cards to widen too?  Wouldn't it be great if that Crawford auto just tripled in value overnight?

With these monster contract, is the MLB setting themselves up for the kind of bubble burst the housing market experienced recently.  Can you go into foreclosure on a player contract?

Anyway... congratulations to the Boston Red Sox, you should be a powerhouse to contend with in 2011.  But realize this does come at a cost to Boston fans as they no longer have the right to complain about the Yankees "buying" a championship team.  Red is the new Navy Blue.

Officially on my holiday wish list...autographs!

Tis' the season, so besides compiling our soon to be announced award nominees, trying to upload an old SPEED-break™ to YouTube and prepping for a brand new SPEED-break™or two and regular break of some premium cards, I found some time to gather a short wish list.  


So in no particular order here is my list.

All I can say is DAMN!!!!!  In one of my early posts I covered Koufax and the old Walmart cards.  Some of my most treasured cards are of Koufax.  This blog's logo above has a partially hidden signed baseball with Koufax's signature.  Now, Topps has signed an exclusive deal with Sandy Koufax to autograph cards for several of their products.  This 2011 Topps Heritage Baseball will be the first. Unfortunately these items wont be available in time for the holidays, but I'm willing to wait for their release.

One release that should just barely make it in time to be put under the tree is pictured above.  OK, clearly this is not a card.  It's a picture "borrowed" from Panini's incredible blog, The Knight's Lance.  After reading All About Cards every day, you should head over to Panini's site because they are truly mounting a blog that is overflowing with some of the best content a collector could ask for, including behind the scenes coverage of how cards are made.  The picture above is from a post about creating cut auto cards.  If you look closely, you'll see thats a Lefty Gomez auto.  For those who have been with this blog from the start, you'll remember my story about Lefty Gomez and Thurman Munson.  Well, I never did get Gomez's auto, so this is one that I've been chasing for a long time now.  These will be in the 2010 Panini Century Collection, which is also on my list, a case of these please. I'm planning a big post on these cards after we hand out our awards but for now you should know that the other autos included in this release that are on my list are George Brett, Pete Rose, Stan Musial, Cal Ripkin, Ben Hogan, Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, and Lou Gehrig.  Perhaps I should revise this wish to several dozen cases of these cards.

Year end Sports Card Awards and your chance to vote & win a prize package

Do you feel there are not enough awards shows, that so many important achievements go unrecognized?  Are you upset there is no longer a Grammy given for Best Polka Album?  Do you wait with bated breath for the results of the Stella Awards, given to people who file outrageous and frivolous lawsuits, or hope one day to win a Shorty, the award given for best Tweet on Twitter in over 26 categories?  Well… you are exactly the type of person we are looking for.

With extreme pride, and a considerable amount of smugness, All About Cards announces its First Annual Sports Card Awards but we need your help to make them successful.  In addition to awards for best cards in all sports, there will be three awards chosen by you, the collector.  Yes… you have just been selected to join our Blue Ribbon Panel.  You will be voting on the following three categories.

Sickest Card of the Year

Fan Favorite Set of the Year

Box most likely to contain Mojo

Of course, every awards show gives out SWAG to it participants and we are no different.  One lucky member of our Blue Ribbon Panel will walk away with a prize package.  We will let you know what that prize is as we get closer to announcing the award winners.  As always with All About Cards, we like to give “early adopters” extra chances to win, so leave us a comment with some of your thoughts on the above categories like which cards you think should be nominated and the extra entry for the prize package is yours.

Look for our nominations announcement later in this week.

Jayson Werth signs a monster seven year, $126 million contract with the... Nationals?

Jayson Werth will be wearing a familiar red uniform, but it won’t be with the Phillies.  Werth has just signed a seven year, $126 million deal with the Washington Nationals.

By today’s standards, close to $18 million is not nearly as shocking as the SEVEN YEARS that will carry Werth through to the age of 38 and the fact that he’s going from a World Series contender to a team that tends spend most of its time in the cellar. 

This lengthy contract will also set a precedent for upcoming free agent contract negotiations which I’m sure team general managers are not too happy about.

If Strasburg can bounce back from TJ surgery and Bryce Harper can live up to his hype, the Nats might now be posed to improve their profile in the league.  Either way, Jayson Werth is the real winner here, and may be the only winner, except, of course, Werth's agent.

Jeter to remain in pinstripes, Derek Jeter and New York Yankees agree on contract terms

It’s a done deal; Derek Jeter will stay with the Yankees.

We reported earlier today that the New York Yankees and Derek Jeter were close to a deal.  Now, according to the New York Daily News, pending a physical, a deal is done that guarantees Jeter $48 million over the next three years, with a player option for 2014. The option is worth $8 million with another $9 million in incentives, or Jeter can take a $3 million buyout instead, meaning he's guaranteed a minimum of $51 million if he doesn't exercise the option and $56 million if he does.  This contract will carry Jeter through to the age of 39, so there is a great chance he will retire while still in pinstripes.

To get the other $9 million in incentives, Jeter will have to finish in the top six of AL MVP voting, as well as winning the Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, ALCS MVP or World Series MVP.   Some of Jeter’s deal will be for deferred money, but at an average annual salary of around $16 million, it makes him the highest-paid shortstop in baseball. After all is said and done, Jeter will be taking a $2 million pay cut, not bad for a player who is 36 and coming off of his worst season ever.

With Jeter signed the Yankees still have more deals to sign.   Mariano Rivera is expected to receive a two year, $30 million contract, and then Brian Cashman will continue to pursue Cliff Lee, in what the New York Yankees are terming their top priority for the off season. 

Derek Jeter and New York Yankees close to a deal

I almost wrote about this on Thanksgiving, but the spirit of the holiday kept me from being negative.  The resigning of Derek Jeter has been a source of consternation for fans.  Mock up photos of Jeter in Red Sox and Angels uniforms did not help the situation.  There was anger at the Yankees for not just giving the “franchise” what he wanted to keep him on the team.  There was anger towards Jeter’s agent for pushing for a ridiculous amount of money considering Jeter’s age, 36, and declining numbers.  From a purely statistical point, Jeter is not worth what he used to be.

Now it appears that Derek Jeter, or should we say his agent who seems to be driving this engine, is on the verge of agreeing to a three-year contract that will pay him in the range of $45 million to $51 million. The deal will probably include an option for a fourth year too.  It is expected that it will all be resolved and signed by Sunday evening.

Yes, Jeter will take a pay cut of $6 million a year, but he will still remain the highest-paid shortstop in baseball. In turn, The Yankees will give him more than the three years and $45 million they initially offered, but it will be far less than Jeter was asking.

Ultimately, if Jeter retires a Yankee, it will increase his post career value.  In the end, its what fans wanted and secretly what both the Yankees and Jeter wanted.  I think Jeter’s agent could care less; money is the motivator for agents, bigger deal, bigger commission.

Chicago Cubs third baseman, Ron Santo, dies at age 70

I have two 6 inch binders of cards that are special to me.  They are separated from the rest of my collection so I can easily look at then, or show them off when someone visits.  In these binders you'll find the usual suspects, Aaron, Mays, Mantle, Koufax, Bench, etc.  But there are also the cards of those players who might not have had the huge numbers of these members of the Hall of Fame, but had just as much impact.  Ron Santo is in these binders.

Ron Santo, the one of the greatest players in Chicago Cubs history, who should be in the Hall of Fame, died, Thursday night, at the age of 70.  The fact that he made it to 70 is amazing considering the battle with medical issues he endured.  Santo was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at age 18.  After retiring as a player, Santo underwent surgery on his eyes, heart, bladder and his legs.  After numerous attempts at correcting his leg problems, they had to be amputated.  Most recently, Santo was dealing with bladder cancer and complications from that lead to his death.

Santo's cards will remain in my special binders, HOF or not.  As far as I'm concerned, he earned the right to be there.

Alexander Ovechkin rips packs of cards. Huge hit, major mojo, interesting reaction.

I love this video.  It gives you a little insight into the personality of Washington Capitals star and reigning two-time MVP, Alexander Ovechkin. You’ll remember we covered the recent eBay auction of his rookie card that sold for close to $9,200.  You can link to the story here.

In this video Ovechkin is at a private meet and greet sponsored by Upper Deck.  Collectors and Ovechkin super fans got the opportunity to “talk” with Alex and win some higher-end Upper Deck packs like the pack of O-Pee-Chee Premier Hockey Cards Ovechkin is opening in the video.  Check out Ovechkin’s reaction to pulling a sick card, the kind of hit we all would like to pull. 

Topps announces their 2010 All-Star Rookie Team, but did they choose wisely?

Starting back in 1959, Topps selected one rookie in each baseball position in addition to a left handed, right handed and relief pitcher to form a Rookie All-Star team.  Then rookie, Willie McCovey was selected to the first team.  They’ve continued this tradition each year with Hall of Fame players like Joe Morgan,  Rod Carew, Tom Seaver, Johnny Bench, Andre Dawson and Ozzie Smith making the cut.  Here is their selection for the 2010 Topps Rookie All-Star team:

1B: Gaby Sanchez, Florida Marlins

2B: Neil Walker, Pittsburgh Pirates

3B: Danny Valencia, Minnesota Twins

SS: Starlin Castro, Chicago Cubs

OF: Austin Jackson, Detroit Tigers

 OF: Mike Stanton, Florida Marlins

OF: Jason Heyward, Atlanta Braves

C: Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants

RHP: Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals

LHP: Jaime Garcia, St. Louis Cardinals

RP: Neftali Feliz, Texas Rangers

OK Topps.  I know this is your list, but I've got a problem with it.

Let's take the obvious players out of the discusion.  No one should have a problem with Sanchez, Walker, Valencia, Jackson, Heyward, Posey, Garcia, or Feliz.  That leaves Castro, Stanton, and Strasburg.

On second thought, I'll concede Castro.  But what about Stanton?  Anyone think that should have been Brennan Boesch?  But even on that one, I could go either way.

The one that troubles me is the most hyped player in quite a while, Strasburg.  I know...  I know... he had an amazing start, set some records early and looked like he could actually come close to living up to the hype.  I know that he was a huge boost to card collecting at the beginning of the year.   But he pitched in a total of 12 games, 68 innings of work all together.  Can you think of another Right Handed Rookie Pitcher for this spot?  How about Wade Davis?  His performance this year was good enough to earn 11 out of a potential 28 votes on the Rookie of the Year balloting.  Yes, against a healthy Strasburg it would be no match, but the point is Strasburg wasn't healthy.

For your sake, and for card collecting, I hope you're right, that Strasburg rebounds and values/demand rebounds with it.  But if it doesn't, I think you just might have overlooked a really good player.

What do you think?