Hip Hip, Jorge!

According to MLB.com, the Rays may be interested in signing Jorge Posada as a backup catcher to Jose Molina. This would be ironic as Molina was once a backup on the Yankees to Posada. It would be sad to see Posada finish his career in another uniform, but there is about a zero chance that the Yankees will sign him. Realistically, Posada has declined significantly in recent years. He is no longer able to start at any position every day. He would probably be best served to simply retire. If the Rays don’t sign him, it’s rumored that the Orioles or Phillies might be interested. I love Posada, but I think he is done.

You've Been Drafted

There is a baseball card draft over at Cardboard Heaven. You can check it out here. Basically, you get 25 picks for $15.00. There are some pretty decent cards in the draft - plenty of autos and game used cards. There are only 11 spots so you need to hurry.

Royals Hot Stove

It seems like every off-season the Royals make a few interesting moves that make a few experts believe that they may contend for a playoff spot. By May, those hopes are usually dashed. One of these past signings was Gil Meche. The Royals overpaid for Meche who eventually retired due to injury. The Royals’ latest signing is Jonathan Broxton. Broxton will be the setup man for Joakim Soria. That is a pretty strong 1-2 punch out of the bullpen. Does this make the Royals a contending team? No. But I like this acquisition. The Royals usually make one or two free agent signings and stock the rest of the roster with former Atlanta Braves. I’ll put the Royals down for 75 wins next year.

Cards from Cards on Cards

I recently completed a trade with Kerry from Cards on Cards. I sent over a bunch of my 1993 Upper Deck duplicates in exchange for some Topps Heritage card of varying years. By the way, if anyone needs any 1993 Upper Deck, let me know. I have plenty. Anyway, here are the highlights of the trade in what I think is chronological order.

The neatest card may be the expired redemption card. A little research reveals that a timely submission would result in a Pablo Sandoval Red Hot Rookies card. Time makes fools of us all though. I ended up with a pretty good haul. Thanks for the trade.

Topps Silk: J.J. Hardy

My latest eBay purchase is one more 2011 Topps Update Silk card. This one features J.J. Hardy who is currently an Oriole but perhaps best remembered as a Brewer. Hardy actually had a decent year for the Orioles. I really don’t hear his name too much, but that’s probably a function of where he plays. The neat thing about this card is that it is numbered 50/50. I know that is meaningless, but I like that. I only paid $1.99 shipped for this card. These Silk cards are getting cheaper and cheaper. It’s almost the same trend that we saw with game-used jersey cards.

My Newest Alfonso Soriano Card

I received this 2007 Fleer card of Alfonso Soriano recently. Best of all, it was free. I signed up for Swagbucks and had enough points for this card in about a day with little effort. You earn points by taking surveys and doing web searches and such. I was shocked that baseball cards were available as an award. That’s kind of why I signed up. I like the 2007 Fleer cards because they weren’t too expensive and didn’t have a glossy front. They’re great for autographs. Sure he is wearing a Nationals uniform on a Cubs card but it doesn’t matter. Soriano has been a bit of a nomad since he left the Yankees. He is not the player that he was several years ago. He is now 35 believe it or not. He hit 26 home runs this year, but at the expense of his batting average which was only .244. However, he did make $19 million this year. That’s pricey.

Topps Silk: Rafael Soriano

I have purchased another 2011 Topps Update Silk Card. This one is Rafael Soriano of the Yankees. This is my first Yankees Silk card. I only paid $2.24 shipped for this card. Soriano is basically a setup man to David Robertson who is a setup man for Mariano Rivera. Soriano started out as the 8^th inning guy but Robertson took the job. Soriano had an OK season in 2011 but his best season was in 2010 with the Rays. The card is serial numbered 8/50. It is a really nice addition to my Yankees collection.

Topps Silk from eBay

I purchased my first 2011 Topps Silk card on eBay. The subject is Jon Garland of the Dodgers. Actually, he is technically a free agent right now. It is a card from the Update Series. The serial number is 42/50 which has no significance at all. I entered a high bid of $2.00 for the card which is a lowball bid, but that’s not unusual for me. Someone outbid me and ran the price to $2.25. I wasn’t about to get into a bidding war over a Jon Garland card. But that bidder later retracted his bid which probably caused some potential buyers to ignore this item. I wound up winning this card for $1.34! Barely enough to cover shipping. Thanks mystery bid retractor.

TTM Mailbag: Brandon Morrow

I received a TTM autograph return this week from Brandon Morrow. I sent two cards to Blue Jays Spring Training and received both back in 237 days. Both the Topps Heritage and Upper Deck First Edition cards were signed in blue Sharpie. Unfortunately, each card has a tiny smudge on the front. It is still a very nice return and my longest to date which gives some hope for some cards that I sent out during spring training. I try to send to Blue Jays players during spring training so that I can avoid sending packages into Canada. I can’t wait for spring training to start in 2012. At best, there are only 5 games remaining this season.

Flea Market Finds

I picked up three baseball cards at a local flea market recently. The first is a 1998 Topps Opening Day card of David Justice. Justice is shown in a Cleveland uniform where he spent parts of four seasons. The next card is a 1998 Pinnacle of Jason Giambi. Giambi had some decent years as a Yankee. Somehow, he is still playing. Most recently, he played with the Rockies. The final card is most intriguing. At first glance, it looks like a standard 1988 Topps card of Nolan Ryan. However, the border is actually blue instead of white. Also, the card number is “N” which is kind of odd. The card actually looks like it was cut from a sheet or possibly a box of Twinkies. It’s an interesting little mystery card. It’s a pretty good haul and a good time was had by all.