Trading Cards! 7 Players on the Trade Block!
MLB GMs should take a lesson from sports card collectors, since we've been making great trades since we were kids!
Each “Happy Hobby Sports Card Newsletter” pack has a handful of great sports card subjects, helping sports card collectors working with limited budgets – like me!
The links in this newsletter are affiliate links with eBay, which means we will make a commission on any purchases off those links. So, thank you! Also, all sports card images come courtesy of BuySportsCards.com. This is the FREE version of the “Happy Hobby Sports Cards” Newsletter, with the PAID version coming again next week.
Patrick Imhoff is our guest writer this week, as he talks MLB trade possibilities, collecting players with PEDs on their bio, and a pretty sweet Roberto Clemente card. You can subscribe to Patrick’s Substack here!
⚾7 MLB Players Who Might Get Traded Soon!
The 2024 MLB trade deadline lands on Tuesday, July 30, at 6pm, and card collectors everywhere should be excited about what it means for some players!
For teams hovering around playoff spots, this is when we find out who are contenders or pretenders. Moving players to new, contending teams not only gives the team a boost towards the MLB playoffs, but it can also provide a boost in value to the players’ cards.
Here are seven popular players who could be on the move!
Tarik Skubal, SP, Tigers: This 2024 All-Star pitcher and Cy Young candidate still has three more years of control and he is highly desirable for a contender. Both the Orioles and Dodgers need pitching and he would make either team a legit contender to win it all. The Tigers need to lose more than win over the next week to make him moveable.
Mason Miller, RP, Athletics: A 2024 All-Star and flamethrowing closer. He is a luxury the A’s do not need right now as one of the worst teams in baseball. Relievers and closers can be mental basket cases at times and every contending team needs more than one pitcher capable of closing out a game. The A’s would be smart to trade him for as many prospects as they can get to build the team up for Vegas.
Luis Robert, CF, White Sox: The 26-year-old is a past All-Star and Gold Glover playing for a bad team. He has all the tools to be an All-Star every year -- except he lacks the ability to stay healthy. Maybe a reset to a new team is just what he needs to get healthy and live up to expectations. Expect the White Sox to sell everyone that has a pulse, which means Robert will likely get moved (along with Garrett Crochet, Michael Kopech, Tommy Pham, and Paul De Jong).
Jazz Chisholm Jr., CF, Marlins: An energetic, athletic CF who can also play 2B, Chisholm is still under control for two more years. The Marlins are in another sell off and he will likely be moved. His biggest knock might be his frequent injuries, but one of the contenders looking for a bat will take the risk for the right price.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B, Blue Jays: Still just 25 years old, Vlad Jr. is a power-hitting perennial All-Star. The Blue Jays missed out on Shohei Ohtani in the off season and they really look like a team without an identity. If they can get a good return, look for Vlad (and maybe Bo Bichette) to be moved to reset the team.
Pete Alonso, 1B, Mets: Alonso is a power-hitting home run machine. Since 2019, excluding the abbreviated 2020 season, he has never hit less than 37 home runs. His contract is up at the end of the year and the big spending Mets still have not worked out a deal. Plenty of teams would love to have his output, even if only for one post-season.
Randy Arozarena, LF, Rays: The former AL Rookie of the Year still has two years remaining on his contract and could be moved. The Rays are not really contending this year (sorry, David!) and historically, the Rays do make some pretty good trades.
Arozarena has always hit the ball well, except for this year, though, he is picking it up a little bit. If the value is not there, the Rays could hold onto him until winter, hoping his value spikes again in the second half.
There will be plenty more players, specifically relief pitchers, moved as the deadline approaches. However, the players above carry the most weight in the collecting world, and their moves to new, contending teams could provide a nice spike in value.
⚾Players, Rookie Cards, and PEDs: Does it matter?
When purchasing baseball cards, some of the features we look for in players are All-Stars, Rookie-of-the-Year candidates, MLB Pipeline’s Top 50 prospects, etc. Those players are the best of the best and worthy of our hard-earned money.
The opposite is true when you hear of players suspended for 80 games for Performance Enhancing Drugs (PED) use. Those are the players we tend to avoid, and not spend money on.
What happens when the same identifiers are used on the same players? Like, when a players suspended for PEDs becomes three-time All-Star, or when a top prospect gets suspended after one game. What about when a Rookie-of-the-Year candidate misses the first 80 games of the season?
As a collector do you let moral issues impact your collecting? Fernando Tatis Jr. and Emmanuel Clase were 2024 All-Stars. Noelvi Marte was an early candidate for NL ROY. Orelvis Martinez was a Top-3 prospect who made his MLB debut this year. All four of these guys have been suspended for 80 games each for PED use.
While you cannot control what players show up in packs and boxes, you can control whose singles you choose to purchase. I am a firm believer in second chances, and I recommended purchasing Orelvis Martinez cards in a past edition of “Thrifty Thursday.”
However, once I learn of a PED suspension, I tend to shy away from purchasing singles. I wish all these players the best in their careers, but I chose to intentionally avoid purchasing their cards.
Whose cards are you avoiding? Are you a Red Sox fan who will not buy a Yankees card? Let me know in the comments!
⚾RANKINGS: TOP 13 ROOKIE BASEBALL CARDS CLICKED ON IN JUNE
I posted articles on my website detailing the best rookie cards from each year for baseball, basketball, football, and hockey. Here are the top 11 rookie baseball cards that the most people clicked on to check their pricing on eBay:
2024 Topps Junior Caminero – View on eBay!
2018 Topps Ronald Acuna Jr. – View on eBay!
2018 Topps Shohei Ohtani – View on eBay!
2017 Topps Aaron Judge – View on eBay!
2024 Topps Yoshinobu Yamamoto – View on eBay!
2011 Topps Update Mike Trout – View on eBay!
2014 Topps Update Mookie Betts – View on eBay!
2022 Topps Update Bobby Witt Jr. – View on eBay!
2023 Topps Gunnar Henderson – View on eBay!
2022 Topps Julio Rodriguez – View on eBay!
2024 Topps Masyn Winn – View on eBay!
2024 Topps Elly De La Cruz – View on eBay!
2023 Topps Adley Rutschman – View on eBay!
You can buy these awesome top-loader card binders at Amazon!
⚾ CARDS THAT MAKE US HAPPY: 1973 Topps Roberto Clemente #50
Much like the Thurman Munson card in last week’s newsletter, this card will make you both happy and sad.
Walk around Pittsburgh for a day and you will see more Clemente shirts and jerseys than you can count. Clemente is to the Latin community of baseball players what Jackie Robinson is to the African American community.
Clemente was one of the greatest ball players of all time, but, more importantly, he was a great humanitarian. He was killed in a plane crash in December of 1972, while attempting to deliver aid supplies to Nicaraguan earthquake victims.
What makes his 1973 cards so special is how he finished the 1972 season. In the final game of the season against the New York Mets (against their Rookie-of-the-Year starter Jon Matlack), Clemente hit a double in the bottom of the fourth inning for his 3,000th hit of his career, joining just 10 others in this historic club.
Clemente’s ’73 Topps card brings more joy by looking at the back and seeing 3,000 career hits in the total, making him the only player to finish their career on the exact number.
⚾HAPPY HOBBY POLL
Thanks again to Patrick Imhoff as our guest writer this week! You can subscribe to Patrick’s Substack here! He does great Thrifty Thursday articles each week that touches on some good prospects and rookie cards to consider picking up on the cheap!
Consider becoming a paid subscriber for $6 per month, or $60 per year (20% discount from monthly!). Get into the “Paid Sub” group early and get to know the other subscribers in the chat! As a group, we’ll work to help you improve your collection on a limited budget!
Let us know if you have any ideas for the podcast and/or the newsletter!
Have a Happy Hobby!
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Well the trade list keeps moving Jazz is gone. I had no clue Clemente had exactly 3000. Im most excited to for JJ Weatherholt from WVU looking forward to singles in bowman draft
I'd like to see Robert on the Rockies.