Catching up with A Cracked Bat

I am close to finally cleaning out my scanned folder, and here's a post I've been meaning to get to. Over the summer, Julie from A Cracked Bat was kind enough to send me a great bubble mailer full of Yankees. Julie's packages are always great and are always full of cards I didn't have - new and old!

I was most surprised by the 1994 O-Pee-Chee cards in there. I honestly have never seen this set! I'm not surprised at all they exist, just for whatever reason I never came across them. Probably because Tino wasn't included in 1994 for some reason?

Gary Sanchez cards were plentiful too. I really like this Museum Collection card, as Julie is known to include cards from some of the higher end products. The Refractor looks great as well! For whatever reason, I feel like 2018 Refractors looked a lot better than years past.

Another card I really enjoyed was Yankees Old Timers Day insert. I mean, just look at Matsui's flow in the picture! It's amazing!

I think I've gotten some Tips Fire in about three or four of the last packages I've received. Since I found zero Fire this year, I'm very cool with this development.

Stadium Club was pretty nice this year, and these were two great Yankees to snag from the set.

Lastly, this was a fun card: a Jose Campos ONYX autograph. I actually couldn't tell if the silver was a real or pre-printed autograph, but I found a few copies of the card online and the signature differed in each one, so indeed, it'a an autograph! Neat looking card!

Julie, thanks for always keeping me on your list of trading partners!

Let's go Camp(os)ing

Judson over at My Cardboard Habit has been buying a decent amount of Bowman Platinum lately. This year's set is nice. It looks and feels high quality.

He pulled this gem, and was nice enough to send it my way. I really love the green, and the signature area is pretty unique. Better than just a rectangle.

Campos came to the Yanks in them Pineda/Montero trade, and at the time many felt he might end up being the best part of the trade. Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to remain healthy. He underwent TJ surgery this past April, so we won't see him until 2015. He's got a big arm, so hopefully he rebounds and puts himself back on the prospect map.

Judson, thanks for the sweet auto.

A blatent look what I got post

I don’t have much to say here. This is blantently a “look what I got” post. These cards have trickled in through various purchases/auction wins. I don’t have much to say other than I like them, and here they are. Now I can put them away.

 

 

 

TTM Success: Jose Campos

About a year and a half ago, the Yankees and M's swapped mega prospects. Michael Pineda and Jose Campos came to the Yankees in exchange for my personal favorite, Jesus Montero, and Hector Noesi. Thus far, the trade has been a disappointment on both sides. Pineda got hurt and missed all of 2012. However, he is about 3-4 weeks from returning, and apparently he's back to throwing in the mid-90s good off speed stuff. What a lift that would be.

Montero and Noesi have both been dreadful. In fact, Montero just got sent to the minors, and then got hurt. Part of me still wonders how he would have done as a full-time DH if the Yanks kept him.

Jose Campos was the little-known piece with a big arm coming off a good year in 2011. In 2012, he started strong at Low A Charleston, but an elbow injury shut him down for the year after just 24 innings. Many thought he was eventually going to be the best part of the deal. This year, he came back, but from what I've read hasn't shown the same stuff as he did before the injury. His velocity is down, and his breaking stuff isn't as sharp. He's still young though.

Campos signed his 2012 Bowman Chrome RC for me in about 3 weeks c/o Charleston Riverdogs. I was very happy to get this one back, and hope that he gets better as the summer progresses.

Happy Not Opening Day! (for me)

Well, since it’s not Opening Day for the Yanks until Friday, I suppose I’ll celebrate Opening Day for their minor league clubs. I love following Yankees prospects and picking up their cards. I don’t hedge my bets on them and stockpile in hopes of flipping them for money, but I do enjoy collecting them. It’s also fun to send them TTM requests in hopes of acquiring their signatures before they make it big – never a sure bet when collecting prospects.

Here are six Yankees prospects – three position players and three pitchers – who I’ll be watching closely this year.

Mason Williams – OF

Mason burst onto the scene last year and skyrocketed up prospect charts this year. He was a 4^th round pick in 2010 and is a super athletic CFer. While the power isn’t there yet, many believe he can turn into a Jacoby Ellsbury type player. It’ll be interesting to see if he lives into the hype this year. If he does, he’ll be one of the Top 50 prospects in baseball at this time next year.

Dante Bichette, Jr. – 3B

A somewhat surprising first round pick in 2011, little Dante delivered ins short season ball. He’ll make the jump to full-season ball this year after dominating rookie level competition. His defense has been adequate enough that he is going to stay at 3B for now, although don’t be surprised to see him eventually moved to the OF and follow in his dad’s footsteps.

Tyler Austin – OF

Austin is a corner infielder who will likely spend most of his time in the OF this year. He has a big time bat, something that the Yanks sorely need to develop.  He hit some mammoth HRs this spring and I anticipate he’ll do the same in Charleston.

Jose Campos – RHP

Campos was acquired in the Michael Pineda deal, and he may end up being the more valuable pitcher. Just 19, he gears it up into the high 90s with pinpoint control. Scouts are raving about him this spring, saying he could develop into a #1 or #2 starter. It’s too early to tell, but the Yanks may have a future ace in A ball.

Rafael DePaula – RHP

Signed over a year ago but just made it to the US due to Visa issues, DePaula is an exciting international signing. He lost some development time while he waited, but most believe he is a Top 10 prospect in the system despite never having played a game for a Yankee minor league affiliate.

Manny Banuelos – LHP

My favorite player in the Yankees system, the little lefty is on the verge of the major leagues, and I think we’ll see him in the Bronx in 2012. He has a mid-90s fastball and excellent secondary stuff. He had uncharacteristic control issues in 2011, but there’s no denying that he is a future big league starter. With the logjam in the Yanks rotation, we may not see him until September, but once we do I have a feeling he’ll be here to stay.