I bid $1,775 for this card...and won!

Having eBay on our smartphones can both be a blessing and a curse. I've used it to easily search for and buy cards when I otherwise wouldn't have been in front of a computer. In fact, I can't remember the last time I've actually been to eBay's website on my computer.

The problem is that it's a lot easier to screw up a bid. I recently did this for the Matt Sauer 2018 Bowman Chrome autograph pictured above. At the time, most were selling in the $2-$3 range. So I put in a very low bid of $1.75 to see if I'd win. However, my less than agile thumb hit the 7 twice. So my bid was actually $1,775. Oy!

Upon a google search, I saw that I could visit eBay's website and go through a process to retract my bid. But I don't like it when I've had people retract bids on me. Plus I didn't want to go to the website versus the app. I also knew that this card wasn't going to skyrocket, so I was pretty safe winning it for a decent prize. I let it ride out, and ended up winning the card for $7.50 plus shipping. It's more than I would have paid on it's own and I probably could have gotten one in the $4 range, but oh well. I'm happy to have it and it's a fun story.

Maybe the seller saw my bid and felt bad, as he tossed in 12 Bowman cards to protect the autograph. I haven't found any Bowman in stores, so I guess it's like I ended up with a pack that contained an autograph of a prospect on my favorite team.

And remember to double-check your bids before pressing "submit"!

Spending a little more wisely

I mentioned on Twitter, but on New Year’s Day my wife was running to Target. I was going to hand her a $20 bill and tell her to pick up a blaster of something, but then I decided not to. Instead, I went on eBay and dropped far less money on a card I actually wanted…a card I would have been thrilled to actually pull from a blaster, even though it can be had for about $5 shipped. I think it was a wise choice.

Honestly, if I bought a blaster and pulled a Yankees autograph, I’d be over the moon. The thing is, I could most likely buy that same autograph on eBay for substantially cheaper, as I just did. So what is it? Is it the fun of pulling it from the pack versus knowing what you’re getting?

On to the card. Last season, the Yankees drafted Clarke Schmidt with their first round pick. Schmidt had just knowingly had Tommy John surgery. With high-rated prospects left on the board, this pick surprised many.

The Yankees signed Schmidt to an under-slot bonus, and used the savings on two big arms in the 2^nd and 3^rd round. I’ve seen theories that the players they wanted to pick were all off the board, so they snagged Schmidt knowing they could sign him under-slot, and then used that money on guys who were going to be a bit tougher to sign. I can see that has a viable strategy, albeit a bit risky.

It's not like Schmidt is a slouch. He was dominating at South Carolina and was viewed as a borderline first rounder anyhow. They then went substantially over-slot to sign second rounder Matt Sauer, so essentially ended up with guys Baseball America ranked 32^nd (Schmidt) and 28^th (Sauer). Not bad.

Schmidt found his way into several sets toward the end of the season, and his autograph is in Bowman Draft, Bowman’s Best, and a handful of Panini products.

I’m happy to have add his autograph to my collection, and I’ll probably add a few others in case his prices soar and I’m priced out.

Sweet and Sauer

Every year for the MLB Draft, one of my favorite traditions is trying to quickly scoop up a card of the Yankees top picks. It's fun to beat the clock before sellers add "Yankees" to the title and jack up the price.

In the second round, 54th overall, the Yankees took Matt Sauer, a HS right-handed pitcher from California.

Sauer was ranked 28th overall by MLB.com, but the Yankees were able to snag him mid-way through the second. From what I've read, he intends to sign and turn pro. The Yanks took Clarke Schmidt in Round 1, a pitcher who just had TJ Surgery, and the thought is that they'll sign him underslot and use the savings to sign Sauer for an above-slot bonus to help sweeten the pot.

I quickly snagged this 2016 Leaf Perfect Game National Showcase jersey/autograph of Sauer. It's a neat card with a cool patch, although "patch" is a loose term since it's more of a t-shirt material with screen-printed letters. I'd assume that this is from the jersey he's wearing on the card's photo.

It's pretty easy to tell that this is part of the "E" and "R" in his last name, which is another reason I liked this particular card.

I'm looking forward to Matt signing and starting his career with the Yankees.