The end of my Big Mike collection

One thing I failed to do on this blog was announce the end of my Michael Pineda collection.

In December, Pineda quietly signed a 2 year, $10 million deal with the Minnesota Twins. He won't pitch in 2018 due to recovering from Tommy John surgery.

While I continued to collect Tino Martinez after he moved on from the Yankees, I knew Pineda would never have the same fate.

I started collecting him following the 2011 trade that brought him to the Yankees for Jesus Montero. I never intended on making him a main focus guy, but I picked up 20 or so Pinedas after the trade. Figuring he might one day be the ace of the Yankees, I started casually picking up a few more of his cards, all with the Mariners.

Of course, he didn't pitch for the Yankees until 2014 due to missing 2012 and 2013 with injuries.

In the time, his card prices plummeted so heavily - from rookies to autographs to relics - that it almost became a game for me to pick up premium card of him for low prices.

When he came back in 2014, he looked incredibly strong, and I looked like a genius. His card prices on eBay started to pick up steam again. I'll never forget the gem he pitched against the Cubs on 4/16/14, the day my daughter was born. I watched the Yankees in the hospital that day, as they had a double header. Pineda and Tanaka dominated the Cubbies all day long.

But then Pineda had the famous pine tar incident, and got hurt, and then spent a few more years never quite living up to his potential. He showed flashes, like his 16-K performance against Baltimore in 2015. But really, he just never could put it all together.

He pitched his final game for the Yankees on July 5, 2017 against Toronto. It was then announced he needed surgery and would be lost for the season. It was poor timing for him, as he was due to be a free agent. The injury cost him a lot of money. Or maybe not given this ridiculous free agent freeze.

It also effectively ended my pursuit of his cards. With the exciting team the Yankees have on the field now, my attention (and funds!) are better served focusing on the current players and prospects.

I built up one of the finest Pineda collections out there, that I'm certain of. I'm proud of it. I have many of you to thank for that. And I'll still keep it tucked away together in a shoe box. There's nothing else to do with it. No market for it. And I'll still appreciate new Pinedas sent my way, but I'm not going to go out of my way to build upon my 159-card collection of his.

Good luck, Big Mike. It was a pleasure. Sometimes.