Francisco Cervelli 2015 Topps Series 2 Silver Frame /20
When the Pirates lost Russell Martin to free agency it left a gigantic void both offensively and defensively. This left the Pirates with only Chris Stewart and Tony Sanchez which was somewhat scary considering the drop off. Knowing that more upside and depth was needed the Pirates made a trade with the Yankees sending reliever Justin Wilson for Francisco Cervelli. This proved to be very smart move.
Cervelli has shown flashes before, but a number of freak injuries had made him lose significant time. Having a stock pile of young catchers and the well established Brian Mccann, the Yankees felt Cervelli was expendable. Yay for the Pirates!
Just about everything you look for in a catcher he has managed to provide. His bat has been one of the more consistent in the Pirates lineup as he has been moving up in the order the last few weeks. While still hard to quantify he ranks as the best pitch framer in all of baseball. He probably should have made the All Star team over Yadier Molina, but that is another argument for a later time. He and AJ Burnett are probably the biggest reasons why the Pirates are where they are at this point of the season. You notice a Yankees theme?
I knew I wanted to chase this parallel as soon as it hit eBay. My first few opportunities were misses, but I finally nabbed it a little over a week ago for around $14.
Thanks for reading.
PS: Sorry Zippy
I'm glad he's doing well. I was never his biggest fan, nor did I dislike him. Justin Wilson has been doing well the last few weeks, so looks like a win/win for MLS, although a good starting catcher is far more valuable than a set up guy. Hope he keeps it up for you.
ReplyDelete*win/win for both.
DeleteI think the Yankees were handcuffed and wanted to make sure they at least got a major league piece for him. They just had too many catchers on the 25 man roster.
DeleteSHOT THROUGH THE HEART AND HE'S TO BLAME!
ReplyDeleteMy gosh that's an impressive card. If only he had some awesome cards like that when he was a Yankee. It makes me sad that Cervelli finally got a chance to shine in Pittsburgh and his cards are better than they've ever been.
I'm glad he is doing well because the drop off would have been significant. The Pirates put a high value on catcher defense and Tony Sanchez hasn't proved he is able to handle that aspect of the game.
DeleteAt least you didn't say he shoulda made the AS team over Dodger catcher Yaz. lol
ReplyDeleteSharp card, BTW
Grandal has been a monster and deserves to be on the team and Posey was the clear cut number one. I get why Molina made it, but the numbers clearly point to Cervelli.
DeleteNice card. Immediately thought of Zippy when I saw the name.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing how blogging makes you correspond players to blogs.
DeleteNice card and pickup.
ReplyDeleteLove this framed parallels.
Pricey project for Dodgers though...