Trade: The Angels, In Order

How about those Pirates! What once looked like an insurmountable lead in the division has been whittled down to 2 1/2 games. Let's hope they can continue to put pressure on the Cardinals. 

Now that we are at the All Star break it should allow me some time to get some cardboard in order. My mailbox has been bombed recently by great trade packages. One of these packages was courtesy of my buddy Tom who runs The Angels, In Order.

Hague was never a big prospect with the Pirates, but his bat started to draw some attention in 2011. During spring training in 2012 he hit so well that he made the opening day roster. As usual with most young hitters he was exposed at the major league level and never gained any traction. The Blue Jays picked up Hague in 2014 and as far as I can tell he is still playing for their AAA team.

I've always liked Hague's odd signature.

Although not really fair to Moskos, he will always be remembered for the poor front office decisions made by the previous regime running the Pirates. Moskos was seen as a reliever by most scouts and would be an easy sign. The consensus obvious pick by the Pirates would have been Matt Wieters, but he was going to cost a premium.

This did not end well for the Pirates as Moskos would only pitch 25 innings for the big league team before getting dfa'd.  His numbers weren't all that bad, but the stuff just didn't project well in the bullpen. A flyball pitcher that doesn't strike anybody out is a lethal combination.

It is always fun to receive cards like this as it does jog a lot of memories. In some ways Daniel Moskos was indirectly involved for getting the Pirates turned around. Not long after a new regime took over and new practices were put in place to make sure the Pirates take the best players available.

Diamond Kings has been my favorite Panini release this year. I was a huge fan of the early 2000's Diamond King sets so this was a very exciting release for me.

 Some shiny 2015 Prizm.

One of the few Reggie Sanders Pirate cards. He absolutely tore the cover off the ball in his short stay with the Bucs.

I love me some Jason Bay! The co-signers set was full of great Pirate cards.

Thanks so much for the cards Tom.  I'll be sure to hit you back soon with some Angels.

Thanks for reading.