In the interest of being repetitive I'm only showing the inserts and auto.
I think it is impossible not to like Mike Trout. The guy is a baseball cyborg. He really has no holes in his game. The True Colors inserts are kind of middle of the road for a set with high standards like TSC, but it is still nice to add a Trout.
The thought crossed my mind after the 2014 release to chase the Luminous, Luminescent and Illuminator cards. I've always liked them and for the most part they are affordable. The Illuminators are case hits, but since they are not numbered they have been known to fall through the cracks on eBay.
My auto would have been a better hit a couple years back as Gausman along with Dylan Bundy were supposed to be fixtures in the rotation for Orioles. That still may be as both are still very young, but injuries to Bundy and inconsistent play from Gausman have hurt their prospect value.
As with all our breaks, Kevin and I use this as our trade platform too. Kevin always gives me top notch Pirates.
This was the first card I noticed! I haven't had much luck finding Maz cards lately. Back when the Pirates were terrible in the early to mid 2000's it seemed that he was in every set. He still shows up, but the cards seem to be more limited and he is not signing near as much. This is from the Panini Cooperstown set and is numbered to /10! I know Kevin likes Maz too so I really appreciate this one being sent my way.
Most Pirate writers think Pedro has played his last game as a Pirate. His defense has gotten so bad that he pretty much has to play in the AL to have any chance to continue his career. The power is still top notch so I'm sure someone will want him once the Pirates non tender.
In terms of cardboard Pedro never signed much at all. He was in a few UD USA sets and has a couple Panini sticker autos. Seemed kind of odd for the #2 overall pick in 2008. So with no autos in play I'm left chasing relics and parallels like this Heritage card that is numbered to /999.
Craig Wilson would have been much more appreciated in today's game. He was a high obp guy that could play the corners of the outfield, first base and even catcher. He was featured prominently in the Leaf Certified Cuts which had about 7 million parallels. This is numbered to /75 and I'm pumped that Kevin sent it my way.
I have way more Brian Bixler cards then I like to admit. The big league team sucked so bad so fans could only hold their hats on prospects. I chose poorly. Now when I get these autos they are fun reminders. Man, the Pirates have come a long way.
The catching situation in Pittsburgh was a revolving door in between the Ryan Doumit and Russell Martin eras. Jaramillo saw time in three seasons with the Pirates.
Things have really slowed down on the Kendall card front for me as well. Kendall played at the beginning of the relic/auto boom so his stuff is a little more limited. Always nice to get his stuff via trade.
A new Polanco! Kevin knows I'm powerless to any Polanco card and often hooks me up with new ones.
And a new Marte! I think this may be my first Allen and Ginter relic from this years set.
As always thanks Kevin for the awesome cards.
