Mail Bag - The Bowman Bonanza Rolls On

Being a Braves fan in these dark ages turns you into a bit of a prospector( or at least has done so to me). Thus the recent releases of Bowman's Best and Draft, have me scanning Ebay like a mad man for good deals on signed pieces of cardboard, depicting kids just out of high school. 

At least 19 year old Braxton Davidson, last year's first round pick,  has a great looking signature to make this refractor pop.

This year's first rounder could take some lessons from Braxton in Rome if they both happen to play there next year. "K_y A_l"? C'mon man, I know Topps paid you to sign these! Maybe he doesn't want to hurt his throwing arm signing autographs. 

I guess if I got a $3.042 million dollar signing bonus at 17, I would sign that way too.

Anyways..  those 2 complete my autograph team set from the newly revived product. I still have exactly zero base cards from the set.

I also added this one of newly acquired Sean Newcomb for less than 2 bucks in a larger order. Picked up some others for other bloggers as well.

This is almost a base card but it's an atomic refractor of another new acquisition - Aaron Blair.  Both Newcomb and Blair are close to major league ready and could break camp with the big club if they impress in Spring. Being a Floridian,  I'm going to make as many spring games as possible to check out all the new kids.

Picked up another Draft auto for less than 5 bucks of Allard's high school catcher.

It came with both the base and Chrome version of Draft and these bonus Team USA cards. Herbert hurt his knee in rookie ball but should be back next year to debut in the minors. 

Finally, here's my first 2015 Tribute card.  Another Ebay win that came with some cards being sent to others, I don't know whether or not I like this design but it's on thick card stock and is a shiny Freeman, so in the binder it goes. 

Bowman Draft Mega Mail Day + Free Jocs

Signed up for 2 different box breaks of Bowman Draft on Instagram,  in one I had Atlanta, Toronto, Tampa Bay & Milwaukee. In the other I just picked up the Braves. 

I didn't hit any autos or even a refractor so I guess this die cut was my hit of the 2 boxes. A cool card of 2 guys I collect.

I stopped by the post office on the way home from work and dropped off 5 PWEs and a bubble mailer to other bloggers so I guess getting home to a full mailbox was good cardboard karma.

I won't show every card but I got all the Braves base cards and 3 Chromes. I really like the look of the sky blue refractors this year and was hoping for one of those but such is life. 

Blake Snell was the main reason I signed up for the Rays. I'm a sucker for lefties and this kid vlew blew thru the minors last year and looks to be the real deal. May have to start a PC of the kid, my first Rays player collection if I decide to do so. 

The guy that did the breaks threw this auto of Shae Simmons in since I bought so many teams and didn't really hit anything, nice guy. 

This is my first auto of "Baby Kimbrel". Hopefully the young right hander recovers from TJ and comes back to help out the Atlanta bullpen next year. I actually caught his major league debut in 2014 down in Miami and he looked good. 

I grabbed this off eBay for six bucks after the breaks and it showed up today as well. The third of the Braves 3 first round picks this year, Soroka is a big Canadian 17 year old who impressed in the Minors last year. 

Won this guy for 99 cents, my fifth auto of Folty and my first relic of his #'d/99

This pair of Joc rookies were included with the Folty for some reason,  if any of you Dodger collectors need one or both just let me know. 

If not that's ok too, I kinda like the kid.

 Well that's all folks, there were 2 PWEs from bloggers in the picture above but I'll let them shine on their own in another post. Thanks for reading. 

At Last - 2015 Bowman Draft

Finally snagged a jumbo pack of the new Bowman Draft. Let's rip 'er open!

Well my 1 year old son is ripping it open.. if the pictures are subpar blame me babysitting..

Blue refractor of Atlanta boy Austin Meadows was the best card in the pack #'d /150 I'm tempted to keep it but it probably ends up in WV.

Sky Blue refractor of a D-Back, any takers I'll trade this one. I pulled zero Braves of course

Here's a Chrome base card which will head to Kitchener eventually. 

Here's the rest of the Chrome, let me know if you need any of these.

The paper base,  yeah they're the same as regular Bowman but I'm showing them off like there not... sue me.

Here's the 3 first rounders I pulled. The Vandy machine chugs along.

Minus 8 cards I pulled for frequent trade partners here's the rest of the base cards I pulled all available for trade. 

Ok keeping it short and sweet having a Christmas get together with some friends tonight. MERRY CHRISTMAS

There's Gold in Them Hills

Well I'm still waiting on 2015 Bowman Draft to show up in Target, I thought I had read online that it was going to  be retail this year but oh well. I signed up for a box break on Instagram for the Braves and a couple of other teams so I'll just wait to see what I got out of that before ordering any more cards because in the mean time..

I got my first Dansby Swanson card in the mail the other day. I ordered this almost immediately after news broke that the Braves had acquired the 2015 1st Overall pick in a blockbuster trade with Arizona.

Chrome too! As I have said on this blog before Dansby is from the same town - Marietta - as me. The last time the Braves had a #1 overall pick on their team he was also a young shortstop from the south named Chipper Jones. Hopefully Dansby can come even close to the player Chipper was. The Braves just hired Chipper yesterday to be a special assistant to the GM. 

I've got a couple more Swanson cards on the way but it looks like I'm going to have to wait a while for an auto as prices are a little high ---- EBAY

Sticking to first round picks and the Diamondbacks here's a Distinguished Debut of Touki Toussaint from 2015 Pro Debut. Touki was the Diamondbacks #1 pick just last year and the Braves basically traded cash for him. Looking forward to seeing what the South Florida boy has as he supposedly has a verrrry high ceiling.

Is this a Diamondbacks blog? No the Braves have just ransacked the Diamondbacks system over the last year or so. Here's a 2015 Inception Auto of 2013 First Round Pick Aaron Blair who could debut for the Braves this year.

2014 Bowman Chrome Draft Scouts Breakout Die-Cut Refractors #BSBAB Aaron Blair

Die-cut refractor from last year's Bowman Draft will have to do. I never type out the full name of cards but check out how long this one is...

Here's my first Chrome card of new Brave Ender Inciarte. He should be the Braves everyday CF next year and a huge upgrade over Cameron Maybin. 2015 War - Maybin 1.0, Inciarte 3.3

This here is my first 1951 Bowman, crease and all I love it especially the little hut in the background. The Earl of Snohomish hit .292 with 24 homers and 92 RBI in '51 and got a few MVP votes but somehow Jim Konstanty beat out Stan the Man to take the title.

I have other '71s but this is my new favorite. Would be cool to have a copy of this card unsigned just to get it really signed if that makes any sense. This card is pretty much perfect I'd say.

Getting close to having all the flagship Sutton's with this one, I still need his rookie card and one or two more now.

The 2016 Braves will probably not be good. Maybe I will be wrong and they have some 1991 miracle season but I don't see Terry Pendleton and Steve Avery on the roster but I could be wrong. All three of these guys could make their debut next year and we'll find out.

What can I say? I like Heritage Minors. Everybody's excited for Christmas and I'm excited about pitchers and catchers reporting in 2 months! 2016 MLB Spring Training Countdown

I need to buy a blaster of this stuff. Glad Panini brought Contenders back to baseball. 

Albies is 18, Allard is 19. Whole bunch of baby Braves in this post, hopefully this card foreshadows great things.

Like this, can't believe I had missed this one from Stadium Club last year. Though I'd like to forget the '96 World Series.

This is my new favorite Deion card, there are others like it but this one is mine. Plus it's a Members Choice parallel, now I just need the base to go with it.

Saw that Deion basketball card on Tim's blog not long ago and was stoked to add it to my cart for 50 cents or so. The Clear Vision is a perfect example of why I like buying singles online. I would never bust a whole box of that stuff but it's a really cool acetate card for less than a buck it's a really cool addition to my Primetime PC.

Farewell Shelby, Hello Dansby! - Hot Stove Special

The Braves pulled off a true Blockbuster trade last night,  sending Shelby Miller and Gabe Speier to Arizona for Dansby Swanson,  Aaron Blair and Ender Inciarte.

I like Shelby Miller, I just got this card in the mail yesterday a few hours before this trade went down.  But the Braves made a great deal, a steal even according to most national writers: 

the price the Diamondbacks paid was “comically high.” - Keith Law

The deal “looks like a clear, obvious mistake” for the Diamondbacks,FanGraphs’ Jeff Sullivan writes.

The Diamondbacks don’t care that executives around the game think the Braves won the trade in a rout,Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes. (“Worst trade I’ve ever seen,” said one.)

Swanson is the prize of this deal, he was the first overall pick in June's Draft. "Swanson is a polished and very talented college player who could move through the minors quickly, the way Michael Conforto and Kyle Schwarber did." He's also a local boy from the same town as me - Marietta, GA. I ordered this card and it's Chrome counterpart last night from a seller that had Bowman Draft (releases today) listed already. I can't wait to chase this guys other cards and watch him develop in the minors. 

Also the Braves get a rare thing in a No. 1 Overall Pick without having to completely tank. "Swanson joins Adrian Gonzalez and Shawn Abner as the only first overall draft picks to be traded while still in the minors by the teams that drafted them, MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo writes. "

Aaron Blair was a first rounder in 2013 and may be major league ready. "Blair gets plenty of ground balls and has “a hint of Brandon Webb” to him. And Law writes that he would rather have six years of Blair or five years of Inciarte for the three years of Miller the Diamondbacks will receive."

"His 2015 season was his best by ERA. In 13 games with AA Mobile he went 6-3 with a 2.70 ERA in 13 games, and he didn't show much of a drop off with his move to AAA. In 13 games with the Reno Aces he went 7-2 with a 3.16 ERA in 13 games." - Talkingchop.com

Let's not forget the major league outfielder in the trade,  Inciarte hit .303 in 132 games last year with a 3.3 WAR. He is a contact-hitting plus defender that should start in CF. 

Sorry for the long winded, heavily quoted post but I'm really excited about this deal and for the future of the Braves. Thanks for reading.