Cards from Cards on Cards II - A Trade Post

Got home from work the other day in the pouring rain (yes rain, not snow) and found a surprise bubble mailer from Kerry of Cards on Cards all the way from rainy Portland.

Starting off with my first 2015 A&G relic of now free agent Mike Minor. Still think there's a chance the Braves bring him back if he gets close enough to Opening Day without signing on somewhere else. He made 5.6 million to not throw a single pitch last year so I don't feel too bad for the guy.

This Ace of Diamonds Smoltzy may be my favorite card in the package. Even has a old school card back - I searched google for "ace of diamonds John Smoltz" because the card is in the other room and found this....

Don't think Topps printed any of these bad boys up in '84, here's the link to a pretty cool article on John - SMOLTZ

Ok sorry for that but sometimes laziness pays off my friends.  Here's a cool fold out card of maybe the 2 best pitchers of the 90's that is pretty relevant all these years later. Greg Maddux and that other guy..

I'm on a hot streak on picking these cards up 1 at a time either at shows or through trades. Eddie looks pretty young there.

This Murph's frame is embossed and makes for a great looking/feeling card in hand.

Kerry sent a bunch of PC guys but this Deion was my favorite new addition being from one of my favorite sets ever.

Kerry sent new stuff too, a rainbox foil of EY Jr. and the last base card I needed from Topps '15. Just in time for Topps '16 in 5 days!!!

Love this green refractor of Justin the Tiger.

19 days til Baseball guys, my countdown lasted all of one day.. Kerry sent this and a bunch of other set help off my want list. 

Like a lot,  thanks a ton man!

Kelly's back for his third tour with the Braves, let's see where he went in between. 

8 teams in 6 years including his 2nd stint in Atlanta. Talk about a journeyman.

If everything goes to plan I should be here on April 9th taking in the Braves and Cardinals so here's to you Kerry, thanks for all the great cards.

Dimebox Trade

I got a PWE in the mail the day after Christmas from the one and only Dime Box Nick. 

This 1988 Conlon Collection of Big Bill James is awesome. A member of the Miracle Braves, I see everybody else doing New Year's card resolutions. Well one of mine is to add some truly old cards. My current oldest is a '51 Bowman I believe. Maybe James will be the first one I try to track down.

This one comes from a 1992 Baseball Card Magazine and is awesome. Really wish card magazines still made cards but that's why they made Dime Boxes and Nick was apparently born to pull gems like this out of them.

Another oddball with this '93 Hostess card of TP who's still with the Braves organzation. This will probably be the card I take with me to Spring, he gave me a ball and signed my daughters. 

Only 46 days til Pitchers & Catchers report 

1, 2, 3 GQ Braves minis. Just 3 years old now and 3 guys not on the team. Such is Braves fandom these days.

Sweet Chen music!  Awesome minor league card of the former Bravo lefty.

This card was a new Chipper card to me. As are the 50 or so sitting on my desk. My new New Year's resolution is to assemble a Complete Chipper Checklist. As I near the 250 mark I'm realizing just how many f****ing Chipper cards there are. 

Some needed 2015 inserts, these cardsare so last year.  Hey another new Chipper card! 

Alright closing out the first trade post of 2016 with another new rainbow foil Scott Cunningham. Good luck in LA kid. 

Thanks for all the great cards Nick

Let's Make A Deal II - Updating Update

As you know Topps put out there Update set on October 21st, it featured far more Braves than I would've thought with 17 base cards.  I'm missing card US108 which is a split rookie between Adonis Garcia and the Tigers' Jefry Marte and I forgot to put Jace Peterson and Manny Banuelos in the picture you see below.  

Adonis, Jace & ManBan are still with the club,  that cannot be said for most of those pictured. Let's break it down:

Shelby Miller got himself 2 cards for making the All Star team and was the Braves best player in 2015 but he was traded to Arizona  on 12/9 along with Gabe Speier in the Dansby Swanson Trade.

Pedro Ciriaco signed a 1 year deal and played all over the infield hitting .261 in 84 games.  He was released on 12/2

Cameron Maybin came over as a salary dump in the Craig Kimbrel trade and was a pleasant suprise. He had a career year as the everyday center fielder but was traded to Detroit on 11/20 for Ian Krol and Gabe Speier.

One of the double rookie cards Topps brought back this year.  Sugar Ray Marimon was released on 11/6 while Andrew McKirahan is still on the roster  simply for being left handed. He pitched to a 5.93ERA over 27.1 innings after missing 80 games due to a PED suspension after  being claimed off waivers from the Marlins after they selected him in last year's Rule 5 Draft. The Braves just selected a lefty Evan Rutckyj from the Yankees in the Rule 5 Draft so we'll see if McKirahan sticks.

Ross Detwiler was a Brave for 3 1/2 whole months. I won't list his stats (they weren't good). He was released on 11/2 after being signed on 7/17.

Todd Cunningham was a guy that always produced fairly well in AAA but never quite made the jump to the Majors, to be fair he wasn't given a bunch of chances in the show but he looks to be a Quad-A type player. He was claimed off waivers by the Angels on 10/9.

Jonny Gomes.. he of many veteran presents and incredible luck was traded with cash to KC for minor leaguer Luis Valbuena just in time to win another World Series. 

I'll be honest I kind of forgot about Jason Frasor who was released on 8/26 after being signed on 7/16. He was a Brave for 40 days and got a baseball card.

Eric Young Jr. came out swinging in Spring Training and started the year as the Braves center fielder until they realized he wasin fact Eric Young Jr. He was sold to the Mets on 8/22.

So that leaves just 8 guys out of 18 who were featured in THIS years Update that are still on the roster.

Brandon Cunniff who according to Baseball-reference.com is still a member if the Braves and should compete for a spot in the crowded bullpen. 

Ryan Lavarnway has a non roster invite to Spring Training.  He hit .227 in 27 games last year serving as A.J. Pierzynski's backup after being on the 40-man roster of 4 other clubs last year. He was outrighted 6 times last year so here's to Ryan hopefully finding a home even if it is at AAA Gwinnett. 

After coming over in the Justin Upton deal Jace started the year hot,  winning the 2nd Base job out of Spring Training.  He regressed in the 2nd half however and finished the year with a WAR of 0.5 after playing in 152 games. He should continue to man second base next year and at least serve as a decent utility type player until reinforcements arrive from the minors.

Manny Banuelos was acquired from the Yankees for David Carpenter and Chasen Shreve on New Years day. The Braves hired a few guys from the Yankees scouting department last offseason including Gordon Blakely who is my sister in laws boss's father in law. Anyways they keep acquiring Yankees farmhands and Banuelos had a few good starts for the big club before being shut down with elbow problems. According to his agent he should be ready to compete for a rotation spot in Spring however.

Here's three more guys who had thier share of ups and downs in thier first full year in the big leagues. All three should compete for a rotation spot with Wisler the most likely to secure one. We'll see though they could all be in.

 Anyways thanks for reading, it should be no suprise that a rebuilding club should have alot of roster turnover but as I was putting these cards in my binder I realized how many were already gone from a product that hasn't even been out for 2 months yet.