May31st

Team Focus: Tampa Bay Devil Rays

By Cardcollectingrambler | Posted at 5:38 pm | Filed Under MLB, Cards, Cardcollectingrambler

Guest post by Cardcollectingrambler from Break Open Another Box!

When someone mentions the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the first two things that come to mind are: losing record & no standout stars. But when I really take look at them, I see a goldmine of prospects. The entire D-Rays starting line-up is under 30 years old. I’m guessing that they’re probably the only MLB team that can say that. Currently they’re tied with the Yankees for last place in the AL East. The only difference between these two teams is that the Yankees are stocked full of high paid veterans who should be champs today, while the D-Rays are poised to champs in the near future.

They have some talented young position players, including 2B B.J. Upton (.323, 8 HR, 28 RBI, 10 SB), RF Delmon Young (.251, 6 HR, 27 RBI), LF Carl Crawford (.311, 5 HR, 29 RBI, 12 SB) & CF Elijah Dukes (.225, 9 HR, 18 RBI). The hobby fire has already been caught for Upton, Young & Crawford, but Dukes remains an affordable buy (for now). The only MLB licensed RC card that I’ve seen on auction for Dukes is his 07 Finest Redemption #2. According to sellers of this card, some of the redemptions will be parallels, but nothing is said about how it’s going to be determined which ones are & which are not. These cards have been selling in the $13 to $17 TAC range this month. Expect them to rise very soon, since Dukes has been upping his production (except for his batting avg). He just hit a game winning 2-run single to beat the Tigers 6-5 on 5/28. As long as he can keep his personal problems in check, his performance should continue to improve, along with his hobby stature.

One of the pitchers that I like on this team is Edwin Jackson. Yes, I know that he’s 0-6 for the season, and he has a dismal 7.12 ERA, but this 23 year old has potential! I was rooting for him when he was with the Dodgers from ’03 to ’05. His RC cards were hot a few years ago, but soon fizzled when he didn’t deliver the goods. It’s unfortunate he didn’t get a decision in his last outing, when he actually pitched well. He went 6 innings and allowed 2 ER with 9 K’s. I think that a lot of people are holding on to his cards, waiting for him to have that break out performance, because there aren’t many listed on auction. Since you can pick up one of his low #’d Auto RC’s for around $3 to $4, it wouldn’t hurt to do so, just in case.

Edwin Jackson Autographed Rookie Card

The other two young pitchers from this team that are looking strong are Scott Kazmir (3-2, 3.95 ERA) & James Shields (3-0, 3.15 ERA). I like Kazmir’s 04 Bowman Sterling Auto/Jsy RC & 02 UD Prospect Premieres Auto XRC, which have been selling in the mid $20 range & mid $50 range respectively. I just started watching Shields, so I don’t have accurate figures on his key RC’s yet.

*All stats shown are as of 5/28/07.

Please check out my blog, Break Open Another Box!, for more of my ramblings!

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