Jun12th

MLB: Who’s Hot, Who’s Not

By Cardcollectingrambler | Posted at 8:05 pm | Filed Under Upper Deck, Bowman, Cardcollectingrambler

Guest post by Cardcollectingrambler from Break Open Another Box!

Here’s a short list of MLB players that are either “Hot” or “Not” right now.

HOT

Alex Rodriguez – A Rod started the season on fire, batting .355 with 14 HR & 34 RBI in April. Then came the slump. He hit .235 with only 5 HR & 11 RBI in May. Now, in June, he seems to be back into the groove, hitting .371 with 5 HR & 18 RBI through his first 10 games this month. His 94 SP RC is still selling at low TAC levels, averaging around $62 so far this month. His SP die-cut on the other hand, is on the rise, averaging between $90 to $100. Expect the SP base to follow suit very soon.
Prince Fielder – Fielder is arguably the hottest hitter in the majors right now. After a slow April (.270, 6 HR & 15 RBI), he caught fire in May (.321, 13 HR & 28 RBI). Through his first 7 games in June, he’s slowed down some, but he’s still putting up decent numbers. He currently leads the NL in HR (23) and is 2^nd in RBI (51). I’m guessing that he was a big reason A Rod snapped out of his HR slump (or was it coincidence that A Rod started going long again when Fielder’s HR total started catching up with his?). Expect to pay well over BV for all of his key Auto RC’s. I recently saw a 05 UD Update Auto RC #’d 75 sell for a TAC of $181.50 (BV $100). I’m still a big fan of his 02 UD Prospect Premieres Auto XRC. It’s not #’d, but it’s his classic first licensed Auto release.
Ryan Howard – Howard had a much worse start this season than anyone expected from last year’s MVP. In April he hit .221 with 3 HR & 13 RBI. Then in May, he hit .225 with 6 HR & 17 RBI. Now, in June, he seems to be finally getting his mind off of the turbulent off-season contract discussions and back to remembering why he’s out there wearing that uniform. Through his first 10 June games, he’s hitting .285 with 3 HR & 10 RBI. His 01 UD Prospect Premieres XRC was a hot seller up until April, averaging a TAC of around $30 to $40. By May, you could find them for less than $20. Now, they’re starting to creep back up into the $20’s range. His 03 Bowman’s Best Auto RC had also dropped off from its highs of around $600, down to around the $300’s range. You can find them now for about $400. I wouldn’t be surprised if Howard gets himself back into the game and gives A Rod and Fielder a run for the season HR title.

Arod, Prince Fielder, and Ryan Howard Cards

NOT

Travis Hafner – Over the last 3 seasons, we’ve seen Hafner develop into one of the best hitters in the majors. During that period he’s maintained a BA of over .300, and has increased his HR total dramatically each year (20 in ’04, 33 in ’05 and 42 in ’06). He started this season hot, hitting .338 with 5 HR & 16 RBI in April. In May, his HR (5) & RBI (24) totals were good, but his BA was only .228. Through his first 9 games in June, he’s hitting .188 with 0 HR & 4 RBI. There aren’t many of his key RC’s listed on auction right now (what a surprise), so people are probably holding on till he rebounds back into his old form. If you can find them, I would try to pick up cards like his SPx Auto/Jsy or Leaf R&S Auto #’d 250 from 2001.
Jake Peavy– During April &; May, Peavy was the hottest pitcher in the majors, going 7-1 with a 1.48 ERA and 85 K’s in 73.1 IP. Through his first 2 starts in June, he’s 0-0 with a 4.61 ERA and 10 K’s in 13.2 IP. He allowed 7 ER for those 2 starts. He only allowed 6 ER total during the 7 starts before those 2 games! He still has best ERA in the NL (1.97), and is 2^nd in K’s (95), and hopefully this is just a short lull that he’s hitting. I’m a Peavy fan, so I hope that he can get his game back soon. His 01 Bowman Chrome Ref RChas been selling for a TAC in the mid $40’s, down from its highs last month in the $60’s range. His 01 Topps Fusion Auto (only RC year Auto) was garnering $200+ a pop last month. Now, they’ve all gone back into hiding and probably won’t resurface until Peavy recaptures his dominant form again.
Andruw Jones – I’ve been a Jones collector for over a decade now. I think that Jones is a 5-tool player that is undervalued in the card market. In ’05 & ’06, when Chipper Jones missed 1/3 of the games due to injury, Andruw stepped up to the plate & belted 51 & 41 HR respectively to help carry the team. This year though, he hasn’t been able to find his groove yet. He’s averaging 20.9 AB/HR so far this year; his worst since ’99. His average from ’00 to ’06 is 16.3 AB/HR. You can find his 95 Bowman’s Best RC for around $16 to $18 TAC, and his 95 Bowman RC for $13 to $15. One rare card that would be a great addition to any Jones collection is his 95 SP Top Prospects Auto, which books for $200, and can probably be found on auction for around $100 to $150.

Travis Hafner, Jake Peavy, and Andruw Jones cards