Hits for Trade

Once again, I find myself with a stack of "hits" I've amassed over time. I'm sure that these cards will be much happier in another collection than mine. So, I'm offering them up for trade. All I ask in return is a similar card featuring a Red Sox player. It shouldn't be hard to work something out. So, have a look at what I have.

If you see something you like, leave a comment saying so. That way, everyone knows you're after that card. Then, send me an e-mail (section36 at gmail dotcom) telling me the card you want, and what you're offering.

Let's make some trades!

Why Do I Do What I Do?

Fuji has asked us all to answer a simple question.

How did you first decide to collect sports cards, and when?

I'll ignore the obvious flaw in the question, where it assume that collecting sportscards is a choice. It assumes it's not a calling from a higher power, or something I was destined to do. But, assuming it was a choice, where did I make it?

I was probably eleven, when I was at a friends house. He was a comic book collector. Had them in plastic sleeves, and everything. I didn't understand it, but whatever. He asked me if I wanted to go o the comic book store with him. Why not? So, I tagged along. While we were there, I noticed a flyer on the counter. The shop was looking to buy baseball cards. Huh. I had some of those at home. My dad would get me some packs here and there when he went to the store. So, I brought the flyer home, and looked it over. As it turned out, I had one of the cards on the list! A 1985 Topps Dwight Gooden. The store was offering $3.50 for one! I convinced my mom to bring me back to the store. I handed the card to the woman behind the counter. She looked the card over. She started talking to me about thinks like condition, and mint. My card, she'd only offer me $3. Deal!

Now, before you assume I started collecting because I was money hungry at 11, that's not exactly the case. It was more the realization that collecting cards was a "thing." I had been getting cards here and there for years, so I had a bunch of cards. I also had a bunch of Masters of the Universe action figures. But, they weren't a "collection." Baseball cards were something different. The could be collected. Bought, sold, organized, traded. I never traded my matchbox cars. They weren't a collection. baseball cards had a life of their own. That was pretty cool.

And it still is.

Do Olympic Cards Belong in a Team Collection?

With the London Olympics starting up, it reminded me of an important question. Do I put cards of players shown as members of Team USA in my Red Sox collection?

This wouldn’t be a big deal were it not for two players. Nomar Garciaparra and Jason Varitek. They are both major Red Sox stars. If you made an all-time Red Sox team, they would both be on it…probably as starters. They both started their careers with the Sox. Nomar was drafted by the Sox. Varitek made his ML debut with Boston, and never wore another uniform. I’m not talking about Tino Martinez in a Cardinals collection. These are Red Sox players. Unquestionable.

But, not on their rookie cards. Ordinarily, that would be an obvious reason for exclusion. I don’t have any David Ortiz rookie cards in my Red Sox binders. (Or anywhere else in my collection, for that matter.) He’s not a Red Sox player on his rookies. Bleh. That’s clearer though. There’s he is on his card looking at me from his Twins uniform. It just shouts out at you as being wrong.

Varitek and Nomar are different. It’s not a card of another Major League team. Is it more similar to a minor league team? I have Nomar minor league cards in my Red Sox collection. Of course, they were Red Sox minor league affiliates. So, they were clearly Red Sox Organization cards. Not quite the same.

It’s probably closer to a college card. Since both of them were at Georgia Tech at the time, that’s the team they were on. Would I put other college cards on my Red Sox collection? I have. I grabbed a Mo Vaughn card from his Cape Cod League days, and it resides in my Red Sox binder. Although, that’s really a remnant from a Mo Vaughn player collection that has since dissolved. The card was too neat not to hold onto. But, it does give me a precedent…sort of.

So, what’s the standard practice? Do Olympic cards make it into a team collection? Does the player matter? Does the timing of the Olympic appearance matter? Does anything else?

Can I have a 1992 Topps Red Sox collection without two all-time greats? 

For Love of the Farm System

Heard a couple interesting things lately as potential deadline deals have been tossed about. Most of them have ranged from silly, to flat out wrong. Thankfully, I have this place here to make a plea for sanity.

Someone actually said that, “the best way to build a team is through homegrown talent.” That is, of course, absolute bunk. The cheapest way to build a team is through homegrown talent. The best way to build a team is to have the best player at every position using any method you can to get them. If the best way to build a team were using homegrown players, nobody would make a trade. Ever. Now, I’ll admit. If you made up a team of active players that the Sox drafted, it wouldn’t be a horrible team. But, it wouldn’t be as good as the one they have now. (That might be a fun little exercise.) I’ll also admit that this isn’t a perfect world, with endless pockets. So, in this world you do need to consider having some cheaper younger players. But, you can’t say that it gets you the best team.

Along those same lines, someone mentioned, “the farm system is just getting respectable. Now’s not the time to start trading them away.” Why not? Really, the farm system is designed to do one thing. Provide you with players for the major league club. It can do that by having players you can call up to the bigs. Or, it can provide you with players to trade for someone who you can play in the bigs. Either way helps the team out. Really, the comment should have been, “the farm system is respectable again, so they can afford to trade some pieces away.” Make those chips work for you.

This love of the farms came up one more time when someone was discussing the Sox and their playoff chances. The Sox should stand pat at the deadline, the theory went, because if you trade away a prospect, you may lose the wild card game. Then, you will have traded away the prospect for nothing. I suppose that’s true. It’s also a horrible way to run a ball club. Fear should never be a motivator. Just be smart about it. Yes, trading away your three best prospects for some bench strength might not make sense. But, if you can improve your club without being crazy, you need to do it.

People need to stop falling in love with the future. 

You Have to Give Cashman Credit

Most people, if they got completely fleeced by a team in a trade would be reluctant to deal with that team for a while. Maybe try some other teams. But, not Cashman. When he realized that he needed a washed-up former all-star, he got right back on the phone to Seattle. I bet he didn’t even wonder if the erosion of Ichiro’s skills was due to an injury of some sort, as opposed to simple old age. That takes some guts. Kudos.

The Yankees move prompted a Yankees fan to ask me today when the Red Sox would sell. I’m not really sure what he meant.

To me, the term “sell” or “seller” refers to the team that parts with a star player for prospects. The idea being that the team isn’t going anywhere with the star, so it’s better to cash him in and try again another year. The “buyer” is the team that tosses prospects to another team for its star to win now. When the Expos traded Pedro Martinez to the Sox for two prospects, they were the seller.

Frankly, the Sox don’t seem to fit either of those terms. Are they going to trade away any of their stars for prospects? I can’t imagine who. Are they trading away prospects to land a star? Maybe. Are they more likely to trade some middling guy for another middling guy? Probably. Let’s look at this logically.

Barring some major blockbuster, Salty, Gonzalez, Pedroia, and Middlebrooks are staying right where they are. They’re too good. Gonzalez may be expensive, but he’s worth it. You might see Ellsbury moving if the Sox wanted to get something before Boras asked for $300 million. But, who would rent a player coming off a half-season injury? He’s better than anything the Sox would get for him. Same goes for Crawford. Even if you foolishly wanted to trade him, he’s better than anything you’d get. That leaves you with Ross, Sweeney, and Aviles from the list of starters that could move. Personally, I think they should move Ross, since they can get the most for him. He may be the most valuable chip they have from the starting line-up that might be available. Would moving Ross constitute a “sell?” Not to me. But, if you want to, I guess that’s up to you.

What about the pitchers? You’re not getting anything for Lester or Beckett that’s any better than what you have. Unless you go for the old “change of scenery” idea and swap Beckett for another guy who is his equal, and just hope they remember how to pitch in Boston. Doesn’t seem like all that useful of an idea to me. Really, there’s nothing there either. I guess this is a long way of saying I don’t expect much to happen at the deadline.

I think I’m OK with that.