Joe Martinez

He's a journeyman ballplayer, though it doesn't look like he is doing too bad for himself on the personal end - I got him to sign a few times when he played in the Arizona Fall League back in 2009 and may have seen him hanging out at an AFL game in 2012, so I brought his two cards I had to the AFL last year just to see if I could scope him out.

I didn't see him, but just as I'm only putting away the two cards [just yesterday], sorting a little bit for the upcoming baseball season - I read that he's been signed by the Angels, according this transactions list posted on Baseball America.

Martinez could be this year's Billy Buckner [who did get a few appearances with the Angels last year] or he may strictly AAA fodder [who might not be in the organization for long] - however his signing gives me some hope I could get my 2009 Topps Allen and Ginter set card signed in-person.

Featured autographs - Rick Ankiel

I was finally able to get Ankiel to sign a couple of set cards for me when the Astros came to play the Angels last weekend - I haven't gotten the opportunity to get his autograph in recent years, though I may have gotten once in-person and once TTM over the last 12 years.

Ankiel has bounced around from St. Louis to Kansas City to Atlanta - he played the last couple of years with the Washington Nationals before being released some time in 2012.

Hopefully he sticks with the Astros throughout the year - since I've got at least one more setter to try and get autographed [2010 Topps Allen and Ginter] and maybe a few other cards I've ended up with.

Chone Figgins

It's a bullet the Angels dodged when Chone Figgins signed a four-year, $36 million dollar contract with the Seattle Mariners four years ago - he was supposed to be part of a contender in Seattle but those dreams never materialized and Figgins turned into a bad nightmare for Mariners fans.

He was finally cut from the Mariners and while he pockets another $8 million to play for someone else [or stay at home] during the MLB 2013 season - maybe Figgins can salvage the latter part of his playing career, by being a bit player for a perennial contender [St. Louis Cardinals?], filling in at second or third base.