2016 MLB award winners additions

I look forward to when the three big awards [Rookie of the Year, Cy Young and Most Valuable Player] are announced - it gives me an opportunity to add cards of another set of players to my award winners collection.

American League MVP Mike Trout - while his team finished 74-88 this past season, it's amazing to see the best player in the game excel the way he does in such a metronomic way.

Boston Red Sox star Mookie Betts was hyped up as the favorite to win the MVP - but with teammates David Ortiz, Hanley Ramirez, Dustin Pedroia, Jackie Bradley and Xander Bogaerts all having fine offensive seasons in the Red Sox lineup, it was really going to harder to see Betts as 'the guy,' regardless of what the advanced metrics said.

National League MVP Kris Bryant - Daniel Murphy had as good of a chance of winning the MVP [the second baseman hit around .347, has a slugging percentage of .595 and an OPS+ of 157], but Bryant was part of the 'Bryzzo' power duo that kept the eventual World Series champs going all season long.

American League Cy Young Rick Porcello - he may not be better than a No. 3 starter, but after a rough debut season in Boston, Porcello stepped up his game, pitched a career high 223 innings and won 22 games.

The best part about Porcello winning the AL Cy Young award was reading about the first world outrage shown by supermodel Kate Upton - the girlfriend of the guy that got squeezed out of the award by his former teammate.

National League Cy Young Max Scherzer - I honestly don't know if I really sit down and watch as much baseball, but Scherzer might be that 'must watch' pitcher every time he takes the mound.

American League Rookie of the Year Michael Fulmer - emerged as the second best pitcher on a Detroit Tigers starting staff that otherwise imploded with particularly bad performances from Anibal Sanchez and Jordan Zimmermann.

National League Rookie of the Year Corey Seager - in some respects, Seager is the personification of the ideal big leaguer [along with your Trouts and Bryants], even if he has just gone through his first full season.

Considered the No. 1 prospect entering the year, he was able to step in and play nearly 160 games at a premium position - with a seemingly consistent even keel approach.

With youth and potential on his side, Seager can only get better and may become the face of the franchise - even if has more an 'aw-shucks' kind of personality otherwise.

2015 Topps Throwback Kris Bryant #616

With big power numbers, Bryant has established himself as a national star and I wanted to see if I could find a 'low end' Bryant rookie card - when I saw this, I grabbed it even though I didn't know what the card was and despite the MLB RC logo, it's not a true rookie card either.

Apparently this card is a retail exclusive parallel available in 2015 Topps Update - maybe it’s a little peculiar [though nothing new] how Topps makes up these parallels in their update series that include selected cards from Series I and Series II as opposed to strictly update series cards.

I do think this card uses a better image with some throwback flair compared to Bryant's actual 2015 Topps rookie card - so it's a nice 'under the radar' add to my collection.

2016 Topps Series I 72-card hanger box

#327 Anthony Rizzo

#190 Jeurys Familia

#328 Anthony DeSclafani

#163 Joaquin Benoit

#115 Aaron Harang

#269 Giancarlo Stanton

#77 Clay Buchholz

#158 Henry Urrutia

#15 Ryan Howard

#26 AL Home Run Leaders - feat. Davis, Cruz and Trout

#289 Nick Hundley

#126 Papi and the Prince - feat. Ortiz and Pujols

#181 Minnesota Twins team card

#185 AL ERA Leaders - feat. Price, Keuchel and Gray

#315 San Diego Padres team card

#108 Ben Paulsen

#BB-10 Bill Mazeroski - Berger’s Best insert

#350 Kris Bryant - Rainbow Foil parallel

#FP-5 Evelyn Jones - First Pitch insert

#WRIG-22 Rafael Palmeiro - 100 Years at Wrigley Field insert

#P-4 Bryce Harper - Perspectives insert

#MLBD-9 Yu Darvish - MLB Debut insert

#AM-5 Nolan Ryan - Amazing Milestones insert

#62 Trayce Thompson

#64 Corey Kluber

#35 Luke Hochevar

#118 Jose Fernandez

#218 Andrew Miller

#228 Matt Garza

#304 Charlie Furbush

#208 Kurt Suzuki

#68 Odubel Herrera

#239 Huston Street

#82 Michael Bourn

#296 Yordano Ventura

#258 Devon Travis

#145 Jon Niese

#74 Troy Tulowitzki

#133 Aaron Nola

#201 Adam Jones

#194 Chase Headley

#17 Billy Butler

#300 Buster Posey

#113 Aaron Sanchez

#9 Eric Hosmer

#267 Chris Heston

#298 Ryan Braun

#230 Ryan Vogelsong

#234 David Robertson

#276 Francisco Cervelli

#349 Ben Revere

#58 NL ERA Leaders - feat. Greinke, Arrieta and Kershaw

#139 Yasiel Puig

#53 George Springer

#221 Ryan LaMarre

#MLBW-4 Los Angeles Dodgers - Wacky Packages sticker insert

#259 Paul Goldschmidt

#232 Michael Conforto

#138 Francisco Liriano

#19 Delino DeShields Jr.

#293 Hyun-Jin Ryu

#92 Darren O’Day

#196 Hunter Strickland

#244 Matt Carpenter

#86 Wilmer Flores

#271 Kevin Kiermaier

#213 Matt Shoemaker

#319 Adam Wainwright

#134 Yadier Molina

#55 Jesus Montero

#116 Brett Gardner

#38 Jed Lowrie

#264 Jake Arrieta

2015 Bowman jumbo pack recap

#141 Nick Tropeano
#98 Travis D'Arnaud
#112 Yu Darvish
#12 Adam Eaton
#40 Oswaldo Arcia
#83 Lorenzo Cain
#73 Adrian Gonzalez
#150 Javier Baez
#90 Nick Castellanos
#BCP 121 Gilbert Lara - Chrome
#BCP 100 Kris Bryant - Chrome
#BCP 73 Kyle Zimmer - Chrome
#BCP 88 Reese McGuire - Chrome
#BP 20 Adrian Sampson
#BP 77 T.J. Chism
#BP 52 Jon Gray
#BP 8 A.J. Cole
#BP 113 Gary Sanchez
#BP 119 Scott Schebler
#BP 140 Eric Haase
#BP 56 Hunter Dozier - Silver parallel serial #'d 307/499
#BTP 79 Tyrone Taylor - Bowman Scouts' Top 100
#BP 31 Jimmy Reed
#BP 90 Nate Smith
#BP 66 Gareth Morgan
#BCP 128 Victor Alacantara - Chrome
#BCP 111 Andre Wheeler - Chrome
#111 Adam Wainwright
#95 Bryce Harper
#118 Yan Gomes
#55 Justin Turner
#37 Josh Reddick

Kris Bryant

The most heralded prospect coming into the season, Bryant has played 14 games and had 50 at-bats in the Major Leagues so far, so noting the small sample size - it's interesting that he hasn't hit a Major League home run and despite his gaudy on-base percentage, his numbers so far have been fairly quiet.

On the other hand, I'll be waiting for the headlines when he really starts figuring things out - maybe because many top prospects are hyped up, it's almost surprising when they don't start off their MLB careers like Albert Pujols.

Featured autograph - Kris Bryant

With the crazy hype surrounding his spring training home run barrage, I'm glad I got him a few years ago - when I actually got him, he had probably shortened up his autograph already, but the recent graphs he has given out in-person just look real sloppy.

2014 Bowman Draft Super Jumbo pack recap #1

I figured it was more or less like buying a blaster box of sorts - except all the cards come in one fat 60 card pack and Bowman Draft has been a hobby only product since 2012.

To be honest, there might not be too much joy involving collecting Bowman Draft - I rip loose packs of Bowman Draft because I like prospects on a superficial level and I hope to pull various parallels and inserts.

However, it's not really a product where I take time to look through the cards - I sort whatever assortment of cards I get my hands on and hope I see some of these young players plying their trade somewhere before they reach the major leagues.

Of course, there are bound to be cards in the product that end up being irrelevant because the players pictured on them end up out of pro baseball for a number of reasons - if only I can see such players before they are released and/or find themselves doing something else.

I guess the prospect non-draft pick cards serve as the equivalent of MLB veteran cards in other Bowman products - any cards numbered with a 'TP' maybe redundant, but it helps out as filler, so the draft picks cards aren't by themselves.

If some of the better draft picks from this past year start to do well in their professional careers - they'll probably be in a future Bowman Draft set as well.

Pack one
#TP-28 Vincent Velasquez
#DP 91 Brian Anderson
#TP-72 C.J. Edwards
#DP 82 Austin Cousino
#TP-63 Kyle Crick
#DP 67 Chris Ellis
#TP-48 Tyler Danish

#DP 61 Sam Travis
#TP-42 Aaron Blair
#DP 53 Jacob Lindgren
#CDP 76 Andrew Morales - Chrome
#CTP 57 Josh Hart - Chrome
#CDP 87 Chad Sobotka - Chrome
#CTP 85 Gosuke Katoh - Chrome
#CDP 51 Joe Gatto - Chrome
#CTP 32 Hunter Renfroe - Chrome
#TP-21 Rosell Herrera
#BP 55 Taylor Sparks
#TP-36 Lance McCullers
#DP 66 Jeff Brigham
#TP-47 Tim Anderson
#DP 72 Garrett Fulenchek
#TP-53 Lewis Brinson
#DP 81 J.D. Davis
#TP-62 Kris Bryant
#DP 89 Nick Wells
#TP-34 Alen Hanson
#DP 84 Milton Ramos
#TP-65 Christian Binford
#DP 97 Wyatt Strahan
#TP-79 Chris Stratton
#DP 107 Matt Morgan
#TP-90 Nomar Mazara
#DP 8 Max Pentecost
#DP 118 Taylor Gushue
#DP 15 Nick Howard
#CTP 68 James Ramsey - Chrome
#CDP 94 Dylan Davis - Chrome
#CTP 75 Raimel Tapia - Chrome
#CDP 100 Jordan Luplow - Chrome
#DD-CK Michael Chavis / Michael Kopech - Dual Draftees insert

#FF-CCO Clint Coulter - Future of the Franchise mini
#DN-KM Kodi Medeiros - Draft Night insert
#BCA-MIC Michael Chavis - autograph
#CDP 47 Sean Reid-Foley - Chrome
#CTP 27 Hunter Harvey - Chrome
#CDP 33 Forrest Wall - Chrome
#TP-70 Nick Williams
#DP 95 Matt Railey
#TP-77 Brandon Drury
#DP 101 Jake Cosart
#TP-84 Blake Swihart
#DP 109 Austin Gomber
#TP-76 Michael Feliz
#DP 52 Cody Reed

#TP-33 Eloy Jimenez
#DP 45 Matt Imhof
#CDP 25 Alex Blandino - Chrome refractor
#CTP 4 Mark Appel - Chrome refractor
#CDP 36 Mike Papi - Chrome refractor

2014 Topps Heritage Minors eight pack recap

I tried to pick up a 'handful' of packs without seeming like I broke the bank - I have a hand collated set coming in, but loose packs allow me a chance to pull some inserts, pull extra cards of players and maybe a pesky short print I may need.

Pack one
#53 Trevor Williams
#67 Jake Thompson
#1 Carlos Correa
#21 Clayton Blackburn
#203 Jeremy Barfield - SP
#187 Tanner Rahier
#196 Justin Nicolino
#42 Brian Goodwin
#158 Jamie Westbrook

Pack two
#86 Kevin Plawecki
#81 Jose Rondon - pictured as an Inland Empire 66er, does say he was traded to the San Diego Padres on the back.
#Topps RTTS-WM Wyatt Mathisen - Road to the Show insert
#Topps MP-FL Francisco Lindor - hat patch card; manufactured patch cards are 'meh' to me, but they are kind of neat and I don't have to worry whether or not they are actually game used by the depicted player.
#163 Michael Feliz
#177 Mac Williamson

Pack three
#61 Tim Anderson
#72 Carson Kelly
#83 Clint Coulter
#94 Rio Ruiz
#Topps RTTS-BP Brett Phillips - Road to the Show insert
#43 Christian Binford
#172 Delta Cleary
#146 Andrew Knapp
#137 Teddy Stankiewicz

Pack four
#9 Gary Sanchez
#16 Kyle Crick

#30 Kris Bryant
#45 Nick Travieso
#208 Taylor Lindsey - SP; pictured as a Salt Lake Bees player, doesn't say he was traded to the San Diego Padres like the Rondon card.
#175 Aaron Judge
#184 Sam Moll
#195 Eduardo Rodriguez
#179 Tyler Naquin

Pack five
#35 Chris Stratton
#27 Mike Foltynewicz
#11 Trevor Story
#3 Andrew Susac
#Topps RTTS-PW Phil Wetherell - Road to the Show insert
#180 Jameson Taillon
#189 Orlando Arcia
#198 Matt Barnes
#105 David Goforth

Pack six
#54 Avery Romero
#50 Archie Bradley
#34 Joey Gallo
#25 Luis Heredia
#215 Tyler Glasnow - SP
#182 Kyle Waldrop
#193 Jesse Biddle
#117 Phil Ervin
#123 Hunter Dozier

Pack seven
#26 Kohl Stewart
#37 Nick Delmonico
#47 Michael Fulmer
#59 Brandon Nimmo
#FB-JS Jorge Soler - Baseball Flashbacks insert

#30 Kris Bryant - photo variation
#145 Isiah Kiner-Falefa
#135 Andrew Thurman
#128 Alex Gonzalez

Pack eight
#24 Roberto Osuna
#13 Cam Bedrosian
#2 Nick Ahmed
#20 Miguel Sano
Corpus Christi Hooks / Pro Debut contest card
#181 Shawn Pleffner
#185 Dane Phillips
#93 Kyle Parker
#106 Trevor May

Ranking the 30 MLB teams on my watch - Chicago Cubs #19 of 30

I could care less about the Cubs, their curses and their heartbreaks but they have some nice prospects that maybe worth watching sooner than later including - Javier Baez, Kris Bryant, C.J. Edwards, Albert Almora, Jorge Soler, et al.

I didn't really know who Bryant was a year ago [at the University of San Diego], but while he's not the 'official' Cubs No. 1 prospect entering the 2014 season - he looks like the next great hope for Cubs fans he's on the fast track to get to the Major Leagues sooner than later with a polished approach at the plate and power potential.