Featured card: 2011 Topps Chrome Jordan Walden Orange refractor #183

I was able to pick up this Orange refractor of the Angels closer from Brian at Play at the Plate - in exchange for a Mason Tobin X-Fractor from this pack break.

Walden was thrown into the fire in 2011 and his season went from being impressive as a rookie closer making the All-Star team - to a guy who has some things to work on after two rough outings to end the year.

Unlike the last two great Angels closers [Troy Percival and Francisco Rodriguez] - I don't know if Walden has had a 'mentor' to allow him to develop, like Percival did when Lee Smith was a closer for the Angels back in 1995 and like 'K-Rod' who watched Percival close out games, before taking over closing duties for the Angels in the mid 2000s.

Walden is still a young guy and perhaps the Angels can go out and sign at end of the game reliever that sort of helps Walden out - if not really as a 'mentor' type, someone who can close out games as Walden figures things out.

As much talent as Walden has, I don't want to see the Angels burn him out because they don't have any other closing options - instead of hitting his prime in his mid 20s, you might find a guy like Walden bottoming out like the seemingly sad case of Jonathan Broxton, circa 2010-2011.

Featured card: 1992 Donruss Chris Cron #698

I vaguely know former Angel Chris Cron through the few baseball cards he has - from his brief stint as a Major League player back in the early 1990s. Apparently he has made a career as a long time manager in the minor leagues.

More importantly however, one of his sons [C.J.] was selected by the Angels with the 18th overall pick in this year's draft - I'm going to have to pay attention to the younger Cron, since I've never even heard of him until I read some blurbs about him a couple of weeks ago.

It looks like C.J. Cron is a big, hulking slugger type - he maybe a guy who can get to the Major Leagues in a couple of years, if he progresses as he should.

Despite not expecting C.J. to be able to help the parent team in Anaheim anytime soon - it seems like there is a power outage and the Angels probably need guys in the farm system capable of hitting the ball out of the park.