Featured autograph - Tommy Hanson

I was curious as to who the Angels would pick up after their starting rotation was depleted - it looks like the Halos got a solid starting pitcher from the Atlanta Braves in Tommy Hanson and all the team had to give up was reliever Jordan Walden.

I think there were rumblings and concerns about Hanson's delivery and health over the last two years, so the move isn't without its risks - however what's not to like about a big, strong kid who seems like a solid No. 3 behind Jered Weaver and C.J. Wilson, but has the potential to be quite a bit better at only 26.

Walden was an All-Star selection back in 2011 but has been a disappointment since - even with closer stuff, he pitched himself out of the Angels' short term plans and lacked a defined role in 2012.

With a different team like the Braves - maybe Walden gets a new opportunity to become a star reliever.

After trading for Hanson, the Angels should be looking to pick up another starting pitcher - do the Angels have any more prospects or young players like Taylor Lindsey and/or Peter Bourjos, Kole Calhoun or Luis Jimenez floating around?

I'd like the Angels to go after another Southern California guy in Florida Marlins pitcher Ricky Nolasco - who suddenly doesn't seem like a fit for the fire sale Marlins, looking to reload with cheap, young players.

A.J. Burnett of the Pittsburgh Pirates could be an option if the Pirates get back enough MLB players - to continue their make-believe game of trying to contend.

As far as free agents, Edwin Jackson seems like he is basically Ervin Santana and his contract demands might not be reasonable - my off the wall idea maybe taking a chance at lefthander Jonathan Sanchez.

Sanchez maybe too inconsistent and beyond repair - but has had his moments as a Major League starting pitcher to warrant a spring training invite.

Featured autograph - Zack Greinke

I probably got this card signed through the mail years ago and I wish the other guy was in professional baseball somewhere because I'd still like to complete it - the card is going into my all-time Angels autograph box to represent Greinke's time with the Angels in 2012.

Obviously Greinke is the most prized free agent this off-season and I'd love for the Angels to have the means to plug him back into a depleted starting rotation for 2013 - who really knows [I'm not betting on it, btw] if the Angels are going to re-sign Greinke to a long term deal for $120 million or more.

If it happens and Greinke is back with the Halos for the next five-seven years - then the team is going to have to tear up the long term deal ace Jered Weaver signed and make sure the face of the Halos' starting rotation is paid comparably.

Ryan Madson and other Angels bullpen options

I'm not too impressed with the Angels' signing of former Philadephia Phillies closer Ryan Madson - but it is a gamble probably pays off for the Angels if Madson is able to come back [whenever that may be next season] and be a guy who saves 30-40 games.

The Angels look to be one of the favorites to get Kyuji Fujikawa and hopefully the Angels can get a deal done - whether it's to defer to Madson in the ninth inning or actually close games out himself, Fujikawa adds another live arm into the Angels' bullpen for 2013.

If not Fujikawa, the Angels need to patch up the pen and find another reliever like Jose Veras - a hard thrower who may not be young and may not always be in control, but can still be useful.

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.

Dollar Tree repacks

 

I was looking for a cardboard fix, so when I realized I worked near a Dollar Tree discount store - I stopped by to pick up a couple of 'Ultimate Super Jumbo Pack - Vintage Series' repacks for a dollar each; I'd read random blog posts about these from random card blogs and thought I'd scrape down at the bottom of the barrel myself.

 

Pack one had 32 cards

1992 Topps Bazooka Quadracard #22 of 22 - featuring John Antonelli, Bob Friend, Dixie Walker and Ted Williams; I'd never seen these cards before [a 22-card boxed set, featuring four 1953 Topps Archives card images on each card] and they were remotely interesting.

1994 UD Collector's Choice Cliff Floyd #337

1994 UD Collector's Choice Ryne Sandberg #335

1984 Topps Johnny Ray #537

1990 Topps Rolando Roomes #364

1990 Topps Lee Guetterman #286

1989 Topps Willie Wilson #168

1990 Topps Bryan Clutterbuck #264

1991 Upper Deck Mark Knudson #393

1989 Fleer Jose Alvarez #585

1991 Score Nolan Ryan #701 - No-Hit Club subset

1993 Pinnacle Bob Walk #380

1990 Topps Kelly Downs #17

1989 Topps Keith Hernandez #480

1991 Upper Deck Pete O'Brien #459

1991 Upper Deck Kirk McCaskill #539

1984 Topps Jeff Lahti #593

1990 Score Paul Coleman #662

1998 Upper Deck Dmitri Young #665

1990 Topps Cal Ripken Jr. #388 - All-Star subset

1990 Topps Dave Cochrane #491

1989 Topps checklist #118

1988 Donruss Keith Moreland #201

1991 Leaf Jeff Treadway #246

1989 Topps Bobby Thigpen #762

1986 Topps Doyle Alexander #196

1989 Donruss Alvin Davis #345

1988 Topps Randy Myers #412

1992 Leaf Juan Guerrero #426

1989 Topps Blue Jays leaders #201

1991 Upper Deck Von Hayes #368

1981 Fleer Frank Tanana #276

 

Pack two had 34 cards

1986 Topps Mike Scioscia #468

1987 Donruss Jim Traber #477

1984 Topps Johnny Ray #387 - All-Star subset

1990 Donruss Mike Blowers #656

1993 Score Randy Milligan #112

1990 Donruss John Cerutti #645

1992 Leaf Glenallen Hill #70

1992 Pinnacle Mark Lewis #91

1993 Donruss Brian McRae #411

1993 Leaf George Bell #217

1992 Donruss Dave Gallagher #377

1989 Topps Bill Swift #712

1987 Donruss Tim Stoddard #497

1988 Fleer Kenny Williams #412

1991 Upper Deck Reggie Sanders #71

1990 Donruss Ron Oester #317

1991 Upper Deck Roger Clemens #655

1994 Topps Frank Thomas #601 - Measures of Greatness subset

1987 Topps Dwight Gooden #130

1986 Topps Dennis Rasmussen #301

1992 Topps Andy Mota #214

1990 Topps Marty Clary #304

1990 Topps Steve Bedrosian #310

1994 Pinnacle Phil Plantier #80

1987 Topps Wally Joyner #80

1996 Score Sean Bergman #120

1997 Fleer Ultra Pedro Astacio #442

1987 Topps Ron Karkovice #491

1994 Donruss Ron Karkovice #416

1987 Donruss Milt Thompson #330

1991 Topps Jeff Schaefer #681

1988 Donruss Storm Davis #595

1988 Donruss Tom Newell #604

1992 Topps Bazooka Quadracard #22 of 22 - featuring John Antonelli, Bob Friend, Dixie Walker and Ted Williams; a whole set is usually available for $2-$5 on eBay.

Autograph request through the mail received: Paul Goldschmidt

Paul Goldschmidt - the Arizona Diamondbacks slugger signed two cards in black Sharpie; I don't do as much mailings TTM, so I have to find the exact details, but I probably sent this during the latter part of the 2012 MLB season and was received last week.

Torii Hunter - Detroit Tiger

It was a nice 5-year run as a Halo for Torii Hunter - while everyone sort of moves on, especially when the Angels have Major League Baseball's best player in Mike Trout, I'll be rooting for Hunter to outplay the Bobby Abreu [circa 2010-2012] comps often thrown at his direction by 'smart' Angels fans who didn't want the team to reach out and re-sign the 37-year old outfielder.

2012 Bowman Chrome blaster recaps

2012 Bowman Chrome blaster [$19.99 each at a random Target] - went on a Target / Walmart run for 2012 Bowman Chrome the week it came out, I blew $60 on two blasters and two value packs; my friend's lone blaster purchase had a Trevor Bauer autograph redemption while his boss must have bought 10-15 boxes and at least three hobby boxes.

Xfractor bonus pack
#124 J.P. Arencibia
#BCP 122 Felipe Rivero
#65 Jimmy Rollins

Pack one
#102 Ike Davis
#FG-JSE Jean Segura - Futures Game insert

#BCP 165 Carlos Valenzuela

Pack two
#94 Brandon Phillips
#BCP 176 Aaron Brooks
#99 Jarrod Parker

Pack three
#BCP 111 Rob Rasmussen - refractor parallel

#BCP 182 Gregory Polanco
#93 Hunter Pence

Pack four
#66 Alex Rodriguez
#BCP 191 Danny Winkler
#75 Jemile Weeks

Pack five
#48 B.J. Upton
#LIM-TB Trevor Bauer - Legends in the Making insert

#BCP 199 Gabriel Lino

Pack six
#32 Jayson Werth
#BCP 205 Kenny Faulk
#47 Andrelton Simmons - Bryce Harper cameo

Pack seven
#83 Justin Masterson - refractor parallel

#BCP 2011 Domingo Tapia
#24 Kirk Nieuwenhuis

2012 Bowman Chrome blaster [$19.99 each at another random Target] 

Xfractor bonus pack
#174 Ryan Braun
#BCP 144 Blair Walters
#4 Jeremy Hellickson

Pack one
#BCP 147 Joel Caminero - refractor parallel

#FAS-PJ Buster Posey / Tommy Joseph - Franchise All-Stars insert
#147 Michael Young

Pack two
#206 Justin Morneau
#BCP 139 Lane Adams
#155 Ichiro

Pack three
#21 Brad Peacock
#LIM-TB Trevor Bauer - Legends in the Making insert

#BCP 152 Roberto De La Cruz

Pack four
#34 Chipper Jones
#BCP 168 Willy Garcia
#187 Jeremy Hefner

Pack five
#29 Jose Bautista - refractor parallel

#BCP 179 Narciso Mesa
#199 Wily Peralta

Pack six
#62 Shin-Soo Choo
#BCP 190 Daniel Paolini
#217 Dustin Pedroia

Pack seven
#124 J.P. Arencibia
#BCP Donald Lutz
#BCP 200 Eduardo Rodriguez

Featured autograph - Sergio Romo

I think it was four or five years ago, hanging out in the morning at Scottsdale waiting for the San Francisco Giants players to come in during spring training - where I got Sergio Romo's autograph.

He was a fairly anonymous Giants player back then and maybe I got him maybe once or twice - I remember a young couple getting a photo op with Romo and I thought, 'oh how cute, these guys are getting a pic with a token member of the Giants - it's too bad at times, only the scrubs like Romo who bother to sign.'

Even though Romo was a set-up man for much of the 2012 regular season, the Giants leaned on him to shut the door in the postseason and he ended up closing out the 2012 World Series as a two-time World Series champ - it's kind of safe to say that things have turned out pretty good as Romo has carved out a nice little MLB career for himself.

Vernon Wells oddball card

I ended up going to the Arizona Fall League for a week to get myself autographs of prospects and some other minor league players - I picked this oddball card of Vernon Wells as part of an league promotion to honor an AFL 20th Anniversary Top 20 team.

The card stock is very thin and not as 'durable' as a regular card would be - I don't really care for cards like these because I don't see them as trading cards [they are little larger than a normal card] and more like fliers to throw away.

The oversized cards I ended up with are Wells, Sean Casey, Todd Helton and Jermaine Dye - it looks as if I got the 'meh' part of the giveaway promotion but oh well.

Featured autograph - Yoenis Cespedes

I feel like I've lost my way with this blogging thing, but here is an autograph I got in-person of Oakland A's star rookie Yoenis Cespedes - I thought he was good about signing autographs when there was opportunity for him to do so when the A's visited the Angels this past season, though he shortened his autograph from the beginning of the year.

Obviously Cespedes is starring in the American League Division Series right now - looking to help the A's even things up with the Detroit Tigers.

Quarter box finds

Any baseball card I can't get signed in-person or even through the mail are redundant for me - but I impulsively rescued these cards out of the quarter boxes at the card shop I frequent.

The 2012 Topps Finest cards were fairly new, shiny and features variety of all-star caliber talent - they make nice fillers for a baseball card collection I don't particularly pay much attention to at the moment.

2006 Topps Allen and Ginter Dan Johnson #66
2012 Topps Finest Alex Rodriguez #2
2012 Topps Finest Justin Verlander #10
2012 Topps Finest Ichiro #11
2012 Topps Finest David Price #21
2012 Topps Finest Troy Tulowitzki #25
2012 Topps Finest Evan Longoria #26
2012 Topps Finest Prince Fielder #30
2012 Topps Finest Ryan Zimmerman #32 x2
2012 Topps Finest Dustin Pedroia #49
2012 Topps Finest Chipper Jones #58
2012 Topps Finest Miguel Cabrera #70
2012 Topps Finest Joey Votto #80
2012 Topps Finest Starlin Castro #82
2012 Topps Gypsy Queen Ian Kinsler #145
2012 Topps Gypsy Queen Ian Kinsler #145 - making the throw is the SP variation.
2012 Topps Heritage Minor League Jesse Biddle #127
2012 Topps Heritage Minor League Pratt Maynard #167
2012 Topps Heritage Minor League Zeke DeVoss #182

Featured autograph - Kris Medlen

Featured autograph - Bobby Valentine

I got embattled Boston Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine to sign two of my cards when the Boston Red Sox played the Angels at Angel Stadium a couple of weeks ago - he hasn't done himself any favors with his seemingly contrarian and abrasive demeanor but he's been turned into a scapegoat by the Boston Red Sox players, the media, the fans and maybe the people who hired him.

2012 Topps Chrome value pack recap

2012 Topps Chrome Value Pack [$9.49 each a Target] - not that I don't spend money on a blaster box or value pack, but I try to stay away from any retail much of the time I go into a Target or Walmart.

The worst part of this break was pulling three scrubs out of the pack of orange refractors - only to pull regular Chrome cards of the three same scubs.

Top section

Exclusive parallel pack
#194 Wily Peralta
#11 Ian Kennedy
#54 Ike Davis

Pack one
#9 Brian McCann
#57 Nelson Cruz
#194 Wily Peralta
#11 Ian Kennedy

Bottom section

Pack two
#118 Ryan Zimmerman
#8 C.J. Wilson
#54 Ike Davis
#90 Evan Longoria

Pack three
#99 Jemile Weeks
#6 Jon Lester
#130 Miguel Cabrera - refractor
#170 Jesus Montero - surface ding

Play at the Plate trade received

I received 2012 Topps Allen and Ginter's gold mini parallels of Erick Aybar and C.J. Wilson from Play at the Plate - in exchange for the two Texas Rangers ones I pulled out of a pack break.

Reading about the trade from his point of view, it sounds like he's made me out as a female - though I'm appreciative a trade was able to get done, just to avoid any possible confusion, I'd like to clarify that I'm actually a dude.

Featured autograph - Adrian Gonzalez

It's hard not to look away from what the Los Angeles Dodgers did in trading for the big contracts of Adrian Gonzalez, a hobbled Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett - as a Major League Baseball fan, all it tells me is sometimes there are just no rules as far what one particular team is willing to spend to bring certain players in.

It must be nice being a fan of an organization like the Dodgers right now - while my Angels are floundering in mediocrity, the Dodgers are primed to make a serious playoff run.

Featured autograph - Neil Walker

I bought a 4x6 photo of Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Neil Walker as a minor leaguer on eBay five or six years ago and got it signed - Walker is having a fine year as part of an upstart Pirates team looking to have a winning season and get into the playoffs for the first time since 1992.

Mike Trout

I don't know what to say to praise Mike Trout even more - there maybe veteran position players like Albert Pujols and Torii Hunter, but they've been pushed aside as complimentary pieces as Trout has thrived as a superstar in his first full season in the Major Leagues.

However, the Angels pitching staff [minus Jered Weaver, Ernesto Frieri and maybe Scott Downs] needs a lobotomy - there is no better feeling than knowing even if the Angels' lineup scores a good number of runs [with Trout igniting the lineup] early in a game, the Angels pitchers trotted out on the mound will probably blow the game eventually.

Autograph request through the mail received: Devin Mesoraco

Devin Mesoraco c/o Cincinnati Reds [spring training] - the Reds rookie catcher signed my two cards, including a 2011 Topps Heritage 'setter.' I sent the request on 2/22/12 and my SASE with my cards signed snuck into my mailbox probably two or three days ago, on 8/15.