Ranking the 30 MLB teams on my watch - Atlanta Braves #9 of 30

It's been impressive how they've turned out players to contribute to winning teams - but maybe they just don't have the means to get a few more impact players to get them further in a playoff run.

The Braves have me feeling a little meh - first baseman Freddie Freeman has developed into a young star at 23, but guys like Jason Heyward, Justin Upton and B.J. Upton leave something to be desired.

Some of their established veterans have moved on or may not be with the team in 2014 - Chipper Jones retired after the 2012 season, Tim Hudson got hurt in 2013 and may need to prove himself on another team for next year while catcher Brian McCann maybe someone else's big free agent signing.

Ranking the 30 MLB teams on my watch - Boston Red Sox #10 of 30

The 2013 World Series was won on the back of MVP David Ortiz and it seems like he has been the one constant in Boston over the last 10-11 years - he maybe have been a PED guy at some point and several years ago his bat had slowed down as he entered his mid 30's.

There have been rumblings and grumblings about whether he is a legitimate Hall of Fame candidate - his postseason performances [in 2004, 2007 and 2013] help his case a lot and if I was betting on it, he's probably going to be in Cooperstown.

I do think he is going to need a couple of more 'nice' seasons to round out his career - being a designated hitter for the majority of his career and other warts [PEDs] probably has him waiting at least three to five years after he is eligible to be voted in.

Ranking the 30 MLB teams on my watch - San Francisco Giants #11 of 30

Buster Posey's numbers at the plate fell off a bit after having an MVP season in 2012 - maybe he was a bit hurt or banged up, but a healthy Posey obviously goes a long way in dictating how the Giants do in the next few years.

Even when the Giants crashed in 2013, their front office has proven they can make some savvy moves with the money to make up for any mistakes in signing particular free agents that go bust - so they'll probably retool the pitching staff and try to contend with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks in 2014.

Starting pitcher Tim Lincecum was re-signed and has extended his stay in San Francisco - but may never get back into the superstar form that made him 'The Freak' and his numbers as he turns 30 maybe 'as is.'

Lincecum overpowered hitters in his prime - now it's about battling himself, battling his control and trying to keep things in check on a start by start basis.

The seemingly metronomic Matt Cain had an off year - though his numbers besides his wins/losses and overall ERA seem to indicate he didn't have such a terrible season, especially in the second half.

Out of some of the pitching woes the Giants suffered, soft spoken Madison Bumgarner emerged as their ace this past season - putting together a fine year with just over 200 innings pitched, with just about the same number of batters struck out while allowing only 146 hits.

Ranking the 30 MLB teams on my watch - Washington Nationals #12 of 30

I've always liked how Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman has carried himself as a professional baseball player - even though he has been overshadowed by the likes of Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg in recent years.

Zimmerman has been with the Nationals ever since their first season in Washington back in 2005 - hopefully he can get his throwing problems straightened out as the Nationals look to bounce back from a season where they were expected to reach the World Series.

2013 Bowman Draft jumbo pack recap

In addition to buy some loose cards, I tried a $12 jumbo consisting of 32 cards - it's basically the same Bowman Draft product from previous years with a bunch of cards of 'newly minted' pros from this past year's draft as well as 2013 rookies.

A new wrinkle to the basic set is the addition of prospect cards to fill out the checklist - I don't know if I like the idea of adding prospect cards in Bowman Draft, when the players featured are just being recycled and already had assorted ones in various Bowman products.

#BDPP 52 Tyler Wade - it's Topps, so I don't know if the info on every single card is correct, but it is actually noted which round a player was drafted and the draft number, so that is nice, subtle touch.
#BDPP 45 Cord Sandberg
#BDPP 32 J.P. Crawford
#BDPP 27 Reese McGuire
#BDPP 18 Corey Knebel
#BDPP 9 Aaron Blair
#BDPP 4 Nick Ciuffo
#BDPP 126 Joel Effertz
#TP 27 Javier Baez
#TP 41 Dorssys Paulino
#TP 10 Carlos Correa
#TP 41 Preston Tucker
#BDPP 97 Niko Spezial
#BDPP 89 Randolph Gassaway
#BDPP 94 Justin Williams - Chrome
#TP 7 David Dahl

#DD MM Reese McGuire / Austin Meadows - Dual Draftees insert

#BSB-JW Jacob Wilson - Bowman Breakouts insert

#TP-2 Tyler Austin - Orange parallel serial #'d 217/250

#BDPP 46 Jake Sweaney - Chrome refractor parallel
#17 Marcell Ozuna - Chrome
#39 Alex Wood - Chrome
#BDPP 78 Kendall Coleman
#BDPP 70 Aaron Blanton
#14 Alex Colome
#44 Mike Zunino
#BDPP 92 Joseph Monge
#25 Tony Cingrani
#37 Evan Gattis
#12 Nick Franklin
#BDPP 57 Robert Kaminsky
#BDPP 49 Stephen Gonsalves 

Card shop finds - 2013 Bowman Draft miscellanea

I don't know who all these guys are but there was a fresh shoebox of loose BDP cards at my LCS and I picked up a few - with professional baseball, it probably takes three or four years to see if any of these names will have meant something.

2013 BDP paper - $0.50 each
#BDPP 1 Dominic Smith
#BDPP 14 Clint Frazier - x2
#BDPP 26 Jonathan Gray
#BDPP 66 Phil Ervin - Blue parallel serial #'d 251/500

2013 Bowman Draft Chrome - $1 each
#BDPP 8 D.J. Peterson - Chrome refractor
#BDPP 23 Blake Taylor - Chrome refractor
#BDPP 37 Gosuke Katoh - Chrome refractor
#BDPP 57 Robert Kaminsky - Chrome refractor

Ranking the 30 MLB teams on my watch - Pittsburgh Pirates #13 of 30

On the strength of his all-around skills, center fielder Andrew McCutchen won the 2013 National League MVP and led the Pirates to their first winning season since 1992 - while rookie starting pitcher Gerrit Cole wasn't the only guy carrying the load on the mound for the Pirates this past season, the former No. 1 pick was legit.

With these two in the mix, maybe the Pirates of right now can establish a winning, contending culture - to make fans forget the hell they went through between 1993-2012.

Card shop finds - loose 2013 Topps Update cards

#US 21 Junior Lake 

#US 45 Joey Terdoslavich - Emerald parallel 

#US 51 Brett Marshall 

#US 137 Yoervis Medina - Target Red parallel

#US 243 Marwin Gonzalez - x2 

#US 263 Austin Romine - Gold parallel serial #'d 1810/2013 - bonus baby / cameo by Mariano Rivera.

#US 267 Nick Tepesch 

#US 267 Nick Tepesch - Emerald parallel 

#US 278 Jose Alvarez 

#US 302 Yan Gomes - Gold parallel serial #'d 1302/2013 

#US 329 Henry Urrutia - Target Red parallel

Ranking the 30 MLB teams on my watch - Cincinnati Reds #14 of 30

Is Joey Votto is the most overrated player in baseball [?] - all the numbers guys think poor Votto is unfairly persecuted in Cincinnati because he is just infinitely better at the plate than anyone else on the roster, posting some nifty on-base percentages over the course of his career.

All the perceived digs from presumably the old school way of baseball thinking wouldn't mean a thing if votto was hitting 40 home runs and driving in 130 runs a year - I don't see a problem with Votto's somewhat passive approach at the plate, but for the contract he is being paid as franchise player, he might not be a guy capable of carrying a team on his back when he is content to take a walk.

Maybe he can't do it in a practical sense and/or his body maybe breaking down - but a little aggressiveness and swing for the fences mentality probably wouldn't hurt Votto's production, even if his on-base percentage slips just a little.

Ranking the 30 MLB teams on my watch - Baltimore Orioles #15 of 30

Chris Davis, Manny Machado and Adam Jones make this team go round and round - though it remains to be seen whether Davis can duplicate his monster season, whether Machado can recover from the leg injury he suffered and whether Adam Jones can continue to be a center fielder with the ability to hit with some pop.

I do wonder what happened to Nick Markakis - he bounced back to play 160 games this past season but isn't the rising star he once was in his mid 20's, especially when he had a .356 slugging percentage.

Is the corpse of Brian Roberts still haunting the team ?] - it's been suspect that he hasn't been able to play a full season since 2009.

I'm sure he is still a fan favorite with the Orioles, even though he has only gotten to play on a sporadic basis - but I wonder if he was doing something in his mid 20's that caught up with him in his 30's.

Has Matt Wieters' star dimmed [?] - once annointed a future superstar at catcher, he's been a decent player who hasn't quite lived up to the massive hype and had a down season with the bat in 2013.

Ranking the 30 MLB teams on my watch - Colorado Rockies #16 of 30

The Rockies have a pair of All-Star performers in Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki - CarGo is one of the best all-around outfielders in the National League when healthy while Tulo is probably the best shortstop in the National League.

Both offer a wide range of skills though it remains to be seen whether either one will be moved to get Rockies perhaps some prospects that will help the team in several areas - the Rockies may have to go out in the free agent market and give some mid level pitchers crazy money just so they have can something resembling a Major League pitching staff.

Ranking the 30 MLB teams on my watch - Arizona Diamondbacks #17 of 30

The Diamondbacks faded in the second half of the season even with first baseman Paul Goldschmidt emerging as an All-Star talent - I see how the team is built on scrappiness, toughness and playing the game the Kirk Gibson way, but it's hard to see how they are going to win with C-level talent.

Maybe the team is tweaked and better players and/or coaches are added, but no matter how they improve on paper - it maybe a daunting challenge to compete against the big money Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West.

Ranking the 30 MLB teams on my watch - Toronto Blue Jays #18 of 30

The Blue Jays laid an egg in 2013, unable to really get on a good run to get back into contention - it was just a big, jumbled run on mess as Jose Reyes got hurt, Jose Bautista got hurt, R.A. Dickey didn't start the season well, Josh Johnson was terrible, Mark Buehrle was Mark Buehrle, Ricky Romero got the Steve Blass disease, J.P. Arencibia hit 21 home runs but had 18 walks and struck out 148 times, Brandon Morrow got hurt, Melky stopped juicing, Brett Lawrie underperformed, Emilio Bonifacio was a bust, Sergio Santos was decent but he was working his way back from injuries, being hurt for much of 2012, yadda, yadda, yadda.

The Jays were much maligned and will have to go back to the drawing board - Edwin Encarnacion had a fine season, Adam Lind sort of bounced back from a terrible 2012 and Colby Rasmus was quite decent.

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.

Ranking the 30 MLB teams on my watch - Kansas City Royals #20 of 30

Pitching was what kept the Royals competitive in 2013 - starting pitchers James Shields, Jeremy Guthrie and Ervin Santana didn't post superstar numbers, but each pitched over 200 innings, giving the Royals some dependability.

The bullpen was locked down with the emergence of closer Greg Holland - along with an assorted number of relievers from Bruce Chen to Luke Hochevar pitching in with serviceable seasons.

I like how first baseman Eric Hosmer turned things around, when he had one home run in the first two months of the season - after his poor 2012 and his slow start this past year, I thought he was a bust likely to be sent down to AAA.

Hosmer stayed hot after he broke out of his funk and also seemed like he emerged as a leader in the clubhouse - the future seems brighter now, though Hosmer still has to prove that this past season wasn't a fluke.

Base Set Calling trade received - getting younger

I received these four 2013 Topps Update Chrome cards from Brian at Base Set Calling - in exchange for 2013 Topps Update Chrome cards of Brian Wilson, Jake Peavy, Mariano Rivera and Oswaldo Arcia.

It was a fairly straightforward trade - I traded three cards of veteran players and one rookie in exchange for rookies of four guys [though I probably have several other cards of each player already].

The cards I received adds some 'card depth' in case there are opportunities at some ballpark - where I can get at least a couple of cards signed in-person when the particular players' teams come to town.

Ranking the 30 MLB teams on my watch - New York Mets #21 of 30

David Wright, Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler made this team kind of relevant in 2013 - but Harvey is out until 2015 and besides the other two, the Mets' roster consist of guys who should be playing in AAA, not in the Major Leagues.

Ranking the 30 MLB teams on my watch - Cleveland Indians #22 of 30

The Indians 2013 season came out of nowhere and seemed like a mirage of sorts - while their key free agent signings [Nick Swisher, Michael Bourn] underperformed, the Indians beat up on weaker opponents, landed the first Wild Card spot and were promptly eliminated in the WC playoff game by the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Indians probably need Swisher and Bourn to provide a bit more offense in 2014 - and who knows if this team will be able to contend if they can't find another set of Scott Kazmir and Ubaldo Jimenez types for cheap.

Between Carlos Santana and Yan Gomes - the Indians got good production out of their catchers this past season.

Ranking the 30 MLB teams on my watch - Milwaukee Brewers #23 of 30

The emergence of Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder made this team relevant through the late 2000's but Fielder is long gone and the once golden Braun has stumbled because of PEDs - Carlos Gomez and Jean Segura really makes the Brewers go these days, even though just a few years ago, I thought Gomez wouldn't be able to establish himself as a regular player in the Major Leagues.

Gomez had sort of his breakout season in 2012 where I kind of noticed for a guy putting up some bad stats [20 walks / 98 strikeouts / .260 batting average] - he played with a certain fire and if I was rooting for a below average MLB player, it might be him.

Ranking the 30 MLB teams on my watch - Minnesota Twins #24 of 30

The Twins were the epitome of a young scrappy team that managed to contend with some emerging stars in the mid 2000's - while the team has suffered through some lean years lately, Joe Mauer is still Joe Mauer.

Despite his lack of home run power, Mauer is a catcher who is a pure hitter - with a lifetime average of .323 and an on-base percentage of .405.

It might not be so clear cut, but as long as Mauer plays out his hefty contract and sticks behind the plate four or five more seasons with the same level of production - then he will be a Hall of Famer.