Kansas City, Houston, Toronto, Cleveland and...Manny Ramirez?! And another special guest?!

He's baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack...

Manny Ramirez, Los Angeles Dodgers
by GCRL

Wow. That is all I really need to say. Wow.

Coco Crisp, Kansas City Royals
by Andy Kimball

Coco seems carefree and blissful. But in a more coherent way than Manny does.

Brian Bannister, Kansas City Royals
by Andy Kimball

Everybody's favorite sabermetric savvy baseball player.

Art Stewart, Kansas City Royals
by Andy Kimball

Longtime Royals scout. Heck of a card.

Chris Lubanski, Kansas City Royals
by Andy Kimball

Of Lubanski, Art Steward once told an observer, "You will remember this day for the rest of your life." Hasn't happened yet. Make it happen, Chris.

Alberto Callaspo, Kansas City Royals
by Andy Kimball

Has a shot to win the 2B job this Spring.

Tim Byrdak, Houston Astros
by Therion

Therion took the Astros set to a new level by adding his own orange color scheme to it. I'm really digging it.

I don't know much about Tim Byrdak but he doesn't look too pleased on this card. Neat shot.

Humberto Quintero, Houston Astros
by Therion

Humberto Quintero:

a) Falls asleep in the woods
b) Feels the relentless pull of a black hole
c) Is a model for American Apparel

You decide

Doug Brocail, Houston Astros
by Therion

Are the Houston Astros a pilot program for genetic human engineering? Or does it just seem like they manufacture whordes of scruffy 30-something middle relievers?

Brandon Backe, Houston Astros
by Therion

Team Scientist: I'm sorry Mr. Wade, but our machines malfunctioned and we accidentally engineered a starter.
Ed Wade: Tell Woody Williams to get out of the test chamber

Alberto Arias, Houston Astros
by Therion

The Yankees aren't the only ones who look good in pinstripes. I really like the Astros and Marlins pinstripes as well. An excellent card by Therion.

David Purcey, Toronto Blue Jays
by Addicted to Wax

Purcey is a really nice sleeper for 2009. From Mike's excellent blog:
I have the feeling that this season will be Purcey's breakout. 2008 was his first season in "The Show", and he's only 26. With AJ Burnett gone and Marcum most likely out for the 2009 season, the Jays will depend on Purcey. When he's comfortable he is an intimidating presence on the mound, throwing strikes effectively. However, when he gets off his game his control is off. Purcey is young and this is something experience and time can fix. He will definitely be a presence this season on the Jays pitching staff.
To which I responded:
Thanks for the tip on David Purcey. His stats certainly back up your claims.

8.0 K/9
4.0 B/9
1.2 HR/9

Not a lot of buzz on him which is odd (...) In contrast to that is Manny Parra, 26, who a lot of people seem to like as a breakout candidate despite almost no difference in their rate stats last year. As soon as I saw the rate stats for Purcey I thought of Parra, and I was pretty spot on. Here's Parra:

8.0 K/9
4.1 B/9
1.0 HR/9

Almost identical. So really I like your call here on Purcey. Some control risk, but upside as you've noted.

Brian Tallet, Toronto Blue Jays
by Addicted to Wax

Mike says:
Tallet has a fastball in the low 90s. He is comfortable with people on base, which is refreshing. However, his talents best lie in being a set up man.

Brandon League, Toronto Blue Jays
by Addicted to Wax

Love the tattoos. Pretty nasty looking.

Looks like they've got the roof open at Skydome, which they really ought to do more often.

A.J. Burnett, Toronto Blue Jays
by Addicted to Wax

Just a sweet card. Great shot.


Adam Lind, Toronto Blue Jays
by Addicted to Wax

Kind of a sleeping giant waiting to explode. I think he might have some mid-to-late twenties breakout potential.

From Mike:
He has decent power with a quick, sweet swing. He also has remarkable plate discipline.
I agree. Can't wait to see him (hopefully) get a full time gig.

David Dellucci, Cleveland Indians
by Voltaire

I can almost see Topps pixelizing this and turning it into a Heritage card. Cool shot.

Cliff Lee, Cleveland Indians
by Voltaire

This guy is legit. I really think he's going to have a nice 2009. ERA in the mid to upper 3.00's, WHIP around 1.20, good K numbers...

I like the height of the leg kick here.

Anthony Reyes, Cleveland Indians
by Voltaire

Wow, gives me the major Jeremy Bonderman vibes. Both consistently underperform their peripherals, much to the chagrin of fantasy owners, or shall I say Dave in particular.

Both also exhibit the dreaded inverted W. Chris O'Leary does not particularly care for this.

Andy Marte, Cleveland Indians
by Voltaire

It just didn't work out, which is really too bad. Maybe a post hype sleeper? Maybe, maybe?

Aaron Laffey, Cleveland Indians
by Voltaire

Wow, this card really jumps out at me. Perfectly framed, very sharp picture. The stands are pretty empty behind him, which actually adds a complimentary color and softens the image up behind him. Just a very nice understated card.

Great work by everybody. These just get better and better.

Oh wait, what's this?

Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees
by Goose Joak

A perfect bookend to the Manny Ramirez card?

Comments

  1. I like the Stewart card. That shot is probably from his Royals Hall of Fame induction.

    Byrdak actually pitched for the Royals in 2000.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The reason I am willing to trade picks for keepers this year is because of players like Adam Lind who could be great, but will go so late in the draft.

    You're right Manny and A-Rod are perfect book-ends and by coincidence they are the last two guys I've wrote about too.

    ReplyDelete

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