Looking for advice on prospects

otherbrotherdarrell

I've been a lurker on the PSA boards for many years but finally got around to joining. I've gained some valuable info here as well as working out a few deals through the BST forum.

People may not want to share but I'm looking for a prospect that I could follow their (hopefully long and successful) career. I'm not looking for the usual suspects (Trout, Soto, Acuna) but instead perhaps someone has seen in the minors or during a brief call-up that has potential and is so far flying under the radar.

I'm at a low point in my collecting career and nobody in MLB today is appealing to me. Trout is a great player but not much personality, Kershaw is a great regular-season pitcher but then chokes in the playoffs, the Astros are all cheaters, etc. I'm being overdramatic here (and perhaps a bit insulting to some) but just looking for ideas to respark my interest.

Darrell

emar

Welcome!
As a rookie card collector, I've struckout many times gambling on prospects. I'm sure you'll get ideas here.
i can highly recommend the vintage era; modern is all pretty but vintage floats my boat.

Kinda fun to gamble on the next Veterans Committee inductee. A lot of semi-star players from the past.
Bought a nice '71 Ted Simmons several years ago and lo & behold he was elected to the hall.
$33 card turned into $400 almost overnight.
Sweet Lou comes to mind as the next VC inductee. The market seems to be pricing that in already.

Collect for the fun; not the investment.
Good luck,
Erick

DBesse27

Wander Franco and Jo Adell are ranked as the top 2 prospects by Baseball Prospectus and while their Bowman cards get nice prices, I still think those guys are under appreciated in the hobby, vs guys like Lux and Yordan Alvarez.

Edit to add: I love your screen name.

miwlvrn

Alexis Lafrenière. Not a can't-miss bet like McDavid was at this point in his career, but worth a look.

80sRockNut

I have been a Colorado Avalanche fan since their last days in Quebec City, so I am obviously biased ... but I think that Nathan MacKinnon is under-appreciated and undervalued in the card market. He has gotten more respect over the last two seasons, but if he wins a Cup or several, I can see his cards significantly increasing.

GreenSneakers

I did exactly as you suggest in the early 80s. Each year I picked one guy and went all in on his rookie cards, which at the time were often in the commons bin. I’d go to local shows and come away with dozens and dozens of copies of each. Here’s who I went with:

83: Dave Hostetler. (Not one of that years Big 3 rookies, as you might be aware)
84: Don Mattingly (better pick, but I went Topps not Donruss)
85: Orel Hershiser. (I was so confident in this one, though I did hedge a bit and also loaded up on a certain player from Team USA - Oddibe McDowell)
86: Lenny Dykstra (I hear him from time to time on Howard Stern)

Which is all to say, even if I had a suggestion in the modern world, you probably wouldn’t be interested in it.

2dueces

If we all had a crystal ball we’d be millionaires. No prospect is good or bad. Find a few players that catch your eye. Make sure they are cheap to purchase. Buy bulk in their regular cards. You can find sellers that sell 10-100 card lots of their regular card. If they hit get the best graded. If not you’re not out a lot of money. Don’t but high priced auto cards if your looking for a return. When a player gets hot everyone jumps on. Past history will tell you that’s insanity. Only the sellers win.

West22

Do a little research. Don't go with your gut. Obviously Wander Franco has enormous potential. But I'd suggest looking into Mariners SS Noelvi Marte, Padres SS CJ Abrams, and Mariners OF Julio Rodriguez and Jarred Kelenic. The last two aren't very under the radar but have potential for significant growth when baseball starts up again. I feel the Mariners guys are going to be very underappreciated by the hobby since the team is in a full rebuild and doesn't have a large fanbase. The Padres, Rays and Mariners have great farm systems.