For over a year now I have had an ongoing trade with Glenn in Connecticut, also known as The Hobby Spyder on Twitter. He conducts ongoing trades in which he titles NAFTA. Yes, that stands for what you think it would – North American Free Trade Agreement.
In blogs of past, I would post about every package received per day. Since time got away during my Spring Training trip, it allowed me to switch things up on this site.
Though time isn’t as crunched lately as it has been in the past, it’s become a good time to practice change. And that’s why I have spotlighted various trade maildays, as opposed to detailing each and every mail day.
My latest NAFTA package arrived last week, and as always Glenn included a little bit of everything. One thing in our hobby that surprises me is how much sales can differ between players. One pairing that really shocks me is Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuna. You can pick up Albies rookies for $2 or less, while an Acuna will set you back $20. Same team, similar age, similar talents.
Eloy Jimenez is another shocker to me. I feel he is undervalued, and think that could change later this year if he breaks out for the White Sox. We should hopefully have baseball this year…hopefully.
Another Cubs prospect was Alex Lange, though he was shipped off to Detroit in the Nicholas Castellanos deal. I was high on Lange when he was drafted in the first round (30th overall) out of LSU in 2017. There was even talk that he could make the jump to Chicago during his draft year, or 2018.
Unfortunately, Lange did not make that jump, and he was traded to Detroit in 2019. The pitcher reached double-A last year and is projected to begin the season, whenever that may be, in triple-A. Glenn sent a sweet Bowman purple parallel numbered /250.
Rated rookies are rad! Check out this Nico Hoerner.
Earlier this year I reviewed 2020 Topps, and overall I was very pleased with the product. One addition that Topps improved on were the manufactured relics. Topps did a rookie medallion this year, and look fantastic.
A new card for my collection is from the 2020 Topps rookie medallion set. What a beautiful card – Ryne Sandberg rookie medallion.
Finally, how about a hit. Duane Underwood has appeared in some big league games for the Chicago Cubs. This is a Panini Absolute Rookie Autograph of the young pitcher.
While he is young in age (he turns 26 this July), he’s a professional baseball veteran as he was drafted by the Cubs in the second round of the 2012 MLB Draft.
Stay tuned for more mail day posts this week. I caught up opening my mail over the weekend with eight packages altogether.