March 25, 2026 • 31 mins
Baseball is back and we could not be more excited! This is part one where we discuss a player from each team that is poised to have the biggest impact on the card hobby this year.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_02 (00:11):
Hello and welcome to Talking Cards with Grant Salami
and the Juice.
I am the Juice along here withBert.
Grant Salami as always.
Up Juice.
Doing good.
How are you doing, Bert?
SPEAKER_01 (00:20):
I'm doing good.
I'm ready to get it somesunshine.
I'm going on vacation tomorrow,so making my way from the gray,
dark Seattle to Phoenix,Arizona, and then to Puerto
Ricardo, Mexico.
So you're not even going to bein the U.S.
for opening week of baseball.
I will be, let's see.
Yeah, part of the day I'll be inthe U.S.
and part of the day I'll be inMexico, but I'll I'll be making
sure that I'm paying attentionto the box scores.
(00:40):
It's uh exciting times forfantasy baseball.
And of course, for my squad.
unknown (00:44):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (00:45):
I am very excited for everything going on this
week.
Baseball is finally back.
It is finally here.
The 26th.
26th is my son's birthday.
It's my son's birthday.
So as much as I would like himto, I don't think he's going to
want to sit around and watch theMets.
Although he is a Mets fan.
He does say let's go Mets.
(01:05):
He's a Mets fan.
SPEAKER_01 (01:07):
Okay, you got him.
You got him converted.
Oh, that's good.
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (01:09):
All right.
So what we have for you today isthis is part one of a
two-parter.
We are going to look at everyteam.
We are going to start withAmerican League for this
episode.
Next episode, we will talk withNational League.
Talk about the National League.
We are going to name one playerfrom every team that is the most
hobby relevant, why you shouldbe watching them, and just why
(01:33):
they should have you excited ormaybe have a close eye on them,
close eye on their market.
Just something that it canaffect you in the hobby.
This is a great listen if you'resomeone that likes random team
breaks, because yeah, you'regoing to want to know who for
every single team could be apotential target for anything
that the hobby throws at you.
SPEAKER_01 (01:53):
And it's such an interesting time in general.
Going into the regular seasonfrom spring training, I think
the uh the spring training bumpis going to go away very
quickly.
So when thinking about thesingles market, keep that, keep
that in mind, right?
I think once the game starts andguys start getting at bats or
innings, the markets can changevery fast and sometimes
(02:14):
unreasonably fast one way or theother, depending on if they're
performing well or if they'reperforming bad.
SPEAKER_02 (02:19):
Especially at the beginning of the season.
You know, everyone is excited.
They want to see what thisplayer can do.
The overreactions will be crazy.
There won't be anyunderreactions, I don't think,
really.
People just react to everysingle at bat, every pitch,
every great strikeout game, justeverything.
It just be careful out there.
Take advantage if you can.
(02:39):
If you have some cards you'relooking to move and you had the
chance to move them because of agreat day in the first week of
the season, do what you gottado.
Yeah.
And well said.
With that, so we will start withthe American League East.
Let's go, Baltimore Orioles.
The player that I am labeling asa watch for the hobby is we've
talked about him already alittle bit, Samuel Basayo.
What are you thinking about him?
SPEAKER_01 (03:00):
Samuel Basayo, the starlet of 2023 Bowman Chrome.
That was when he had his first.
The other names in there were uhEthan Salas, Felman, Celeston.
But yeah, Basayo's kind ofstepped up as being the star of
that of that particularchecklist.
And of course, now he has 2026tops rookies.
Basal is a guy that could, Ithink, because of the relatively
small amount of playing time hehas under his belt and the fact
(03:23):
that he performed fairly poorlywhen he did get called up last
year.
If he comes out the gates hot,you could see a big time
explosion with Bisao.
You know, a lot of prospectorshad Bisayo as maybe the best
pure hitter in the minor leaguesbefore his call-up in prospect
rankings and things like that.
He's a masher, man.
He's a masher.
He's got real power.
And uh, I don't know if he'sgonna stick behind the dish or
(03:45):
how Baltimore's gonna deploy himwith you know, with Adley behind
the dish, too.
I think you're gonna see him geta lot of DH time as well.
But uh yeah, Sammy B.
Sammy B could be a guy that thatblows up pretty big pretty
early.
SPEAKER_02 (03:58):
Yeah.
Fortunately, Baltimore hasseemed like a place where the
prospects and the guys I'mexcited about have kind of faded
every time.
It's in holiday, at leaststarted off great.
Going back to Ryan Moundcastle.
My brother and I were prettyheavy in on him.
Yeah, so hopefully he can buckthat trend and really do
(04:21):
something great.
It will remain to be seen.
That's why opening weeks.
SPEAKER_01 (04:30):
If everything comes together for that, for that
Royal, I don't know about thepitching staff, but that lineup
could could put up some uhserious runs, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_02 (04:38):
They're going to need to in this division.
And that will bring us to ournext team, Boston Red Sox.
There's only there can only beone player right now that you're
talking about for 2026 in thehobby.
That is Roman Anthony.
SPEAKER_01 (04:51):
We've touched on the Roman Anthony.
SPEAKER_02 (04:53):
The Roman Empire.
All right.
So what are you looking for outof Roman Anthony?
SPEAKER_01 (04:58):
And I don't know how well he's gonna have to perform
to maintain his prices becausehis prices are a little bit out
of control.
I think you're talking this islike a, you know, he's gonna
have to come out and be a topfive AL MVP candidate, that kind
of performance early in theseason just to maintain his
prices.
What's it gonna take for him tospike?
I don't know if he's gonna startout April leading the league in
home runs or something likethat, something crazy.
(05:20):
But the expectations are skyhigh for Roman.
I feel bad for the kid a littlebit.
SPEAKER_02 (05:24):
Yeah, he is the number one rookie this year
that's been released thus far.
And from a hobby perspective,that's a lot of pressure.
If you had those Roman cards, Iwould really say sell at the
moment for those like rookies,maybe not for like the first
moments and stuff that you cancertainly hold.
But those series one rookies andheritage rookies, that's all
there is right now.
I would really recommend to tryto sell right now and then buy
(05:48):
it when Tops Chrome comes out.
SPEAKER_01 (05:50):
Unless Roman Anthony is slight to Roman Anthony,
right?
That's just the nature of thehobby.
The rate at which the level atwhich he would need to perform
just to maintain his prices isabsurd.
Like you it you can't justreasonably expect a guy to come
in his second year, as young ashe is, to come in and
immediately be a top three MVPcandidate.
unknown (06:08):
You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_02 (06:09):
Yeah, unless he does like Nick Kurtz things and what
he did was absurd.
And he has to do it for a fullseason because he's called up
already.
SPEAKER_01 (06:16):
Yeah, I mean, Ronan in his own right was performing
at a near MVP clip when he washealthy after he got through
that rough patch that he was in,and when he got called up, it
was rough.
But after about that thatmonth's stretch, he was
performing like at a top fiveMVP clip.
So who's to say he can't comeout the gates and continue to
perform that way?
I think he very well could.
I just don't know how muchupside there is unless he's
(06:38):
putting up stupid numbers.
SPEAKER_02 (06:40):
Next up, we have the Red Sox rivals.
We have the New York Yankees.
There is always a lot of guysthat you can focus on for the
Yankees, but we are going totalk about this new almost
postseason legend, CamSchlittler.
How are you feeling about Cam,their their big rookie this
year?
SPEAKER_01 (06:58):
Cam Schlittler is um such an interesting prospect,
right?
Because when you're whenever youthink about Yankees prospects,
you think they're overhyped.
Always overhyped.
With Schlitler, it didn't feellike there was all that much
hype.
And I think one of the reasonswhy is because he was such a
late bloomer.
You know, when he was draftedand his his first little um his
first little stint in the minorleagues, he was only throwing in
(07:19):
the mid-90s, right?
But then all of a sudden you puthim on the big stage and he's up
throwing 98, 99 and kind ofdominating in some in some
aspects.
Like that playoff start that hehad was pure dominance.
It's yeah, we, you know, youmight have missed the peak Cam
Schlittler window all timebecause his stuff card-wise was
through the roof after thatstart and throughout the
playoffs.
SPEAKER_02 (07:40):
With the Yankees market, you know that's going to
stay high.
Those Yankee fans can be lookingforward after every start.
If there's another dominantstart and another dominant
start, those prices aren't goinganywhere.
And I I am in on Cam Schlitzerum as much as it pains me as a
Mets fan.
Yeah, I think um, I think he'slegit with the Yankees.
A lot of the questions are canthey perform on that stage?
(08:02):
You know, in the New Yorkmarket.
He did it in the market, he didit in the postseason, and now
he's just gonna do it.
He had a little swag going.
He's just gotta do it for a fullseason now, and we will see how
that goes.
Yeah.
Next up, we have for the TampaBay Rays, let's talk about their
rookie Carson Williams.
SPEAKER_01 (08:21):
Carson Williams has never had as much hobby love as
real life prospect love.
You know, this is a guy that wasa perennial top 20 prospect in
the last couple years, but neverreally reached that kind of top
20 first Bowman auto value listor anywhere even close, even
when he was at his peak as aprospect.
I feel like it's it going into2026, when you look at those
(08:45):
2026 rookies, he's definitelyunder the radar.
He's not one of the first onesthat you think of.
I think a lot of people wouldsay that Carson Williams is
fairly low ceiling, high floor.
I think that's probably a fairassessment.
You know, in order to really getthat hobby notoriety, you're
gonna need to have put up someserious power numbers.
And I'm not sure if CarsonWilliams is quite there yet.
(09:06):
I think the Rays are gonna givehim a chance to play, you know,
so he could he could, you know,very quickly solidify himself as
an everyday starter, majorleague kind of player.
I just don't know if theceiling's there to get the hobby
look.
SPEAKER_02 (09:17):
Yeah.
The one thing about the Rays,though, is it seems like their
rookies always do come out andperform, they usually live up to
their height as long as you knowthey're staying within the law.
But overall, you know, as amarket, of course, Tampa, not
the best market for cards, butyou know, player being elite can
overcome that.
So Carson Williams, someone thatI would not mind getting hitting
(09:40):
a nice card out of.
SPEAKER_01 (09:41):
Yeah, definitely.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (09:42):
All right, so you stick with the rookies.
This won't all be rookies, bythe way, but this is so far a
pretty uh good division for therookies.
Toronto Blue Jays.
Now they're Cam Slitler, TreyYesavage.
How are we feeling about himthis year?
Well, he's hurt, and that'sscary.
SPEAKER_01 (09:58):
I think with Yesavage and his mechanics, he's
very over the top.
He's got that short stride.
It looks from a mechanicsperspective like it would be
hard on his arm.
And I think uh having this earlyseason injury does not bode well
for Mr.
Yesavage.
He is, however, nasty.
I think that he's a betterpitching prospect than Cam
Schlitzer is.
He's in a worse market, butToronto, in their own right, has
(10:19):
a pretty strong hobby community.
I would say that they they aredefinitely above average when it
comes to their prospects sellingwell.
But yeah, I very, very cautiousabout Trey Ya Savage right now.
I certainly wouldn't be doingany buying right now because
he's still, even though he's notas high as he was in the
playoffs, he's still prettyhigh, I think, even for us
prospect pedigree.
SPEAKER_02 (10:38):
That's fair.
Yeah, I'm neither in or out onhim.
He's someone just wait and see.
Hopefully he can get throughthat injury just for his sake.
And yeah, we'll we'll see whathe can really become.
Let's move on to the AL Central.
We will start, we will startwith the Chicago White Sox.
And I'm not really hearing a lotof people talk about him, but
there was a lot of chatter andit just kind of died out, I
(11:00):
guess.
I guess probably because of themarket he's in.
Let me know if I'm saying thisright.
Munitega Markot.
I think you got it.
SPEAKER_01 (11:06):
Yeah, Mooney.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (11:07):
Can we call him Mooney?
SPEAKER_01 (11:08):
I don't know what they're calling him.
SPEAKER_02 (11:09):
Let's just call him Mooney, yeah.
Yeah, I'll go with Mooney.
SPEAKER_01 (11:12):
I mean, what a what an interesting case study this
is, right?
Like back in the 23 WBC, hisstock was extremely high.
I feel like if he would havecame over after the 23 WBC,
especially after some of theseasons, the power seasons he
was having early in his careerin Japan, he would have
commanded a lot more on the freeagent market than what he ended
(11:34):
up getting.
He was not as high profile of asigning as I was expecting,
maybe back in 2023 when he cameover this year.
And he's going to the south sideof Chicago, too, which isn't the
biggest brand in Major LeagueBaseball either.
The man has serious, legit, realpower.
But even his like looking at hisK-rate, even in Japan, it's
highly concerning.
(11:55):
Now going up against MajorLeague pitching, it just feels
like a situation where he couldlike I'm expecting him to hit
190, strike out 33, 34% of thetime he steps up to the plate
and probably hit 35 bombs in afull season.
I just, I don't know.
I I don't know if he's gonna beable to handle handle the big
league pitching.
SPEAKER_02 (12:11):
I'm very excited for him.
I'd rat him in fantasy.
Late late round flyer, ofcourse, but I'm very excited to
see what what he's going to dobecause I just think that if it
does translate, if he is able tobring those power numbers over,
he's gonna be a really hot buy.
He's gonna be so exciting towatch.
And it's a big it, of course.
(12:33):
Odds are he won't be able to doit, but I I'm definitely gonna
be watching that market to seeif that there's a good price to
get in on him on because if hereally is able to put it
together, I think a lot ofpeople are gonna be regretting
that they didn't get in when itcomes.
SPEAKER_01 (12:47):
Yeah, and people are willing to pay a premium for big
Japanese names.
You know, you you see it prettymuch with everybody who's come
over, even if they don'tperform, they still will sell
pretty well.
SPEAKER_02 (12:56):
And lately all the big Japanese names have all been
pitchers, really.
Roki, Iamamoto, Sangha.
So it's exciting to see aJapanese bat that you can get
really excited about, a Japanesepower bat.
SPEAKER_01 (13:10):
So in Toronto, too, I think is gonna be pretty good.
You know, I think another goodlineup too.
We'll see between him andMurakami how their hobby markets
end up.
SPEAKER_02 (13:21):
Um next up, we will go to the Cleveland Guardians.
This is a guy that I'mpersonally in on.
I have quite a few pieces.
For whatever reason, Guardianshave always they've always been
a hobby magnet for me.
I've always been a fan of theirorganization for whatever
reason.
I I can't really say what it is.
But Travis Bazada, how are wefeeling about him?
(13:42):
Big prospect.
Hopefully, he's due to make hisdebut this year, right?
SPEAKER_01 (13:46):
He's due to make his debut.
It doesn't look like he's gonnabreak camp.
Some people thought that he wasgonna break camp, but I don't I
don't think at this point he'she's going to.
He could be a fairly earlyseason call-up, though,
especially depending on howthings go in Cleveland.
Another international guy,right?
He came out in the WBC, hit ahome run in his first game,
obviously first overall pick inthe draft out of Oregon State.
(14:07):
Really, really, really goodplayer.
Could could uh step right in andimmediately, you know, take the
reins as the everyday starterfor Cleveland if he gets called
up.
Um I kind of like it that youknow, a lot of people are like,
oh man, my guy didn't get calledup.
So I feel like I'm scared for mymy collection.
I actually think it's differentwith prospects.
You want them to stay down thereand percolate as long as they
(14:29):
can.
I think as a Bazanna holder, youwant you want him to absolutely
tear up the high levels of theminor leagues and get ready for
like a lot of hype at call-uptime when all eyes are on him,
you know, because when he getscalled up, it's it's probably
not going to be the same time asother prospects on his level.
So I think all the all thespotlight will be on him if he
(14:50):
gets like a May-June call-up.
SPEAKER_02 (14:52):
I have a nice true blue auto first moment of his.
Yeah, I don't plan on sellingthat.
I I I think he's legit.
So we'll see how that goes.
Yeah.
Another prospect that will notbe breaking camp for the Detroit
Tigers.
Let's go with a little littleKevin McGonagall.
So he is very hyped.
Outside of Conor Griffin, hemight be the most hyped guy,
(15:13):
hype prospect in the hobby rightnow.
Is that fair to say?
SPEAKER_01 (15:16):
Yeah, and his prices are also through the roof.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, pretty insane hit tool,right?
Like, I don't know if we've seena hit tool like this since
Wander got the call up.
The dude is gonna hit.
Like, it would absolutely shockme if he came up and in his
first three months sample sizehit below 250.
Like he's gonna come out thegates and be able to hit major
league pitching.
I don't think it's gonna be thatbig of a challenge for him.
(15:38):
I think the question withMcGonagall is like, does he have
the power to keep hobbyistsinterested?
And some of these, some of theseuh exit velocities that we've
been seeing in spring trainingout of McGonagall are very, are
very positive.
Reason for optimism there thathe's gonna be able to develop
pop.
You always want the guys thathave the hit tools, even if
they're smaller guys.
You want the guys with hit toolsand potential for power because
(15:59):
as they get older, they'llthey'll develop that power.
But that hit tool as a mate, youcan't, you can't teach that.
You can't train that, you can't,you can't unlock that if you
don't have it.
And he's certainly got it.
SPEAKER_02 (16:10):
Definitely someone to be excited about.
Next up, we have a rookie,started his debut last year,
probably the number two rookiein the top's products as they
stand right now for the KansasCity Royals.
Jack Caggs.
We talked about him on a fewepisodes so far.
How are you feeling about himheading into the season?
SPEAKER_01 (16:27):
Well, I'm rooting for him.
I'm rooting for him first andforemost.
He's uh he's such a such anintriguing profile.
I think it's also awesome thathe's really into cards.
He owns a lot of his his ownbiggest cards.
He's constantly out there onsocial media, at card shops,
taking pictures with hobbyists.
Like he definitely wants to be aface for tops baseball, which I
(16:51):
think is awesome.
Like when guys are engaged likethat and it's genuine and not
forced like it seems to be withKegs, it's great.
I mean, his exit VLOs and springtraining have been absolutely
insane.
The man just has monster pop.
I hope that I hope that he comesout the gates hot because it'll
be really good for uh for thehobby, more so than anything,
especially with him being one ofthe top 2026 guys.
SPEAKER_02 (17:14):
And I hit his super fractor out of uh out of
Bowman's best the top.
SPEAKER_01 (17:19):
All of a sudden now you have you have uh vested
interests.
SPEAKER_02 (17:23):
Yeah, and I wanna I try to reach out to him on
Instagram, I didn't get ananswer, which which makes sense.
I understand that.
That's fine.
But you know, with all ourlisteners, you know, I'm sure
that several of you are bestfriends with him.
No, I wanna you think that hewould do a trade, that card for
a uh guest spot on the podcast?
You think that he would do thattrade?
I don't know.
(17:43):
Maybe I'd take that trade.
Is his time worth more moneythan that?
I don't know, but I'm soexcited.
Um, yeah, I'm so excited to seehim.
I got a couple nice uh CAGscards now.
And yeah, after what he didbefore he got called up last
year, of course, different breedin the minors, but yeah, I'm
very excited to see if he canfinally translate that to the
majors.
(18:04):
I wish they'd let him pitch.
SPEAKER_01 (18:05):
Honestly, I wish they let him pitch.
That would be another greatthing for baseball to see
another two-way guy get achance.
SPEAKER_02 (18:14):
Or McLean.
SPEAKER_01 (18:14):
Yeah, or let McLean hit.
SPEAKER_02 (18:16):
Yeah.
All right.
Last team out of the AL Central,we have for the Twins, Walker
Jenkins.
Big prospect.
Hasn't really been talked aboutbecause I feel like these other
guys have overshadowed him abit, but for the twins,
definitely a big deal.
How are you feeling about him?
SPEAKER_01 (18:30):
Walker Jenkins before he got banged up in
spring training was on a veryquick ascension in the hobby
world.
His looking at his uh uh Bowmanauto prices, they were on a
steady rise.
People were ready for WalkerJenkins to pop big time
card-wise, but then he getshurt.
And now all of a sudden he'sbeing labeled a chronic injury
risk.
You know, you're starting totalk about him in the same
(18:52):
conversations as a guy likeChase DeLoder, who just he's got
the talent, immense talent, andjust can't stay healthy.
I hope that's not the case.
I hope that he uh he's able torebound quickly and perform
because he's a really intriguingplayer.
I like his game a lot.
I love his swing.
I think that he uh he's got itwhen it when he's healthy.
He's a top five level, you know,top five prospect level type of
(19:15):
talent.
Yeah.
Minnesota's got an interestingfarm system because I love E-rod
too.
I think Erod could do somethings, and a lot of people
forgot about him since he hadhis first Bowman way back when
in 2021.
SPEAKER_02 (19:27):
Seems like forever ago.
That's like 15 Bowman productsago, right?
So, yeah, or or 12 or so.
What the thing about the chronicinjury guys, I always think to
myself, so many guys can belabeled that just until they're
not.
Think about Aaron Judge.
So the other day I posted ourthoughts on Nick Kurtz, whether
or not he was heading for asophomore slump.
And we were saying, yeah, likehe he could, but a sophomore
(19:50):
slump for him is still like acareer season for so many other
guys.
And the numbers he put up withsoap syrup.
So someone's like, I don't thinkhe's due for sophomore slump.
I think he's gonna be the nextAaron Judge.
And I'm just saying to the guy,all right, well, Aaron Judge,
after his rookie season, hedidn't put up those numbers
again for five years.
He was injured pretty much everyyear.
So I know that I kind of wentoff there on a bit of a tangent.
(20:11):
But yeah, just these guys can beinjury risk until they're not.
Of course, it's scary with aprospect when they're young and
they their bodies should be atthe top, top peak physical
condition.
But just just something to thinkabout.
Like if you want a guy to be thenext Aaron Judge, Aaron Judge,
even though he's he was AaronJudge right away, it still took
him five years to really be thatguy, that number two guy in the
(20:33):
hobby.
A lot of people say number oneguy in baseball, uh, just from a
hitting tools perspective.
But uh, we'll have that debateanother day.
Yeah.
All right, let's get to our lastdivision in the American League.
Let's talk about the AmericanLeague West.
We will start with the HoustonAstros, a guy that I really
like.
I have a few of his cards.
Bryce Matthews.
(20:53):
How are you feeling about him?
SPEAKER_01 (20:54):
Bryce Matthews all of a sudden is uh a little bit
under the radar, too.
You know, looking at that 2026rookie list, kind of like Carson
Williams.
Not as much prospect pedigree asCarson Williams.
I don't know, man.
The Astros seem to just have ahave a knack for, you know,
getting getting a lot out oftheir talent.
Uh, it scares me as a Marinersfan.
I do like the the Mariners Cynicin me thinks, yeah, Cam Smith
(21:18):
and Bryce Matthews are bothgonna have monster seasons this
year.
SPEAKER_02 (21:21):
As a Bryce Matthews holder, I'm hoping.
All right, now we're getting toour first vet, I think.
I don't think we talked aboutany vets yet, but from the rest
of the list on, there are quitea few vets that I want to talk
about.
The first one's gonna be for theAngels.
We are talking about Mike Trout.
Obviously, he was the hobbydarling of a decade.
(21:43):
And then, you know, things, thependulum shifted.
Injuries, injuries, injuries,and then his teammate kind of
took over as that guy.
But Mike Trout last year, he wasfinally able to play a lot more
games than he has been.
This year, I think he got hit bya pitch he was staying.
Today or something, but now he'sfine.
How are you feeling about MikeTrout this year from a hobby
(22:04):
perspective?
SPEAKER_01 (22:05):
Let me let me turn that one back on you.
Like, what do you think happensif Mike Trout comes out and has
a better year than he has beenhaving and he stays healthy, but
not a troutyan year?
Like, what if he comes out, hehits 250, 40 bombs, 20 steals?
Does his market go back up?
(22:25):
I it also depends market hasnever been more down, I don't
think, than it is has been inthe last year.
SPEAKER_02 (22:32):
I think not a lot of that.
If he doesn't have if he has anall-star season, but not a
troutyan season, a troutingseason is an MVP season, just
because that's what that's whathe used to do every year, year
in and year out.
He finished one or two in theMVP voting all the time.
But yeah, unless if he just haslike an all-star season, I know
that in the past, obviously thesuccess of the Angels did not
matter for his card values, butpeople just aren't paying
(22:54):
attention to him or that teamanymore.
So if he doesn't have a trade inseason, unless it's something
where he's bringing that team tothe playoffs with a really,
really decent season, anall-star season.
Yeah.
Um, yeah, I just I would reallylike to see his card values go
back up because I think it'djust be good for the hobby, just
(23:14):
because it's it's so often thatwe see these guys where they are
the hobby guy, and then youknow, they're just a couple of
injury real seasons and theyfall off.
So I like to that long ago.
SPEAKER_01 (23:27):
It was you know, 2022, just a few years ago when
I was pricing out PYP breaks, orum Trout was higher than Otani
in terms of price.
Um you know, if they have thesame set of cards, inserts, and
autos in a checklist, Trout washigher than Otani was back in
2021, 2022.
How that how the times havechanged.
SPEAKER_02 (23:45):
So, how are you feeling about Trout this year?
SPEAKER_01 (23:47):
I don't know, man.
Lukewarm, I'm just a baseballfan in me would love to see him
have a monster season.
Be one of the things that I wantto see happen most.
Stay healthy, trout have amonster season.
Just see him play like he likehe played in his mid-20s again.
SPEAKER_02 (24:01):
All right, next up, we will go to the Oakland
Athletics, and there is well,there's actually two guys.
I was about to say that there isreally only one guy to talk
about, but no, there'sdefinitely a second that gets an
honorable mention.
Uh, but first we will talk aboutNick Kurtz, you know, biggest
guy in the hobby last year asfar as rookies go.
Big Amish.
SPEAKER_00 (24:20):
What are you looking for Nick Kurtz wise this year?
(25:04):
Yeah, I'm a big Nick Kurtz guy.
SPEAKER_02 (25:05):
I think everybody is.
I don't know anyone who's not anot a fan of what he's been
doing and is not excited to seea lot more of what he can do
across a full season.
And yeah, it's gonna be reallytough for him to put out those
numbers.
I would even say top five MVPguy is not even enough.
SPEAKER_00 (25:20):
I think he has to be like top three.
Like I would and I wanted togive for the uh athletics.
SPEAKER_02 (25:43):
I wanted to give I might have said Oakland
athletics before, but I'll getused to it eventually.
Um, we'll mention to LDV, LeoDeVries.
So big prospect.
I couldn't not talk about NickKurtz because he is the hobby
guy that a lot of stuff willhe's a top five guy in the hobby
right now, where a lot ofattention is deserved.
But Leo DeVries, he could becomeone of those guys, and he is set
(26:07):
to debut this year.
SPEAKER_00 (26:08):
So, what should we be looking for out of him?
(26:46):
That A's lineup could end upbeing a lot of fun to watch.
A lot of fun.
All right, next.
SPEAKER_02 (26:55):
Next up, let's talk about your Seattle Mariners.
So, for the past few guys,hobby-wise, it's been all about
J Rod, Julio Rodriguez.
But last year, someone made thatchange.
Big Dumper.
Such a monster season last year.
So I think that he is the guy towatch.
Julio, I think, could still endup easily being the bigger hobby
(27:15):
eye.
It's hard for a catcher end upbeing that guy and to do it year
after year.
But let's talk about Big Dumperbecause he he still does not get
enough love, I feel like.
(29:05):
Let's wrap it up with our lastscene for the American League.
Let's talk about the TexasRangers, and this is another guy
that I am heavily in on.
I am very excited to see.
A lot of people are expecting abig year.
I even think I still saw Busteronly post him as a sleeper MVP
candidate.
So a lot of eyes have beenopened up to him recently that
(29:26):
might not have noticed him asmuch.
Wyatt Langford.
SPEAKER_00 (29:29):
I love him.
How do you feel about him?
(30:21):
I'll take that as a steppingstone to his MVP sec season next
year, okay?
SPEAKER_02 (30:25):
I'll sign up for that.
I'm a big fan.
So that about does it for ourAmerican League preview.
Hopefully, everyone is veryexcited for opening day, opening
week.
Next episode, we will talk aboutthe National League, what
players you can be excitedabout, why we're excited about
them.
SPEAKER_00 (30:44):
Any parting words, Bert?
Happy opening day, everybody.
Hello and welcome to Talking Cards with Grant Salami
and the Juice.
I am the Juice along here withBert.
Grant Salami as always.
Up Juice.
Doing good.
How are you doing, Bert?
SPEAKER_01 (00:20):
I'm doing good.
I'm ready to get it somesunshine.
I'm going on vacation tomorrow,so making my way from the gray,
dark Seattle to Phoenix,Arizona, and then to Puerto
Ricardo, Mexico.
So you're not even going to bein the U.S.
for opening week of baseball.
I will be, let's see.
Yeah, part of the day I'll be inthe U.S.
and part of the day I'll be inMexico, but I'll I'll be making
sure that I'm paying attentionto the box scores.
(00:40):
It's uh exciting times forfantasy baseball.
And of course, for my squad.
unknown (00:44):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (00:45):
I am very excited for everything going on this
week.
Baseball is finally back.
It is finally here.
The 26th.
26th is my son's birthday.
It's my son's birthday.
So as much as I would like himto, I don't think he's going to
want to sit around and watch theMets.
Although he is a Mets fan.
He does say let's go Mets.
(01:05):
He's a Mets fan.
SPEAKER_01 (01:07):
Okay, you got him.
You got him converted.
Oh, that's good.
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (01:09):
All right.
So what we have for you today isthis is part one of a
two-parter.
We are going to look at everyteam.
We are going to start withAmerican League for this
episode.
Next episode, we will talk withNational League.
Talk about the National League.
We are going to name one playerfrom every team that is the most
hobby relevant, why you shouldbe watching them, and just why
(01:33):
they should have you excited ormaybe have a close eye on them,
close eye on their market.
Just something that it canaffect you in the hobby.
This is a great listen if you'resomeone that likes random team
breaks, because yeah, you'regoing to want to know who for
every single team could be apotential target for anything
that the hobby throws at you.
SPEAKER_01 (01:53):
And it's such an interesting time in general.
Going into the regular seasonfrom spring training, I think
the uh the spring training bumpis going to go away very
quickly.
So when thinking about thesingles market, keep that, keep
that in mind, right?
I think once the game starts andguys start getting at bats or
innings, the markets can changevery fast and sometimes
(02:14):
unreasonably fast one way or theother, depending on if they're
performing well or if they'reperforming bad.
SPEAKER_02 (02:19):
Especially at the beginning of the season.
You know, everyone is excited.
They want to see what thisplayer can do.
The overreactions will be crazy.
There won't be anyunderreactions, I don't think,
really.
People just react to everysingle at bat, every pitch,
every great strikeout game, justeverything.
It just be careful out there.
Take advantage if you can.
(02:39):
If you have some cards you'relooking to move and you had the
chance to move them because of agreat day in the first week of
the season, do what you gottado.
Yeah.
And well said.
With that, so we will start withthe American League East.
Let's go, Baltimore Orioles.
The player that I am labeling asa watch for the hobby is we've
talked about him already alittle bit, Samuel Basayo.
What are you thinking about him?
SPEAKER_01 (03:00):
Samuel Basayo, the starlet of 2023 Bowman Chrome.
That was when he had his first.
The other names in there were uhEthan Salas, Felman, Celeston.
But yeah, Basayo's kind ofstepped up as being the star of
that of that particularchecklist.
And of course, now he has 2026tops rookies.
Basal is a guy that could, Ithink, because of the relatively
small amount of playing time hehas under his belt and the fact
(03:23):
that he performed fairly poorlywhen he did get called up last
year.
If he comes out the gates hot,you could see a big time
explosion with Bisao.
You know, a lot of prospectorshad Bisayo as maybe the best
pure hitter in the minor leaguesbefore his call-up in prospect
rankings and things like that.
He's a masher, man.
He's a masher.
He's got real power.
And uh, I don't know if he'sgonna stick behind the dish or
(03:45):
how Baltimore's gonna deploy himwith you know, with Adley behind
the dish, too.
I think you're gonna see him geta lot of DH time as well.
But uh yeah, Sammy B.
Sammy B could be a guy that thatblows up pretty big pretty
early.
SPEAKER_02 (03:58):
Yeah.
Fortunately, Baltimore hasseemed like a place where the
prospects and the guys I'mexcited about have kind of faded
every time.
It's in holiday, at leaststarted off great.
Going back to Ryan Moundcastle.
My brother and I were prettyheavy in on him.
Yeah, so hopefully he can buckthat trend and really do
(04:21):
something great.
It will remain to be seen.
That's why opening weeks.
SPEAKER_01 (04:30):
If everything comes together for that, for that
Royal, I don't know about thepitching staff, but that lineup
could could put up some uhserious runs, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_02 (04:38):
They're going to need to in this division.
And that will bring us to ournext team, Boston Red Sox.
There's only there can only beone player right now that you're
talking about for 2026 in thehobby.
That is Roman Anthony.
SPEAKER_01 (04:51):
We've touched on the Roman Anthony.
SPEAKER_02 (04:53):
The Roman Empire.
All right.
So what are you looking for outof Roman Anthony?
SPEAKER_01 (04:58):
And I don't know how well he's gonna have to perform
to maintain his prices becausehis prices are a little bit out
of control.
I think you're talking this islike a, you know, he's gonna
have to come out and be a topfive AL MVP candidate, that kind
of performance early in theseason just to maintain his
prices.
What's it gonna take for him tospike?
I don't know if he's gonna startout April leading the league in
home runs or something likethat, something crazy.
(05:20):
But the expectations are skyhigh for Roman.
I feel bad for the kid a littlebit.
SPEAKER_02 (05:24):
Yeah, he is the number one rookie this year
that's been released thus far.
And from a hobby perspective,that's a lot of pressure.
If you had those Roman cards, Iwould really say sell at the
moment for those like rookies,maybe not for like the first
moments and stuff that you cancertainly hold.
But those series one rookies andheritage rookies, that's all
there is right now.
I would really recommend to tryto sell right now and then buy
(05:48):
it when Tops Chrome comes out.
SPEAKER_01 (05:50):
Unless Roman Anthony is slight to Roman Anthony,
right?
That's just the nature of thehobby.
The rate at which the level atwhich he would need to perform
just to maintain his prices isabsurd.
Like you it you can't justreasonably expect a guy to come
in his second year, as young ashe is, to come in and
immediately be a top three MVPcandidate.
unknown (06:08):
You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_02 (06:09):
Yeah, unless he does like Nick Kurtz things and what
he did was absurd.
And he has to do it for a fullseason because he's called up
already.
SPEAKER_01 (06:16):
Yeah, I mean, Ronan in his own right was performing
at a near MVP clip when he washealthy after he got through
that rough patch that he was in,and when he got called up, it
was rough.
But after about that thatmonth's stretch, he was
performing like at a top fiveMVP clip.
So who's to say he can't comeout the gates and continue to
perform that way?
I think he very well could.
I just don't know how muchupside there is unless he's
(06:38):
putting up stupid numbers.
SPEAKER_02 (06:40):
Next up, we have the Red Sox rivals.
We have the New York Yankees.
There is always a lot of guysthat you can focus on for the
Yankees, but we are going totalk about this new almost
postseason legend, CamSchlittler.
How are you feeling about Cam,their their big rookie this
year?
SPEAKER_01 (06:58):
Cam Schlittler is um such an interesting prospect,
right?
Because when you're whenever youthink about Yankees prospects,
you think they're overhyped.
Always overhyped.
With Schlitler, it didn't feellike there was all that much
hype.
And I think one of the reasonswhy is because he was such a
late bloomer.
You know, when he was draftedand his his first little um his
first little stint in the minorleagues, he was only throwing in
(07:19):
the mid-90s, right?
But then all of a sudden you puthim on the big stage and he's up
throwing 98, 99 and kind ofdominating in some in some
aspects.
Like that playoff start that hehad was pure dominance.
It's yeah, we, you know, youmight have missed the peak Cam
Schlittler window all timebecause his stuff card-wise was
through the roof after thatstart and throughout the
playoffs.
SPEAKER_02 (07:40):
With the Yankees market, you know that's going to
stay high.
Those Yankee fans can be lookingforward after every start.
If there's another dominantstart and another dominant
start, those prices aren't goinganywhere.
And I I am in on Cam Schlitzerum as much as it pains me as a
Mets fan.
Yeah, I think um, I think he'slegit with the Yankees.
A lot of the questions are canthey perform on that stage?
(08:02):
You know, in the New Yorkmarket.
He did it in the market, he didit in the postseason, and now
he's just gonna do it.
He had a little swag going.
He's just gotta do it for a fullseason now, and we will see how
that goes.
Yeah.
Next up, we have for the TampaBay Rays, let's talk about their
rookie Carson Williams.
SPEAKER_01 (08:21):
Carson Williams has never had as much hobby love as
real life prospect love.
You know, this is a guy that wasa perennial top 20 prospect in
the last couple years, but neverreally reached that kind of top
20 first Bowman auto value listor anywhere even close, even
when he was at his peak as aprospect.
I feel like it's it going into2026, when you look at those
(08:45):
2026 rookies, he's definitelyunder the radar.
He's not one of the first onesthat you think of.
I think a lot of people wouldsay that Carson Williams is
fairly low ceiling, high floor.
I think that's probably a fairassessment.
You know, in order to really getthat hobby notoriety, you're
gonna need to have put up someserious power numbers.
And I'm not sure if CarsonWilliams is quite there yet.
(09:06):
I think the Rays are gonna givehim a chance to play, you know,
so he could he could, you know,very quickly solidify himself as
an everyday starter, majorleague kind of player.
I just don't know if theceiling's there to get the hobby
look.
SPEAKER_02 (09:17):
Yeah.
The one thing about the Rays,though, is it seems like their
rookies always do come out andperform, they usually live up to
their height as long as you knowthey're staying within the law.
But overall, you know, as amarket, of course, Tampa, not
the best market for cards, butyou know, player being elite can
overcome that.
So Carson Williams, someone thatI would not mind getting hitting
(09:40):
a nice card out of.
SPEAKER_01 (09:41):
Yeah, definitely.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (09:42):
All right, so you stick with the rookies.
This won't all be rookies, bythe way, but this is so far a
pretty uh good division for therookies.
Toronto Blue Jays.
Now they're Cam Slitler, TreyYesavage.
How are we feeling about himthis year?
Well, he's hurt, and that'sscary.
SPEAKER_01 (09:58):
I think with Yesavage and his mechanics, he's
very over the top.
He's got that short stride.
It looks from a mechanicsperspective like it would be
hard on his arm.
And I think uh having this earlyseason injury does not bode well
for Mr.
Yesavage.
He is, however, nasty.
I think that he's a betterpitching prospect than Cam
Schlitzer is.
He's in a worse market, butToronto, in their own right, has
(10:19):
a pretty strong hobby community.
I would say that they they aredefinitely above average when it
comes to their prospects sellingwell.
But yeah, I very, very cautiousabout Trey Ya Savage right now.
I certainly wouldn't be doingany buying right now because
he's still, even though he's notas high as he was in the
playoffs, he's still prettyhigh, I think, even for us
prospect pedigree.
SPEAKER_02 (10:38):
That's fair.
Yeah, I'm neither in or out onhim.
He's someone just wait and see.
Hopefully he can get throughthat injury just for his sake.
And yeah, we'll we'll see whathe can really become.
Let's move on to the AL Central.
We will start, we will startwith the Chicago White Sox.
And I'm not really hearing a lotof people talk about him, but
there was a lot of chatter andit just kind of died out, I
(11:00):
guess.
I guess probably because of themarket he's in.
Let me know if I'm saying thisright.
Munitega Markot.
I think you got it.
SPEAKER_01 (11:06):
Yeah, Mooney.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (11:07):
Can we call him Mooney?
SPEAKER_01 (11:08):
I don't know what they're calling him.
SPEAKER_02 (11:09):
Let's just call him Mooney, yeah.
Yeah, I'll go with Mooney.
SPEAKER_01 (11:12):
I mean, what a what an interesting case study this
is, right?
Like back in the 23 WBC, hisstock was extremely high.
I feel like if he would havecame over after the 23 WBC,
especially after some of theseasons, the power seasons he
was having early in his careerin Japan, he would have
commanded a lot more on the freeagent market than what he ended
(11:34):
up getting.
He was not as high profile of asigning as I was expecting,
maybe back in 2023 when he cameover this year.
And he's going to the south sideof Chicago, too, which isn't the
biggest brand in Major LeagueBaseball either.
The man has serious, legit, realpower.
But even his like looking at hisK-rate, even in Japan, it's
highly concerning.
(11:55):
Now going up against MajorLeague pitching, it just feels
like a situation where he couldlike I'm expecting him to hit
190, strike out 33, 34% of thetime he steps up to the plate
and probably hit 35 bombs in afull season.
I just, I don't know.
I I don't know if he's gonna beable to handle handle the big
league pitching.
SPEAKER_02 (12:11):
I'm very excited for him.
I'd rat him in fantasy.
Late late round flyer, ofcourse, but I'm very excited to
see what what he's going to dobecause I just think that if it
does translate, if he is able tobring those power numbers over,
he's gonna be a really hot buy.
He's gonna be so exciting towatch.
And it's a big it, of course.
(12:33):
Odds are he won't be able to doit, but I I'm definitely gonna
be watching that market to seeif that there's a good price to
get in on him on because if hereally is able to put it
together, I think a lot ofpeople are gonna be regretting
that they didn't get in when itcomes.
SPEAKER_01 (12:47):
Yeah, and people are willing to pay a premium for big
Japanese names.
You know, you you see it prettymuch with everybody who's come
over, even if they don'tperform, they still will sell
pretty well.
SPEAKER_02 (12:56):
And lately all the big Japanese names have all been
pitchers, really.
Roki, Iamamoto, Sangha.
So it's exciting to see aJapanese bat that you can get
really excited about, a Japanesepower bat.
SPEAKER_01 (13:10):
So in Toronto, too, I think is gonna be pretty good.
You know, I think another goodlineup too.
We'll see between him andMurakami how their hobby markets
end up.
SPEAKER_02 (13:21):
Um next up, we will go to the Cleveland Guardians.
This is a guy that I'mpersonally in on.
I have quite a few pieces.
For whatever reason, Guardianshave always they've always been
a hobby magnet for me.
I've always been a fan of theirorganization for whatever
reason.
I I can't really say what it is.
But Travis Bazada, how are wefeeling about him?
(13:42):
Big prospect.
Hopefully, he's due to make hisdebut this year, right?
SPEAKER_01 (13:46):
He's due to make his debut.
It doesn't look like he's gonnabreak camp.
Some people thought that he wasgonna break camp, but I don't I
don't think at this point he'she's going to.
He could be a fairly earlyseason call-up, though,
especially depending on howthings go in Cleveland.
Another international guy,right?
He came out in the WBC, hit ahome run in his first game,
obviously first overall pick inthe draft out of Oregon State.
(14:07):
Really, really, really goodplayer.
Could could uh step right in andimmediately, you know, take the
reins as the everyday starterfor Cleveland if he gets called
up.
Um I kind of like it that youknow, a lot of people are like,
oh man, my guy didn't get calledup.
So I feel like I'm scared for mymy collection.
I actually think it's differentwith prospects.
You want them to stay down thereand percolate as long as they
(14:29):
can.
I think as a Bazanna holder, youwant you want him to absolutely
tear up the high levels of theminor leagues and get ready for
like a lot of hype at call-uptime when all eyes are on him,
you know, because when he getscalled up, it's it's probably
not going to be the same time asother prospects on his level.
So I think all the all thespotlight will be on him if he
(14:50):
gets like a May-June call-up.
SPEAKER_02 (14:52):
I have a nice true blue auto first moment of his.
Yeah, I don't plan on sellingthat.
I I I think he's legit.
So we'll see how that goes.
Yeah.
Another prospect that will notbe breaking camp for the Detroit
Tigers.
Let's go with a little littleKevin McGonagall.
So he is very hyped.
Outside of Conor Griffin, hemight be the most hyped guy,
(15:13):
hype prospect in the hobby rightnow.
Is that fair to say?
SPEAKER_01 (15:16):
Yeah, and his prices are also through the roof.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, pretty insane hit tool,right?
Like, I don't know if we've seena hit tool like this since
Wander got the call up.
The dude is gonna hit.
Like, it would absolutely shockme if he came up and in his
first three months sample sizehit below 250.
Like he's gonna come out thegates and be able to hit major
league pitching.
I don't think it's gonna be thatbig of a challenge for him.
(15:38):
I think the question withMcGonagall is like, does he have
the power to keep hobbyistsinterested?
And some of these, some of theseuh exit velocities that we've
been seeing in spring trainingout of McGonagall are very, are
very positive.
Reason for optimism there thathe's gonna be able to develop
pop.
You always want the guys thathave the hit tools, even if
they're smaller guys.
You want the guys with hit toolsand potential for power because
(15:59):
as they get older, they'llthey'll develop that power.
But that hit tool as a mate, youcan't, you can't teach that.
You can't train that, you can't,you can't unlock that if you
don't have it.
And he's certainly got it.
SPEAKER_02 (16:10):
Definitely someone to be excited about.
Next up, we have a rookie,started his debut last year,
probably the number two rookiein the top's products as they
stand right now for the KansasCity Royals.
Jack Caggs.
We talked about him on a fewepisodes so far.
How are you feeling about himheading into the season?
SPEAKER_01 (16:27):
Well, I'm rooting for him.
I'm rooting for him first andforemost.
He's uh he's such a such anintriguing profile.
I think it's also awesome thathe's really into cards.
He owns a lot of his his ownbiggest cards.
He's constantly out there onsocial media, at card shops,
taking pictures with hobbyists.
Like he definitely wants to be aface for tops baseball, which I
(16:51):
think is awesome.
Like when guys are engaged likethat and it's genuine and not
forced like it seems to be withKegs, it's great.
I mean, his exit VLOs and springtraining have been absolutely
insane.
The man just has monster pop.
I hope that I hope that he comesout the gates hot because it'll
be really good for uh for thehobby, more so than anything,
especially with him being one ofthe top 2026 guys.
SPEAKER_02 (17:14):
And I hit his super fractor out of uh out of
Bowman's best the top.
SPEAKER_01 (17:19):
All of a sudden now you have you have uh vested
interests.
SPEAKER_02 (17:23):
Yeah, and I wanna I try to reach out to him on
Instagram, I didn't get ananswer, which which makes sense.
I understand that.
That's fine.
But you know, with all ourlisteners, you know, I'm sure
that several of you are bestfriends with him.
No, I wanna you think that hewould do a trade, that card for
a uh guest spot on the podcast?
You think that he would do thattrade?
I don't know.
(17:43):
Maybe I'd take that trade.
Is his time worth more moneythan that?
I don't know, but I'm soexcited.
Um, yeah, I'm so excited to seehim.
I got a couple nice uh CAGscards now.
And yeah, after what he didbefore he got called up last
year, of course, different breedin the minors, but yeah, I'm
very excited to see if he canfinally translate that to the
majors.
(18:04):
I wish they'd let him pitch.
SPEAKER_01 (18:05):
Honestly, I wish they let him pitch.
That would be another greatthing for baseball to see
another two-way guy get achance.
SPEAKER_02 (18:14):
Or McLean.
SPEAKER_01 (18:14):
Yeah, or let McLean hit.
SPEAKER_02 (18:16):
Yeah.
All right.
Last team out of the AL Central,we have for the Twins, Walker
Jenkins.
Big prospect.
Hasn't really been talked aboutbecause I feel like these other
guys have overshadowed him abit, but for the twins,
definitely a big deal.
How are you feeling about him?
SPEAKER_01 (18:30):
Walker Jenkins before he got banged up in
spring training was on a veryquick ascension in the hobby
world.
His looking at his uh uh Bowmanauto prices, they were on a
steady rise.
People were ready for WalkerJenkins to pop big time
card-wise, but then he getshurt.
And now all of a sudden he'sbeing labeled a chronic injury
risk.
You know, you're starting totalk about him in the same
(18:52):
conversations as a guy likeChase DeLoder, who just he's got
the talent, immense talent, andjust can't stay healthy.
I hope that's not the case.
I hope that he uh he's able torebound quickly and perform
because he's a really intriguingplayer.
I like his game a lot.
I love his swing.
I think that he uh he's got itwhen it when he's healthy.
He's a top five level, you know,top five prospect level type of
(19:15):
talent.
Yeah.
Minnesota's got an interestingfarm system because I love E-rod
too.
I think Erod could do somethings, and a lot of people
forgot about him since he hadhis first Bowman way back when
in 2021.
SPEAKER_02 (19:27):
Seems like forever ago.
That's like 15 Bowman productsago, right?
So, yeah, or or 12 or so.
What the thing about the chronicinjury guys, I always think to
myself, so many guys can belabeled that just until they're
not.
Think about Aaron Judge.
So the other day I posted ourthoughts on Nick Kurtz, whether
or not he was heading for asophomore slump.
And we were saying, yeah, likehe he could, but a sophomore
(19:50):
slump for him is still like acareer season for so many other
guys.
And the numbers he put up withsoap syrup.
So someone's like, I don't thinkhe's due for sophomore slump.
I think he's gonna be the nextAaron Judge.
And I'm just saying to the guy,all right, well, Aaron Judge,
after his rookie season, hedidn't put up those numbers
again for five years.
He was injured pretty much everyyear.
So I know that I kind of wentoff there on a bit of a tangent.
(20:11):
But yeah, just these guys can beinjury risk until they're not.
Of course, it's scary with aprospect when they're young and
they their bodies should be atthe top, top peak physical
condition.
But just just something to thinkabout.
Like if you want a guy to be thenext Aaron Judge, Aaron Judge,
even though he's he was AaronJudge right away, it still took
him five years to really be thatguy, that number two guy in the
(20:33):
hobby.
A lot of people say number oneguy in baseball, uh, just from a
hitting tools perspective.
But uh, we'll have that debateanother day.
Yeah.
All right, let's get to our lastdivision in the American League.
Let's talk about the AmericanLeague West.
We will start with the HoustonAstros, a guy that I really
like.
I have a few of his cards.
Bryce Matthews.
(20:53):
How are you feeling about him?
SPEAKER_01 (20:54):
Bryce Matthews all of a sudden is uh a little bit
under the radar, too.
You know, looking at that 2026rookie list, kind of like Carson
Williams.
Not as much prospect pedigree asCarson Williams.
I don't know, man.
The Astros seem to just have ahave a knack for, you know,
getting getting a lot out oftheir talent.
Uh, it scares me as a Marinersfan.
I do like the the Mariners Cynicin me thinks, yeah, Cam Smith
(21:18):
and Bryce Matthews are bothgonna have monster seasons this
year.
SPEAKER_02 (21:21):
As a Bryce Matthews holder, I'm hoping.
All right, now we're getting toour first vet, I think.
I don't think we talked aboutany vets yet, but from the rest
of the list on, there are quitea few vets that I want to talk
about.
The first one's gonna be for theAngels.
We are talking about Mike Trout.
Obviously, he was the hobbydarling of a decade.
(21:43):
And then, you know, things, thependulum shifted.
Injuries, injuries, injuries,and then his teammate kind of
took over as that guy.
But Mike Trout last year, he wasfinally able to play a lot more
games than he has been.
This year, I think he got hit bya pitch he was staying.
Today or something, but now he'sfine.
How are you feeling about MikeTrout this year from a hobby
(22:04):
perspective?
SPEAKER_01 (22:05):
Let me let me turn that one back on you.
Like, what do you think happensif Mike Trout comes out and has
a better year than he has beenhaving and he stays healthy, but
not a troutyan year?
Like, what if he comes out, hehits 250, 40 bombs, 20 steals?
Does his market go back up?
(22:25):
I it also depends market hasnever been more down, I don't
think, than it is has been inthe last year.
SPEAKER_02 (22:32):
I think not a lot of that.
If he doesn't have if he has anall-star season, but not a
troutyan season, a troutingseason is an MVP season, just
because that's what that's whathe used to do every year, year
in and year out.
He finished one or two in theMVP voting all the time.
But yeah, unless if he just haslike an all-star season, I know
that in the past, obviously thesuccess of the Angels did not
matter for his card values, butpeople just aren't paying
(22:54):
attention to him or that teamanymore.
So if he doesn't have a trade inseason, unless it's something
where he's bringing that team tothe playoffs with a really,
really decent season, anall-star season.
Yeah.
Um, yeah, I just I would reallylike to see his card values go
back up because I think it'djust be good for the hobby, just
(23:14):
because it's it's so often thatwe see these guys where they are
the hobby guy, and then youknow, they're just a couple of
injury real seasons and theyfall off.
So I like to that long ago.
SPEAKER_01 (23:27):
It was you know, 2022, just a few years ago when
I was pricing out PYP breaks, orum Trout was higher than Otani
in terms of price.
Um you know, if they have thesame set of cards, inserts, and
autos in a checklist, Trout washigher than Otani was back in
2021, 2022.
How that how the times havechanged.
SPEAKER_02 (23:45):
So, how are you feeling about Trout this year?
SPEAKER_01 (23:47):
I don't know, man.
Lukewarm, I'm just a baseballfan in me would love to see him
have a monster season.
Be one of the things that I wantto see happen most.
Stay healthy, trout have amonster season.
Just see him play like he likehe played in his mid-20s again.
SPEAKER_02 (24:01):
All right, next up, we will go to the Oakland
Athletics, and there is well,there's actually two guys.
I was about to say that there isreally only one guy to talk
about, but no, there'sdefinitely a second that gets an
honorable mention.
Uh, but first we will talk aboutNick Kurtz, you know, biggest
guy in the hobby last year asfar as rookies go.
Big Amish.
SPEAKER_00 (24:20):
What are you looking for Nick Kurtz wise this year?
(25:04):
Yeah, I'm a big Nick Kurtz guy.
SPEAKER_02 (25:05):
I think everybody is.
I don't know anyone who's not anot a fan of what he's been
doing and is not excited to seea lot more of what he can do
across a full season.
And yeah, it's gonna be reallytough for him to put out those
numbers.
I would even say top five MVPguy is not even enough.
SPEAKER_00 (25:20):
I think he has to be like top three.
Like I would and I wanted togive for the uh athletics.
SPEAKER_02 (25:43):
I wanted to give I might have said Oakland
athletics before, but I'll getused to it eventually.
Um, we'll mention to LDV, LeoDeVries.
So big prospect.
I couldn't not talk about NickKurtz because he is the hobby
guy that a lot of stuff willhe's a top five guy in the hobby
right now, where a lot ofattention is deserved.
But Leo DeVries, he could becomeone of those guys, and he is set
(26:07):
to debut this year.
SPEAKER_00 (26:08):
So, what should we be looking for out of him?
(26:46):
That A's lineup could end upbeing a lot of fun to watch.
A lot of fun.
All right, next.
SPEAKER_02 (26:55):
Next up, let's talk about your Seattle Mariners.
So, for the past few guys,hobby-wise, it's been all about
J Rod, Julio Rodriguez.
But last year, someone made thatchange.
Big Dumper.
Such a monster season last year.
So I think that he is the guy towatch.
Julio, I think, could still endup easily being the bigger hobby
(27:15):
eye.
It's hard for a catcher end upbeing that guy and to do it year
after year.
But let's talk about Big Dumperbecause he he still does not get
enough love, I feel like.
(29:05):
Let's wrap it up with our lastscene for the American League.
Let's talk about the TexasRangers, and this is another guy
that I am heavily in on.
I am very excited to see.
A lot of people are expecting abig year.
I even think I still saw Busteronly post him as a sleeper MVP
candidate.
So a lot of eyes have beenopened up to him recently that
(29:26):
might not have noticed him asmuch.
Wyatt Langford.
SPEAKER_00 (29:29):
I love him.
How do you feel about him?
(30:21):
I'll take that as a steppingstone to his MVP sec season next
year, okay?
SPEAKER_02 (30:25):
I'll sign up for that.
I'm a big fan.
So that about does it for ourAmerican League preview.
Hopefully, everyone is veryexcited for opening day, opening
week.
Next episode, we will talk aboutthe National League, what
players you can be excitedabout, why we're excited about
them.
SPEAKER_00 (30:44):
Any parting words, Bert?
Happy opening day, everybody.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.