RIP Jose Fernandez 1992-2016

This was just pointed out by TradingCardDB on twitter. Please check the blurb on the back.

It has been reported that Marlins superstar pitcher Jose Fernandez was killed in a boating accident this morning. THIS MORNING! While the bit of information has only appeared on a trade rumors website, nothing has come up yet on MLB.com or the Marlins website.

Regardless of whatever facts may come out about what happened this morning, MLB as a whole has lost another young star in his prime.

My condolences go out to the Fernandez family, the Marlins organization, Major League Baseball, and the fans. Not just Marlins fans, but all baseball fans.

UPDATE: WSVN, the ABC affiliate in Miami, is reporting that Fernandez was one of three people killed in a boat crash off Miami beach.

The Marlins have officially released this statement:

The Miami Marlins organization is devastated by the tragic loss of José Fernandez. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this very difficult time. Today's game against the Atlanta Braves has been cancelled.

So this humble, little blog, will also send prayers and condolences to the families and friends of the other two victims in this tragic accident.

Do You Remember the Topps 300 (and then some...)?

Back in 2011, Topps had this brilliant idea. They would hold a contest to determine the Top 60 Topps cards in its 50 year history. Now Topps picked 100 cards from its wide collection of cards and asked fans and collectors to pick their top ten cards from the 100. While the list contained many rookies and other classic cards (which you can find here), there were some cards that I really didn't think belonged here.

After picking my ten, I didn't feel so good. My choices were fine, but in my mind, the Hobby Blogging Community could do better.

That's when I decided to create "The Topps 300 (and then some...)" I picked 5 cards from each year of Topps' history (from 1951 through 2010) that I thought were the best from that particular year and asked readers to respond with what they thought of my picks and if they believed another card could be better than what I picked (that's the "and then some..." part of the site).

My efforts did gain a bit of publicity, thanks to Rich Mueller and the Sports Collectors Daily. I had hoped that by the end of the year, I could do a countdown of the best card of each year and then from that, pick the top 60 cards overall. While the final countdown never came to fruition, the comments left by readers with their picks were great and I thank all of those who took time out of their days to comment.

It's now five years later. The site is still up, and although there haven't been any new comments since 2014, people still do come across that blog.

For the first series of its eponymous set for 2016, Topps has decided to include a 65-card insert set called "Berger's Best." In honor of the "Father of the Modern Day Baseball Card," Topps has decided that they would include a reprint of one card from each year (1952-2015). I like the concept, but I really hope that they skip the "bio in the back" as they did with their reprint sets from 2010 and 2011 - only to include SP's of full reprint cards as well. I know I'll be going after this set, I just am nervous about how they'll present it.

That made me think. What if I presented my Topps 5 (get it...) cards from each of the past five seasons and presented them the same way I did back then? Make it an update, an addendum, to the original 60 years that I created five years prior. To that, I said, "Why not?"

So I present for your review tonight, my Top 25 cards, 5 for each year, from 2011 through 2015. Tell me if you agree with my picks or if I'm nuts and I could have picked another card.

To paraphrase the intro on the Topps 300 blog:

"Below are scans of the best five (in my opinion) cards from each year from the last 5 years of Topps Baseball Cards. I picked the 25 based on a few qualifiers, including: Key Rookie, Unique Photo, Action Shot, Card caused a buzz in the Hobby, Noteworthy Errors, Player had an impact on the game that particular year."

Let me know what you think.

• #110 Aroldis Chapman
• #200 Ichiro Suzuki
• #210 Brian Wilson
• #421 Domonic Brown
• #US175 Mike Trout

• #58 Tim Hudson
• #136 Casey McGehee
• #396 Yoenis Cespedes
• #660 Yu Darvish
• #661 Bryce Harper

• #253 Adam Greenberg
• #589 Jose Fernandez
• #617 Fernando Rodney
• #660 Miguel Cabrera
• #US250 Yasiel Puig

• #8 Coco Crisp
• #228 Jayson Werth
• #496 Jose Abreu
• #625 Albert Pujols
• #661 Masahiro Tanaka

• #1 Derek Jeter
• #177 Paul Konerko
• #300 Mike Trout
• #616 Kris Bryant
• #US174 Carlos Correa

Feel free to leave comments on here. Let me know if you can think of a better card than one that I selected. I'm pretty sure that some of these cards will be included in that Berger's Best set (which is also confirmed for Series 2...I'll get around to sell sheets later).

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Responding to Comments: 5-Card Packs

I just saw this comment on an post that I wrote earlier this year regarding the 5-card packs that I bought at the Dollar Tree. The thing is that the person who left the comment did so anonymously. So instead of leaving a response on the post, I'm going to respond here so that it can be seen by whoever sent the question.

Anonymous writes:

"Do the 5-card 2014 Topps Update packs contain insert cards, or just base cards? I just bought a 60-pack gravity feed box on eBay for $39.99. I thought it was for the regular 10-card packs, but noticed later they were 5-card packs. Just wondering if I got ripped off. Thanks."

The quick answer is no, the 5-card packs you bought will not have insert cards in them. They will be all base. However, you may get some of the short-printed cards (or even a super short-printed card) in your packs.

The short prints come in three categories (in order of rarity):

• Photo variations
• Sabermetric Stats
• Sparkle variations

Keep an eye out for them.

2014 Topps Update Series #US-245B Andrew Heaney SP

While the card is in a box somewhere near me (can't find it for some reason), I know that I pulled this one from one of the three packs I bought at the Dollar Tree last year.

Regarding as to whether or not you were ripped off? I couldn't tell you for sure. If the description on the auction didn't specify what packs were in the gravity feed, or the pictures didn't show you what kind of packs you were getting, then it's hard to say. If it was described as 10-card packs in the gravity box, the picture showed 10-card packs, and you got 5-card packs? Then yes, you were ripped off.
 
So go ahead and open them. You never know what you'll find. Or give them out as favors. Whatever you decide, good luck.

I hope this answers your question. If you have any more, please feel free to contact me here on this humble, little blog, or send me an email (bdj610@hotmail.com).


Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Once Again, I Return on the Fifth of May After a Month Away

If you're looking for me, I've found myself on my own sojourn. Just like last year, April turned into a busy month. But unlike last year, the Cubs are doing well (a winning April for the first time in years). The White Sox? Not so much.

I'll tell you though, I had a feeling this was going to happen with the White Sox.  I mean think about it. The last Chicago team added an All-Star outfielder, an All-Star pitcher, and a lights out All-Star closer at the same time?

The 1991 Chicago Cubs (George Bell, Danny Jackson, Dave Smith).

Remember how well they did in 1991? Of course you do (77-83, 4th place NL East).

Anyway, it's Cinco de Mayo!!!

¡Ah! ¡Cinco de Mayo!

While everyone celebrates with margaritas, tacos, and all that great Mexican food, let's take a quick moment and review what Cinco de Mayo is.

According to Wikipedia:

"It celebrates the day back in 1862 when the Mexican army overcame all odds and beat the French forces at the Battle of Puebla. This is not Mexico's Independence day (that would be September 16), nor is it a national holiday (it is celebrated voluntarily), outside of Mexico. But in the United States, Cinco de Mayo is a day to honor Mexican heritage and pride."

In 2009, I created an All-Star Team that consisted of native-born Mexican baseball players. Yes, there are many players of Mexican descent in baseball, but these guys were born en los Estados Unidos Mexicanos (and before you send me nasty letters, this is the formal name of the country). As of May 4, 2015, 116 players can claim Mexico as their birth place. Two of them recently made their MLB debut as a matter of fact.

2014 Topps Pro Debut Roberto Osuna #32

Roberto Osuna (from Juan Jose Rios, Sinaloa) made his MLB debut with the Toronto Blue Jays on April 8 against the Yankees, entering the eighth inning as the third of three relievers in the inning. He struck out the first batter he faced, Alex Rodriguez, and induced Stephen Drew to fly out to right, ending the inning (the Blue Jays eventually lost the game 4-3). Born on  February 7, 1995 (that's right...feel old now people!!!), he is the youngest player in the Major Leagues (also the only player born in 1995). The card you see above is the second of two Pro Debut cards of Osuna. His first Topps Pro Debut card came in 2013.

Arnold Leon (from Culiacan, Sinaloa) debuted for the Oakland Athletics on April 22 versus the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He entered the ninth inning against the Halos, the third of three pitchers that night, and allowed one run on two hits in what would be a 9-2 win over the Halos. No Topps cards yet to speak of...yet.

After consecutive years of taco night here at home, we're having a simple dinner of quesadillas and Mexican rice and beans. Figures, we're going against the grain of Taco Tuesday, but that's what my wife and I had for lunch.

I (finally) bought myself a box of sheets for my cards, so maybe I'll find time to put my series 1 set in a binder. That's what will keep me busy for a while watching either the Blackhawks take on the Wild, the Cubs vs. the Cardinals, or the White Sox extend their streak against the Tigers.

¡Viva México!

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

You Know That Penny Per Pack Thing I Talked About at the Dollar Tree???

It's over.

If you recall, my Christmas present from my son was a five-card pack of 2013 Topps Series 1 that he bought for a penny. I've given him some ribbing since that he could have made an effort to buy more...especially since he was budgeted a dollar for each person...

So finally, last night, I had the opportunity to go to the Dollar Tree to see what they had.

There was a box full of 2014 Topps Update Series, packs of 2013 Topps Update Series, and even some 2014 Topps Series 2. There were other products strewn around (although it is pointless to pack search these things, they were just everywhere), mostly repackaged cards (30 different cards from different sports for example).

I grabbed 10 packs each of the Series 2, and both Update Series and proceeded to checkout.

Guess what?

As soon as the cashier rang up the first pack...$1.00.

What??!

Yup. I guess the sale ended after the new year.

AAAAAAGGGGH!

So instead of paying $0.30 for 30 packs, I would have wound up paying $30.00. Yikes. So I returned all of the 2013 Update packs, and kept five packs each of 2014 S2 and Update.

Lesson learned.

But at least I was able to buy some cards. Haven't opened any yet, but I will let you know if there was anything interesting that was inside. Collectors who were lucky...I mean smart...enough to load up on packs have been finding short prints or even SSP's in these things. So maybe I'll find something good.

Or with my luck, five base cards.

Happy New Year!

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Introducing the 2014 Topps All-Star Rookie Team!!!

The MLB managers have spoken, and today, Topps has announced the players named to the 55th All-Star Rookie Team!!! (If the player's name is in bold, it means I predicted that they would make the team earlier this month).

• 1B: Jose Abreu, CWS (145 G, 0.317, 36 HR, 107 RBI, 0.964 OPS, 3 SB)
• 2B: Kolten Wong, STL (113 G, 0.249, 12 HR, 42 RBI, 0.68 OPS, 20 SB)
• 3B: Nick Castellanos, DET (148 G, 0.259, 11 HR, 66 RBI, 0.7 OPS, 2 SB)
• SS: Xander Bogaerts, BOS (144 G, 0.240, 12 HR, 46 RBI, 0.66 OPS, 2 SB)
• OF: Billy Hamilton, CIN (152 G, 0.250, 6 HR, 48 RBI, 0.648 OPS, 56 SB)
• OF: Danny Santana, MIN (101 G, 0.319, 7 HR, 40 RBI, 0.824 OPS, 20 SB)
• OF: George Springer, HOU (78 G, 0.231, 20 HR, 51 RBI, 0.804 OPS, 5 SB)
• C: Travis d'Arnaud, NYM (108 G, 0.242, 13 HR, 41 RBI, 0.718 OPS, 1 SB)
• RHSP: Masahiro Tanaka, NYY (20 GS, 13-5, 2.77 ERA, 141 SO, 1.056 WHIP)
• LHSP: Roenis Elias, SEA (29 GS, 10-12, 3.85 ERA, 143 SO, 1.314 WHIP)
• RP: Dellin Betances, NYY (70 G, 5-0, 1.40 ERA, 135 SO, 0.778 WHIP, 1 SV)

So I guessed 9 out of now 11 spots correctly. I guessed Kevin Kiermaier as one of my outfielders and Matt Shoemaker as my right-handed starting pitcher. Last year, I was almost close to perfect (getting 10 of the 11 spots correct).

Now my comments. At least now Topps is showing some consistency with naming three pitchers to the team (two starters, 1 reliever). Good thing that I asked those entering the All-Star Rookie Team contest to name four pitchers (two right-handers, two-left handers) just in case.

Figures that Tanaka gets the RHSP spot, and many have taken to social media to make their displeasure known (Matt Shoemaker and Jacob deGrom were two of the names more people thought should have been named instead of the Yankees' hurler (figures...should have known).

So congratulations to all. Each player will now get the illustrious rookie cup trophy added to their 2015 Topps cards. I will be going over the results shortly and will announce the winners if any soon.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Introducing Your 2014 MLB Most Valuable Players - West Coast Winners

In recent years, Topps has reserved six cards within Series 1 for the AL and NL award winners that are being announced this week. Once again, however, this year's preliminary checklist doesn't specify what numbers are being held for the them. But yesterday, we learned who was named the Most Valuable Players in both the National and American Leagues.

Congratulations to both Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers for being named the American League and National League Most Valuable Players for 2014. Incredible seasons by both players, one a runner up to the MVP for two seasons prior, the other, this year's Cy Young Award winner.

After playing second fiddle to Miguel Cabrera for two consecutive seasons, Mike Trout finally wins his first MVP award. One of the game's best players, the Angels' outfielder hit .287 with 36 home runs, 111 rbi's, stole 16 bases, had an OPS of .939, and for you sabermetric people, a 7.9 WAR. Trout also claimed all 30 first place votes, good for 420 points in the overall ballot. In second place was the Tigers' Victor Martinez (229 points, 16 second place votes), Michael Brantley of the Indians (191, 8), AL Rookie of the Year Jose Abreu of the White Sox (145, 1), Robinson Cano of the Mariners (124, 1), Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays (122, 1), Nelson Cruz of the Orioles (102), Josh Donaldson of the Athletics (96, 1), two-time MVP Cabrera of the Tigers (82, 1), Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (48, 2), AL Cy Young Winner Corey Kluber of the Indians (45), Alex Gordon of the Royals (44), Jose Altuve of the Astros (41), Adam Jones of the Orioles (34), Adrian Beltre of the Rangers (22), Greg Holland of the Royals (13), Albert Pujols of the Angels (5), Howie Kendrick of the Angels (3), James Shields of the Royals (3), and Kyle Seager of the Mariners (1).

Kershaw becomes the tenth pitcher (fourth in the NL) to win both the Cy Young and MVP award in the same season. He earned 18 of the 30 MVP votes, good for 355 voter points. Marlins' slugger Giancarlo Stanton finished second in the voting (298, 8 first place votes), follwed by last year's NL MVP Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates (271, 4), Jonathan Lucroy of the Brewers (167), Anthony Rendon of the Nationals (155), Buster Posey of the Giants (152), Adrian Gonzalez of the Dodgers (57), Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals (53), Josh Harrison of the Pirates (52), Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs (37), Hunter Pence of the Giants (34), Johnny Cueto of the Reds (22), Russell Martin of the Pirates (21), Matt Holliday of the Cardinals (17), Jhonny Peralta of the Cardinals (17), Carlos Gomez of the Brewers (13), Justin Upton of the braves (10), Jayson Werth of the Nationals (9), Denard Span of the Nationals (8), Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers (8), Devin Mesoraco of the Reds (5), Lucas Duda of the Mets (3), Freddie Freeman of the Braves (2), Justin Morneau of the Rockies (2), Dee Gordon of the Dodgers (1), and Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies (1).

Trout becomes the third Angels player, and the fifth player to win the MVP unanimously. Kershaw becomes the eleventh Dodgers player to be named NL MVP. With both winners from the Los Angeles area teams, it is also the 11th time in MLB history that two players from the city or area take home the MVP awards. As with the last two sets of awards, here for your viewing pleasure are the 2014 Topps cards of your MVP's. Too bad they didn't make cards for the managers (congratulations to both Buck Showalter of the Orioles and Matt Williams of the Nationals by the way).

With everything all said and done, did your guy win?

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Introducing Your 2014 MLB Cy Young Award Winners - Unanimous in the NL, No Longer Anonymous in the AL

In recent years, Topps has reserved six cards within Series 1 for the AL and NL award winners that are being announced this week. Once again, however, this year's preliminary checklist doesn't specify what numbers are being held for the them. But yesterday, we learned who was named the Cy Young award winners in both the National and American Leagues.

Congratulations to both Max Scherzer of the Detroit Tigers and Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers for winning the American League and National League Cy Young Awards. While there was no doubt in the NL, the AL margin between first and second place was a mere 10 votes.

On Monday, a Stetson Hatter alum was named the NL Rookie of the Year. Yesterday, another Hatter took home the AL Cy Young award. Kluber, a second-year starter with the Indians, had a very dominant run in 2014. With a record of 18-9, an ERA of 2.44, 269 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 1.095 in 235.2 innngs of work, 17 of the 30 voters picked Corey as their first place choice (for a grand total of 169 points). The Mariners' Felix Hernandez claimed the other 13 first place votes, good for 159 points. Following Kluber and the King were Chris Sale of the White Sox (78 points), Jon Lester of the Athletics (46), last year's Cy Young winner Max Scherzer of the Tigers (32), David Price of the Tigers (16), Phil Hughes of the Twins (6), and Royals relievers Wade Davis (3) and Greg Holland (1).

Kershaw takes home his third Cy Young Award in four years after leading the NL for the third straight year in ERA (a ridiculous 1.77) to go along with a 239 strikeouts, a 16-9 record, a WHIP of 0.915, 3 complete games, and two shutouts. Claiming all 30 first place votes (210 points) Kershaw outpaced the rest of the field of contenders, including finalists Johnny Cueto of the Reds (112 points), Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals  (97), Madison Bumgarner of the Giants (28), Jordan Zimmermann of the Nationals (25), Cole Hamels of the Phillies (17), Zack Greinke of the Dodgers (6), Doug Fister of the Nationals (5), Jake Arrieta of the Cubs (3), Craig Kimbrel of the Braves (3), Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals (3), and Henderson Alvarez of the Marlins (1).

The fun concludes on Thursday when the Most Valuable Players in both leagues are announced. Let the debates continue. Did your guy win???

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Introducing Your 2014 MLB Rookies of the Year - Little to No Doubt Who Was Going to Win

In recent years, Topps has reserved six cards within Series 1 for the AL and NL award winners that are being announced this week. Once again, however, this year's preliminary checklist doesn't specify what numbers are being held for the them.  But yesterday, we learned who was named the Rookies of the Year in both the National and American Leagues.

Congratulations to both Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets and Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox for winning the National League and American League Rookies of the Year Awards. This year, MLB decided to announce the top three finalists for each of the awards. While there certainly more players in the running, announcing the top three made for interesting debate.

Jose Abreu, the White Sox' first baseman of the future, had a breakout rookie season that could only be described as dominant. He was among the top 5 players in the AL in batting average (0.317), home runs (36), and rbi's (107), was named to the All-Star Team, and won the Silver Slugger Award for first basemen. He was everything the Southsiders were hoping for and more. Abreu also received all 30 first place votes in the AL ROY balloting, thus earning the maximum 150 points possible. The rest of the field included Angels pitcher Matt Shoemaker (40 points, 12 second place votes), Yankees reliever Dellin Betances (27, 7), Collin McHugh of the Astros (21, 6), Masahiro Tanaka of the Yankees (16, 3), Yordano Ventura of the Royals (9, 1), Danny Santana of the Twins (3, 1), Nick Castellanos of the Tigers (1), Brock Holt of the Red Sox (1), Jake Odorozzi of the Rays (1), and George Springer of the Astros (1).

For Mets starting pitcher Jacob deGrom, the numbers may be a bit misleading, but it does not mean he is not more than deserving of the honor. He earned a 9-6 record, a 2.69 ERA, struck out 144 batters, and a WHIP of 1.140 in 22 starts and 140.1 innings of work. Taking 26 of the 30 1st place votes (142 total points), deGrom earned more points than runners-up Billy Hamilton of the Reds (92 points, 4 first place votes), Kolten Wong of the Cardinals (14 points), Ken Giles of the Phillies (8), Ender Inciarte of the Diamondbacks (4), Joe Panik of the Giants (3), Travis d'Arnaud of the Mets (2), Jeurys Familia of the Mets (2), Kyle Hendricks of the Cubs (2), and Chase Anderson of the Diamonbacks (1).

Abreu becomes the fourth Cuban-born player, the sixth White Sox player, and the ninth player to be named Rookie of the Year. deGrom is now the fifth Mets player and the first starting pitcher with less than 10 wins to earn the award.

So begins a wild week were debates will come fast and furious. Did your guy win???

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Betances, Kemp Win 1st Ever HBC Final Man Roster Spots

After I posted my End-of-the-Year All-Star Teams last month, I gave whatever readers I have left the opportunity to vote one of the players I had to leave off onto the teams. Called the "HBC (Hobby Blogging Community's) Final Man," I picked five players that I thought could have been on either the AL or NL team, but because of roster space and other factors, they did not make it initially.

This was the first time I have done asked the public to help me with these "fantasy" teams since I started doing this back in 1989. I also said that if that if there was enough interest in this, I'd consider running a final man ballot every year. Turnout, considering how often I have posted these last two years, was surprisingly good. So I will do this next year too.

Summary:

There were ten players I selected for the initial final ballot. Five players per league. Readers who voted were allowed to vote for one player per league. Voting ran for two weeks. Those players were:

American League RP Dellin Betances, Yankees DH Chris Carter, Astros SP Wei-Yin Chen, Orioles 2B Ian Kinsler, Tigers DH David Ortiz, Red Sox

National League OF Charlie Blackmon, Rockies 1B Freddie Freeman, Braves OF Matt Kemp, Dodgers RP Francisco Rodriguez, Brewers 2B Neil Walker, Pirates

Now for the results:

From the very beginning, both Dellin Betances of the Yankees and Matt Kemp of the Dodgers led their respective ballots.

By the time it ended, Betances earned 16 of the 40 votes cast, followed by Ortiz (9), Kinsler (8), Carter (6), and Chen of the Orioles (1). Betances becomes the fourth Yankees player added to the 2014 AL squad, joining Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann, and David Robertson.

Kemp outpaced the rest of the NL field, with 18 votes, followed by Freeman (5), Blackmon, Rodriguez, and Walker (3 each). Kemp's addition brings the Dodgers' contingent up to 6 players, joining Adrian Gonzalez, Dee Gordon, Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw, and Kenley Jansen.

When SBS Baseball comes out with the team rosters from the 2014 campaign, I will go ahead and add Betances and Kemp to the rest of the rosters. This will be the first time ever that I will have one more pitcher on one side and another batter on the other side. Should be interesting to see which team has the advantage.

Thank you very much to everyone who voted.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Meet the Possible Contenders for the 2014 Topps All-Star Rookie Team

Okay, the season is more than two weeks over, and the World Series will begin next Tuesday (if you had the Royals and Giants in your World Series pool, you were right...AND YOU'RE LYING!!!). What better time than now to discuss the Top Rookies of 2014?

Why?

Because these are the guys that are going to be strong contenders for the 2014 Topps All-Star Rookie Team, that's why.

Anyway, perusing the MLB website, they have added a set of statistics in a section called the Top Rookie Tracker. This section features just a handful of the players MLB believes are contenders for either League's Rookie of the Year. And believe it or not, the players on the list they have provided stats for well represent each of the positions Topps uses for their Rookie All-Star team (1b, 2b, 3b, ss, three outfield, c, rhp, lhp, and relief pitcher…ahem...will explain this in a minute). So below is a list of potential nominees that the 30 MLB managers will see when they cast their votes for the 2014 Topps All-Star Rookie Team. The stats are as of the end of the 2014 regular season:

First Basemen:
Jose Abreu, CWS (145 G, 0.317, 36 HR, 107 RBI, 0.964 OPS, 3 SB)
Eric Campbell, NYM (85 G, 0.263, 3 HR, 16 RBI, 0.68 OPS, 3 SB)
C. J. Cron, LAA (79 G, 0.256, 11 HR, 37 RBI, 0.739 OPS, 0 SB)
Tommy Medica, SD (102 G, 0.233, 9 HR, 27 RBI, 0.694 OPS, 6 SB)
Jon Singleton, HOU (95 G, 0.168, 13 HR, 44 RBI, 0.62 OPS, 2 SB)
Kennys Vargas, MIN (53 G, 0.274, 9 HR, 38 RBI, 0.772 OPS, 0 SB)

Second Basemen:
Tommy La Stella, ATL (93 G, 0.251, 1 HR, 31 RBI, 0.644 OPS, 2 SB)
Kristopher Negron, CIN (49 G, 0.271, 6 HR, 17 RBI, 0.81 OPS, 5 SB)
Rougned Odor, TEX (114 G, 0.259, 9 HR, 48 RBI, 0.698 OPS, 4 SB)
Joe Panik, SF (73 G, 0.305, 1 HR, 18 RBI, 0.711 OPS, 0 SB)
Jonathan Schoop, BAL (137 G, 0.209, 16 HR, 45 RBI, 0.598 OPS, 2 SB)
Kolten Wong, STL (113 G, 0.249, 12 HR, 42 RBI, 0.68 OPS, 20 SB)

Third Basemen:
Nick Castellanos, DET (148 G, 0.259, 11 HR, 66 RBI, 0.7 OPS, 2 SB)
Brock Holt, BOS (106 G, 0.281, 4 HR, 29 RBI, 0.711 OPS, 12 SB)
Mike Olt, CHC (89 G, 0.160, 12 HR, 33 RBI, 0.604 OPS, 0 SB)
Marcus Semien, CWS (64 G, 0.234, 6 HR, 28 RBI, 0.673 OPS, 3 SB)
Yangervis Solarte, SD (131 G, 0.260, 10 HR, 48 RBI, 0.705 OPS, 0 SB)

Shortstops:
Javier Baez, CHC (52 G, 0.169, 9 HR, 20 RBI, 0.551 OPS, 5 SB)
Xander Bogaerts, BOS (144 G, 0.240, 12 HR, 46 RBI, 0.66 OPS, 2 SB)
Wilmer Flores, NYM (78 G, 0.251, 6 HR, 29 RBI, 0.664 OPS, 1 SB)
Chris Owings, ARI (91 G, 0.261, 6 HR, 26 RBI, 0.706 OPS, 8 SB)
Danny Santana, MIN (101 G, 0.319, 7 HR, 40 RBI, 0.824 OPS, 20 SB)
Eugenio Suarez, DET (85 G, 0.242, 4 HR, 23 RBI, 0.652 OPS, 3 SB)
Chris Taylor, SEA (47 G, 0.287, 0 HR, 9 RBI, 0.692 OPS, 5 SB)

Outfielders:
Jackie Bradley, Jr., BOS (127 G, 0.198, 1 HR, 30 RBI, 0.531 OPS, 8 SB)
Michael Choice, TEX (86 G, 0.182, 9 HR, 36 RBI, 0.57 OPS, 1 SB)
Billy Hamilton, CIN (152 G, 0.250, 6 HR, 48 RBI, 0.648 OPS, 56 SB)
Ender Inciarte, ARI (118 G, 0.278, 4 HR, 27 RBI, 0.677 OPS, 19 SB)
James Jones, SEA (108 G, 0.250, 0 HR, 9 RBI, 0.589 OPS, 27 SB)
Kevin Kiermaier, TB (108 G, 0.263, 10 HR, 35 RBI, 0.765 OPS, 5 SB)
Jake Marisnick, HOU (65 G, 0.249, 3 HR, 19 RBI, 0.607 OPS, 11 SB)
David Peralta, ARI (88 G, 0.286, 8 HR, 36 RBI, 0.77 OPS, 6 SB)
Gregory Polanco, PIT (89 G, 0.235, 7 HR, 33 RBI, 0.65 OPS, 14 SB)
Jorge Soler, CHC (24 G, 0.292, 5 HR, 20 RBI, 0.903 OPS, 1 SB)
George Springer, HOU (78 G, 0.231, 20 HR, 51 RBI, 0.804 OPS, 5 SB)
Oscar Taveras, STL (80 G, 0.239, 3 HR, 22 RBI, 0.59 OPS, 0 SB)

Catchers:
Travis d'Arnaud, NYM (108 G, 0.242, 13 HR, 41 RBI, 0.718 OPS, 1 SB)
Josmil Pinto, MIN (57 G, 0.219, 7 HR, 18 RBI, 0.705 OPS, 0 SB)

Right-Handed Starting Pitchers:
Chase Anderson, ARI (21 GS, 9-7, 4.01 ERA, 105 SO, 1.373 WHIP)
Trevor Bauer, CLE (26 GS, 5-8, 4.18 ERA, 143 SO, 1.379 WHIP)
David Buchanan, PHI (20 GS, 6-8, 3.75 ERA, 71 SO, 1.292 WHIP)
Jacob deGrom, NYM (22 GS, 9-6, 2.69 ERA, 144 SO, 1.140 WHIP)
Kevin Gausman, BAL (20 GS, 7-7, 3.57 ERA, 88 SO, 1.315 WHIP)
Collin McHugh, HOU (25 GS, 11-9, 2.73 ERA, 157 SO, 1.022 WHIP)
Jake Odorizzi, TB (31 GS, 11-13, 4.13 ERA, 174 SO, 1.280 WHIP)
Matt Shoemaker, LAA (20 GS, 16-4, 3.04 ERA, 124 SO, 1.074 WHIP)
Marcus Stroman, TOR (20 GS, 11-6, 3.65 ERA, 111 SO, 1.171 WHIP)
Masahiro Tanaka, NYY (20 GS, 13-5, 2.77 ERA, 141 SO, 1.056 WHIP)
Yordano Ventura, KC (30 GS, 14-10, 3.20 ERA, 159 SO, 1.295 WHIP)

Left-Handed Starting Pitchers:
Roenis Elias, SEA (29 GS, 10-12, 3.85 ERA, 143 SO, 1.314 WHIP)
Tyler Matzek, COL (19 GS, 6-11, 4.05 ERA, 91 SO, 1.394 WHIP)

Right-Handed Relief Pitchers:
Dellin Betances, NYY (70 G, 5-0, 1.40 ERA, 135 SO, 0.778 WHIP, 1 SV)
Jeurys Familia, NYM (76 G, 2-5, 2.21 ERA, 73 SO, 1.177 WHIP, 5 SV)
Ken Giles, PHI (44 G, 3-1, 1.18 ERA, 64 SO, 0.788 WHIP, 1 SV)
David Hale, ATL (45 G, 4-5, 3.30 ERA, 44 SO, 1.466 WHIP, 0 SV)
Tommy Kahnle, COL (54 G, 2-1, 4.19 ERA, 63 SO, 1.194 WHIP, 0 SV)
Carlos Martinez, STL (57 G, 2-4, 4.03 ERA, 84 SO, 1.41 WHIP, 1 SV)
Jake Petricka, CWS (67 G, 1-6, 2.96 ERA, 55 SO, 1.370 WHIP, 14 SV)
Donn Roach, SD (16 G, 1-0, 4.75 ERA, 17 SO, 1.681 WHIP, 0 SV)
Daniel Webb, CWS (57 G, 6-5, 3.99 ERA, 58 SO, 1.493 WHIP, 0 SV)

If you're wondering why I separated the starting pitchers from the relief pitchers, and then if they are right handed or left handed, allow me to explain (conspiracy theory time folks…get something to drink, this may take a while).

As you all know, Topps instituted what I am calling the "Stephen Strasburg" rule in 2010. Somehow, Strasburg was added to the ASRT even though he only pitched in 12 games. Now, Strasburg is a right-handed pitcher. But so is Neftali Feliz, at the time, the star closer for the Rangers, and a player many people believed should have been named onto the team as the RHP. In past years, it didn't matter if a pitcher was a starter or a reliever, only ONE RHP or ONE LHP was chosen for the team (of course there were exceptions…tie votes came into play).

So what does Topps do? For the 2010 Topps All-Star Rookie Team, they added a relief pitcher spot. This ensured not only Feliz' spot on the team, but gave Topps justification to include their poster boy Strasburg.

Then in 2011, instead of continuing the trend of having three pitchers (a RHP, a LHP, and a RP), Topps went back to the two-pitcher format, but instead of it being a RHP and LHP as in years past, the 2011 Topps All-Star Rookie Team included just one Starting Pitcher and one Relief pitcher. In 2012, Topps went back to a "three-person pitching staff" which included a Starting RHP, a starting LHP, and one reliever. This was done again in 2013.

Back to the point. As in past years, this blog has done a contest where the object is to outguess me in choosing the Rookie Teams. The Grand Prize, if a contestant correctly guessed all the members of said team, was a complete 150 card set of 2005 Topps Rookie Cup (appropriate, no?). Anyway, while few have come close, none have won the grand prize. Those who did guess more players correctly than I did would win a pack of that year's Updates and Highlights/Update Series.

Well, we're doing it again.

So take a look at the list above, send me an e-mail (bdj610@hotmail.com) with your picks by November 2, 2014. You can pick the following (11 players total):

• One player each for 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, C,
• Three players for OF,
• One Starting RHP, Starting LHP, Relief RHP.

After November 2, I will make my selections and then we will all wait together until the formal announcements have been made. If you out guess me, let's say I guess seven of the 10 or 11 spots correctly, and you guess eight or more, then you automatically win a Hobby pack of 2013 Topps Update Series. If you guess all the players correctly (if there are ten or eleven, who knows), then you will be entered into a drawing to win the 2005 Topps Rookie Card base set (Beckett Value $20.00 - $40.00). It's that easy. This year, the field is wide open in certain positions (second base, shortstop, outfield, pitcher), so anything goes.

So here's to hopefully many entries by November 2. Good luck.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

The 2014 Topps Update Series Checklist is Now Live!

The highly anticipated 2014 Topps Update Series, the final eponymous set of the year, comes out next Wednesday (give or take). Yesterday, Topps posted the checklist on their website (if you can't find the link, don't worry, I couldn't find it either. Here it is if you need it. You can go to their site and download the 32 page checklist, or feel free to peruse the checklist below. Once again, since I don't collect auto or relic or manufactured relic or parallel cards, I am not posting them here. But if you like your base and regular insert sets, and want a checklist, here you go:

BASE:

US-1 Albert Pujols Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
US-2 Derek Jeter New York Yankees
US-3 Tom Wilhelmsen Seattle Mariners
US-4 Mark Reynolds Milwaukee Brewers
US-5 Jair Jurrjens Colorado Rockies
US-6 Jose Molina Tampa Bay Rays
US-7 David Price Detroit Tigers
US-8 Josh Harrison Pittsburgh Pirates
US-9 Francisco Rodriguez Milwaukee Brewers
US-10 George Springer Houston Astros Rookie
US-11 Robbie Ross Jr. Texas Rangers
US-12 Brian McCann New York Yankees
US-13 Andrew Heaney Miami Marlins Rookie
US-14 Justin Grimm Chicago Cubs
US-15 Joba Chamberlain Detroit Tigers
US-16 Andrew Brown New York Mets
US-17 Yangervis Solarte San Diego Padres Rookie
US-18 Aramis Ramirez Milwaukee Brewers
US-19 Bronson Arroyo Arizona Diamondbacks
US-20 Gregory Polanco Pittsburgh Pirates Rookie
US-21 Bryan Holaday Detroit Tigers
US-22 Kendrys Morales Seattle Mariners
US-23 Ubaldo Jimenez Baltimore Orioles
US-24 Tony Sanchez Pittsburgh Pirates Rookie
US-25 Masahiro Tanaka New York Yankees Rookie
US-26 Mookie Betts Boston Red Sox Rookie
US-27 Shin-Soo Choo Texas Rangers
US-28 David Freese Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
US-29 Tyler Skaggs Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
US-30 Elian Herrera Milwaukee Brewers
US-31 Francisco Rodriguez Milwaukee Brewers
US-32 Mark Trumbo Arizona Diamondbacks
US-33 Grady Sizemore Philadelphia Phillies
US-34 Gavin Floyd Atlanta Braves
US-35 Marcus Stroman Toronto Blue Jays Rookie
US-36 Vance Worley Pittsburgh Pirates
US-37 Leury Garcia Chicago White Sox
US-38 Jason Giambi Cleveland Indians
US-39 Brock Holt Boston Red Sox
US-40 Stephen Vogt Oakland Athletics
US-41 Drew Stubbs Colorado Rockies
US-42 J.D. Martinez Detroit Tigers
US-43 Pat Neshek St. Louis Cardinals
US-44 Jesus Guzman Houston Astros
US-45 Pedro Ciriaco Kansas City Royals
US-46 Jake Marisnick Houston Astros
US-47 Steve Tolleson Toronto Blue Jays
US-48 Scott Hairston Washington Nationals
US-49 Willie Bloomquist Seattle Mariners
US-50 Jacob deGrom New York Mets Rookie
US-51 Brandon Guyer Tampa Bay Rays Rookie
US-52 Chase Anderson Arizona Diamondbacks Rookie
US-53 Miguel Cabrera Detroit Tigers
US-54 Mike Trout Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
US-55 Jon Lester Boston Red Sox
US-56 Huston Street Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
US-57 Jacob deGrom New York Mets Rookie
US-58 Raul Ibanez Kansas City Royals
US-59 Brandon McCarthy New York Yankees
US-60 David Ross Boston Red Sox
US-61 Ryan Kalish Chicago Cubs
US-62 Adam Eaton Chicago White Sox
US-63 David Murphy Cleveland Indians
US-64 LaTroy Hawkins Colorado Rockies
US-65 Chad Qualls Houston Astros
US-66 Marc Krauss Houston Astros
US-67 Scott Van Slyke Los Angeles Dodgers
US-68 Justin Turner Los Angeles Dodgers
US-69 Dellin Betances New York Yankees
US-70 Jarrod Saltalamacchia Miami Marlins
US-71 Justin Masterson St. Louis Cardinals
US-72 Chris Young New York Mets
US-73 Francisco Cervelli New York Yankees
US-74 Antonio Bastardo Philadelphia Phillies
US-75 Nick Punto Oakland Athletics
US-76 Daric Barton Oakland Athletics
US-77 Wil Nieves Philadelphia Phillies
US-78 Reid Brignac Philadelphia Phillies
US-79 Clint Barmes Pittsburgh Pirates
US-80 Josh Harrison Pittsburgh Pirates
US-81 Seth Smith San Diego Padres
US-82 Joaquin Arias San Francisco Giants
US-83 Brandon Hicks San Francisco Giants
US-84 Brandon Maurer Seattle Mariners
US-85 Daniel Descalso St. Louis Cardinals
US-86 Cesar Ramos Tampa Bay Rays
US-87 Allen Craig Boston Red Sox
US-88 Jon Singleton Houston Astros Rookie
US-89 Stephen Drew New York Yankees
US-90 Steve Lombardozzi Baltimore Orioles
US-91 Nate McLouth Washington Nationals
US-92 Jeff Samardzija Oakland Athletics
US-93 Troy Patton San Diego Padres
US-94 Tuffy Gosewisch Arizona Diamondbacks Rookie
US-95 Vidal Nuno Arizona Diamondbacks Rookie
US-96 Eugenio Suarez Detroit Tigers Rookie
US-97 Salvador Perez Kansas City Royals
US-98 Anthony Rizzo Chicago Cubs
US-99 Scott Kazmir Oakland Athletics
US-100 Jose Abreu Chicago White Sox Rookie
US-101 Kyle Blanks Oakland Athletics
US-102 Daniel Murphy New York Mets
US-103 Starlin Castro Chicago Cubs
US-104 Luis Sardinas Texas Rangers Rookie
US-105 Ehire Adrianza San Francisco Giants Rookie
US-106 Collin Cowgill Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
US-107 Josh Collmenter Arizona Diamondbacks
US-108 Ryan Doumit Atlanta Braves
US-109 David Lough Baltimore Orioles
US-110 Jackie Bradley Jr. Boston Red Sox
US-111 Emilio Bonifacio Atlanta Braves
US-112 Alfredo Simon Cincinnati Reds
US-113 Oscar Taveras St. Louis Cardinals Rookie
US-114 Jeff Francis New York Yankees
US-115 Nyjer Morgan Cleveland Indians
US-116 Brett Anderson Colorado Rockies
US-117 John Lackey St. Louis Cardinals
US-118 Collin McHugh Houston Astros
US-119 Mike Dunn Miami Marlins
US-120 Randy Wolf Miami Marlins
US-121 Kyle Crockett Cleveland Indians Rookie
US-122 Jeff Baker Miami Marlins
US-123 Lyle Overbay Milwaukee Brewers
US-124 Nick Tepesch Texas Rangers
US-125 Jason Bartlett Minnesota Twins
US-126 Omar Quintanilla New York Mets
US-127 David Phelps New York Yankees
US-128 Luke Gregerson Oakland Athletics
US-129 Mike Adams Philadelphia Phillies
US-130 Tony Watson Pittsburgh Pirates
US-131 Chris Denorfia Seattle Mariners
US-132 Tyler Colvin San Francisco Giants
US-133 Chris Young Seattle Mariners
US-134 Tony Cruz St. Louis Cardinals
US-135 Jake Odorizzi Tampa Bay Rays
US-136 Dioner Navarro Toronto Blue Jays
US-137 Doug Fister Washington Nationals
US-138 Asdrubal Cabrera Washington Nationals
US-139 Jason Hammel Oakland Athletics
US-140 Nick Hundley Baltimore Orioles
US-141 Chris Dickerson Cleveland Indians
US-142 Jon Lester Oakland Athletics
US-143 Jake Peavy San Francisco Giants
US-144 Hector Rondon Chicago Cubs Rookie
US-145 A.J. Pierzynski St. Louis Cardinals
US-146 Neftali Soto Cincinnati Reds Rookie
US-147 James Jones Seattle Mariners Rookie
US-148 Kyle Parker Colorado Rockies Rookie
US-149 C.J. Cron Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Rookie
US-150 Jon Singleton Houston Astros Rookie
US-151 Robinson Cano Seattle Mariners
US-152 Josh Donaldson Oakland Athletics
US-153 Kurt Suzuki Minnesota Twins
US-154 Yu Darvish Texas Rangers
US-155 Devin Mesoraco Cincinnati Reds
US-156 Ronald Belisario Chicago White Sox
US-157 Joe Smith Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
US-158 Eric Chavez Arizona Diamondbacks
US-159 Tyler Pastornicky Atlanta Braves
US-160 Delmon Young Baltimore Orioles
US-161 Edward Mujica Boston Red Sox
US-162 Yoenis Cespedes Boston Red Sox
US-163 Ramon Santiago Cincinnati Reds
US-164 Joe Kelly Boston Red Sox
US-165 Justin Morneau Colorado Rockies
US-166 Andrew Romine Detroit Tigers
US-167 Jeff Francoeur San Diego Padres
US-168 Austin Jackson Seattle Mariners
US-169 Chone Figgins Los Angeles Dodgers
US-170 Matt Davidson Chicago White Sox Rookie
US-171 Chase Whitley New York Yankees Rookie
US-172 Tucker Barnhart Cincinnati Reds Rookie
US-173 Jose Bautista Toronto Blue Jays
US-174 Jace Peterson San Diego Padres Rookie
US-175 Oscar Taveras St. Louis Cardinals Rookie
US-176 Michael Brantley Cleveland Indians
US-177 Dee Gordon Los Angeles Dodgers
US-178 Clayton Kershaw Los Angeles Dodgers
US-179 John Baker Chicago Cubs
US-180 Chris Taylor Seattle Mariners Rookie
US-181 Tony Gwynn Jr. Philadelphia Phillies
US-182 Chris Colabello Minnesota Twins
US-183 Kelly Johnson Boston Red Sox
US-184 Danny Santana Minnesota Twins Rookie
US-185 Juan Francisco Toronto Blue Jays
US-186 Arismendy Alcantara Chicago Cubs Rookie
US-187 Jonathan Herrera Boston Red Sox
US-188 Paul Maholm Los Angeles Dodgers
US-189 Brandon Cumpton Pittsburgh Pirates Rookie
US-190 Jose Altuve Houston Astros
US-191 Yoenis Cespedes Oakland Athletics
US-192 Pat Neshek St. Louis Cardinals
US-193 Robinson Chirinos Texas Rangers
US-194 Hector Santiago Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
US-195 Gerald Laird Atlanta Braves
US-196 Erisbel Arruebarrena Los Angeles Dodgers Rookie
US-197 Marcus Stroman Toronto Blue Jays Rookie
US-198 Adam Jones Baltimore Orioles
US-199 Julio Teheran Atlanta Braves
US-200 Masahiro Tanaka New York Yankees Rookie
US-201 Derek Norris Oakland Athletics
US-202 Rubby De La Rosa Boston Red Sox Rookie
US-203 Cole Figueroa Tampa Bay Rays Rookie
US-204 Chris Capuano New York Yankees
US-205 Reed Johnson Miami Marlins
US-206 Chris Perez Los Angeles Dodgers
US-207 Rajai Davis Detroit Tigers
US-208 Joakim Soria Detroit Tigers
US-209 Roger Bernadina Cincinnati Reds
US-210 George Springer Houston Astros Rookie
US-211 Jordan Schafer Atlanta Braves
US-212 Randy Choate St. Louis Cardinals
US-213 Stefen Romero Seattle Mariners Rookie
US-214 Tommy La Stella Atlanta Braves Rookie
US-215 Paul Goldschmidt Arizona Diamondbacks
US-216 Andrew McCutchen Pittsburgh Pirates
US-217 Charlie Furbush Seattle Mariners
US-218 David Carpenter Atlanta Braves
US-219 Mike Olt Chicago Cubs
US-220 Roenis Elias Seattle Mariners Rookie
US-221 Gregory Polanco Pittsburgh Pirates Rookie
US-222 Brandon Moss Oakland Athletics
US-223 Yasiel Puig Los Angeles Dodgers
US-224 Jared Burton Minnesota Twins
US-225 Luis Avilan Atlanta Braves
US-226 Chris Coghlan Chicago Cubs
US-227 Ryan Wheeler Colorado Rockies
US-228 Aaron Crow Kansas City Royals
US-229 Sam Fuld Oakland Athletics
US-230 Kurt Suzuki Minnesota Twins
US-231 Brendan Ryan New York Yankees
US-232 Scott Carroll Chicago White Sox Rookie
US-233 Nelson Cruz Baltimore Orioles
US-234 Felix Hernandez Seattle Mariners
US-235 Tommy Hunter Baltimore Orioles
US-236 Jerome Williams Texas Rangers
US-237 Jorge Polanco Minnesota Twins Rookie
US-238 Giancarlo Stanton Miami Marlins
US-239 Jose Abreu Chicago White Sox
US-240 Aaron Sanchez Toronto Blue Jays Rookie
US-241 Michael Choice Texas Rangers Rookie
US-242 Javier Lopez San Francisco Giants
US-243 Jesse Chavez Oakland Athletics
US-244 Daisuke Matsuzaka New York Mets
US-245 Andrew Heaney Miami Marlins Rookie
US-246 Erick Aybar Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
US-247 Tony Watson Pittsburgh Pirates
US-248 Brayan Pena Cincinnati Reds
US-249 Eduardo Nunez Minnesota Twins
US-250 Yu Darvish Texas Rangers
US-251 Ike Davis Pittsburgh Pirates
US-252 Adrian Nieto Chicago White Sox Rookie
US-253 Kevin Kiermaier Tampa Bay Rays Rookie
US-254 Adrian Beltre Texas Rangers
US-255 Jonathan Lucroy Milwaukee Brewers
US-256 Garrett Jones Miami Marlins
US-257 Eduardo Escobar Minnesota Twins
US-258 Matt Carpenter St. Louis Cardinals
US-259 Craig Kimbrel Atlanta Braves
US-260 Jhonny Peralta St. Louis Cardinals
US-261 Rene Rivera San Diego Padres
US-262 Eddie Butler Colorado Rockies Rookie
US-263 Kyle Seager Seattle Mariners
US-264 Freddie Freeman Atlanta Braves
US-265 Yoervis Medina Seattle Mariners
US-266 Drew Smyly Tampa Bay Rays
US-267 Jonathan Diaz Toronto Blue Jays Rookie
US-268 Matt Shoemaker Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Rookie
US-269 Max Scherzer Detroit Tigers
US-270 Hunter Pence San Francisco Giants
US-271 Juan Perez San Francisco Giants Rookie
US-272 Mark Ellis St. Louis Cardinals
US-273 Martin Prado New York Yankees
US-274 Chris Withrow Los Angeles Dodgers
US-275 Boone Logan Colorado Rockies
US-276 Rougned Odor Texas Rangers Rookie
US-277 Chris Sale Chicago White Sox
US-278 Rafael Montero New York Mets Rookie
US-279 Kevin Frandsen Washington Nationals
US-280 Cole Gillespie Toronto Blue Jays
US-281 David Buchanan Philadelphia Phillies Rookie
US-282 Glen Perkins Minnesota Twins
US-283 Tyson Ross San Diego Padres
US-284 Robbie Ray Detroit Tigers Rookie
US-285 Cody Allen Cleveland Indians
US-286 Brandon Barnes Colorado Rockies
US-287 Mike Bolsinger Arizona Diamondbacks Rookie
US-288 Aroldis Chapman Cincinnati Reds
US-289 Adam Wainwright St. Louis Cardinals
US-290 Cam Bedrosian Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Rookie
US-291 Jake McGee Tampa Bay Rays
US-292 Chase Utley Philadelphia Phillies
US-293 Tom Koehler Miami Marlins
US-294 Chris Martin Colorado Rockies Rookie
US-295 Greg Holland Kansas City Royals
US-296 Tyler Moore Washington Nationals
US-297 Zack Greinke Los Angeles Dodgers
US-298 Bobby Abreu New York Mets
US-299 Charlie Blackmon Colorado Rockies
US-300 Miguel Cabrera Detroit Tigers
US-301 Mookie Betts Boston Red Sox Rookie
US-302 Tom Gorzelanny Milwaukee Brewers
US-303 Jarred Cosart Miami Marlins
US-304 Nick Martinez Texas Rangers Rookie
US-305 Sean Doolittle Oakland Athletics
US-306 Logan Forsythe Tampa Bay Rays
US-307 Santiago Casilla San Francisco Giants
US-308 Zelous Wheeler New York Yankees Rookie
US-309 Alexei Ramirez Chicago White Sox
US-310 Troy Tulowitzki Colorado Rockies
US-311 Josh Tomlin Cleveland Indians
US-312 Matt Thornton New York Yankees
US-313 Derek Dietrich Miami Marlins
US-314 Corey Dickerson Colorado Rockies
US-315 Carlos Gomez Milwaukee Brewers
US-316 Ian Krol Detroit Tigers
US-317 Marwin Gonzalez Houston Astros
US-318 Logan Schafer Milwaukee Brewers
US-319 Ricky Nolasco Minnesota Twins
US-320 Koji Uehara Boston Red Sox
US-321 Josh Satin New York Mets
US-322 Drew Pomeranz Oakland Athletics
US-323 Chase Headley New York Yankees
US-324 Alexi Amarista San Diego Padres
US-325 Jose Abreu Chicago White Sox Rookie
US-326 Joaquin Benoit San Diego Padres
US-327 Jonny Gomes Oakland Athletics
US-328 Dustin Ackley Seattle Mariners
US-329 Todd Frazier Cincinnati Reds
US-330 Daniel Webb Chicago White Sox Rookie

So here are a few quick notes:

• There are 69 cards on the above list that have the word Rookie listed at the end. However, the checklist Topps posted does not differentiate between which card is the rookie card and which is part of the Rookie Debut subset that Topps stated they would include as part of the set. Ten names are listed twice, so they will most likely be getting the Rookie Debut: Andrew Heaney, George Springer, Gregory Polanco, Jacob deGrom, Jon Singleton, Jose Abreu, Marcus Stroman, Masahiro Tanaka, Mookie Betts, & Oscar Taveras. Abreu and Tanaka are most likely part of the All-Star subset, so that should leave 57 rookie cards in this set.
• The Future Stars theme is over (for now...)
• There are cards for Josh Harrison, Francisco Rodriguez, Pat Neshek, Tony Watson, and Dellin Betances, the five All-Stars who didn't have base cards in the regular set (or in the retail sets), in Update Series. Betances is the only one of the five who has only one card in the set. This means that the other four definitely will have both base cards and All-Star subset cards. No word where Betances lies (Topps really should have listed which cards were part of the All-Star Subset). Kurt Suzuki, who had a card in Series 1 as a member of the Athletics, has both an All-Star card and a regular card as a member of the Twins (he did have a Twins retail set card). Of course, injured All-Star Matt Wieters does not have a Topps card...again.
• Speaking of All-Star subsets, there were a grand total of 81 players who were named All-Stars in July. Topps said they had 60 cards set aside for an All-Star subset. Even with all the injuries and Sunday replacements, there should have been 68 active participants on the rosters. I can count 63 cards as part of this subset. Lots of guys were left off, including active roster players like Mark Buehrle, Henderson  Alvarez, Miguel Montero, Tim Hudson, Fernando Rodney, Ian Kinsler, and Tyler Clippard.

Now for the fun inserts sets that are going to be part of many master sets that will be sold on the Bay and extra cards in your packs:

THE FUTURE IS NOW
FN-CY1 Christian Yelich Miami Marlins
FN-CY2 Christian Yelich Miami Marlins
FN-CY3 Christian Yelich Miami Marlins
FN-GP1 Gregory Polanco Pittsburgh Pirates
FN-GP2 Gregory Polanco Pittsburgh Pirates
FN-GP3 Gregory Polanco Pittsburgh Pirates
FN-GS1 George Springer Houston Astros
FN-GS2 George Springer Houston Astros
FN-GS3 George Springer Houston Astros
FN-JA1 Jose Abreu Chicago White Sox
FN-JA2 Jose Abreu Chicago White Sox
FN-JA3 Jose Abreu Chicago White Sox
FN-JS1 Jon Singleton Houston Astros
FN-JS2 Jon Singleton Houston Astros
FN-JS3 Jon Singleton Houston Astros
FN-MB1 Mookie Betts Boston Red Sox
FN-MB2 Mookie Betts Boston Red Sox
FN-MB3 Mookie Betts Boston Red Sox
FN-MW1 Michael Wacha St. Louis Cardinals
FN-MW2 Michael Wacha St. Louis Cardinals
FN-MW3 Michael Wacha St. Louis Cardinals
FN-NC1 Nick Castellanos Detroit Tigers
FN-NC2 Nick Castellanos Detroit Tigers
FN-NC3 Nick Castellanos Detroit Tigers
FN-OT1 Oscar Taveras St. Louis Cardinals
FN-OT2 Oscar Taveras St. Louis Cardinals
FN-OT3 Oscar Taveras St. Louis Cardinals
FN-YV1 Yordano Ventura Kansas City Royals
FN-YV2 Yordano Ventura Kansas City Royals
FN-YV3 Yordano Ventura Kansas City Royals

1989 TOPPS MINIS DIE CUT
TM-AB Adrian Beltre Texas Rangers
TM-AG Adrian Gonzalez Los Angeles Dodgers
TM-AJ Adam Jones Baltimore Orioles
TM-AM Andrew McCutchen Pittsburgh Pirates
TM-AR Alexei Ramirez Chicago White Sox
TM-BB Billy Butler Kansas City Royals
TM-BH Bryce Harper Washington Nationals
TM-CB Clay Buchholz Boston Red Sox
TM-CD Chris Davis Baltimore Orioles
TM-CG Carlos Gonzalez Colorado Rockies
TM-CKE Clayton Kershaw Los Angeles Dodgers
TM-CKI Craig Kimbrel Atlanta Braves
TM-DC David Cone New York Mets
TM-DJE Desmond Jennings Tampa Bay Rays
TM-DJT Derek Jeter New York Yankees
TM-DO David Ortiz Boston Red Sox
TM-DW David Wright New York Mets
TM-EE Edwin Encarnacion Toronto Blue Jays
TM-EL Evan Longoria Tampa Bay Rays
TM-GM Greg Maddux Atlanta Braves
TM-GSP George Springer Houston Astros
TM-GST Giancarlo Stanton Miami Marlins
TM-HK Hiroki Kuroda New York Yankees
TM-HR Hanley Ramirez Los Angeles Dodgers
TM-IK Ian Kinsler Detroit Tigers
TM-IR Ivan Rodriguez Houston Astros
TM-JA Jose Abreu Chicago White Sox Rookie
TM-JC Jarred Cosart Houston Astros
TM-JE Jacoby Ellsbury New York Yankees
TM-JF Jose Fernandez Miami Marlins
TM-JH Jason Heyward Atlanta Braves
TM-JM Joe Mauer Minnesota Twins
TM-JV Joey Votto Cincinnati Reds
TM-LG Luis Gonzalez Arizona Diamondbacks
TM-MCA Miguel Cabrera Detroit Tigers
TM-MCI Matt Cain San Francisco Giants
TM-MSC Max Scherzer Detroit Tigers
TM-MST Mel Stottlemyre New York Yankees
TM-OV Omar Vizquel Cleveland Indians
TM-PF Prince Fielder Texas Rangers
TM-PG Paul Goldschmidt Arizona Diamondbacks
TM-RA Roberto Alomar Baltimore Orioles
TM-RB Ryan Braun Milwaukee Brewers
TM-RC Robinson Cano Seattle Mariners
TM-RH Roy Halladay Philadelphia Phillies
TM-TT Troy Tulowitzki Colorado Rockies
TM-VG Vladimir Guerrero Texas Rangers
TM-VM Victor Martinez Detroit Tigers
TM-YD Yu Darvish Texas Rangers
TM-YS Yangervis Solarte New York Yankees

FOND FAREWELLS New Insert Set for Update Series

FF-AK Al Kaline Detroit Tigers
FF-CR Cal Ripken Jr. Baltimore Orioles
FF-DJ Derek Jeter New York Yankees
FF-GB George Brett Kansas City Royals
FF-JS John Smoltz Atlanta Braves
FF-MM Mark McGwire St. Louis Cardinals
FF-MR Mariano Rivera New York Yankees
FF-OV Omar Vizquel Toronto Blue Jays
FF-PK Paul Konerko Chicago White Sox
FF-PM Paul Molitor Minnesota Twins
FF-RC Rod Carew California Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
FF-RH Roy Halladay Philadelphia Phillies
FF-RY Robin Yount Milwaukee Brewers
FF-TH Todd Helton Colorado Rockies
FF-WS Willie Stargell Pittsburgh Pirates

WORLD SERIES HEROES New Insert Set for Update Series

WSH-AP Albert Pujols St. Louis Cardinals
WSH-BM Bill Mazeroski Pittsburgh Pirates
WSH-BR Brooks Robinson Baltimore Orioles
WSH-BSA Bret Saberhagen Kansas City Royals
WSH-BSU Bruce Sutter St. Louis Cardinals
WSH-CC Chris Carpenter St. Louis Cardinals
WSH-CH Cole Hamels Philadelphia Phillies
WSH-CS Chris Sabo Cincinnati Reds
WSH-DC Davd Cone New York Yankees
WSH-DE David Eckstein St. Louis Cardinals
WSH-DF David Freese St. Louis Cardinals
WSH-DJ Derek Jeter New York Yankees
WSH-DO David Ortiz Boston Red Sox
WSH-DS Duke Snider Brooklyn Dodgers
WSH-EM Eddie Murray Baltimore Orioles
WSH-FV Fernando Valenzuela Los Angeles Dodgers
WSH-GB George Brett Kansas City Royals
WSH-GC Gary Carter New York Mets
WSH-GM Greg Maddux Atlanta Braves
WSH-GS Gary Sheffield Florida Marlins
WSH-HA Hank Aaron Milwaukee Braves
WSH-IR Ivan Rodriguez Florida Marlins
WSH-JB Josh Beckett Florida Marlins
WSH-JBE Johnny Bench Cincinnati Reds
WSH-JL John Lackey Anaheim Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
WSH-JM Joe Morgan Cincinnati Reds
WSH-JP Jonathan Papelbon Boston Red Sox
WSH-JS John Smoltz Atlanta Braves
WSH-LH Livan Hernandez Florida Marlins
WSH-MRA Manny Ramirez Boston Red Sox
WSH-MRI Mariano Rivera New York Yankees
WSH-MS Mike Schmidt Philadelphia Phillies
WSH-MW Mookie Wilson New York Mets
WSH-OH Orlando Hernandez New York Yankees
WSH-PMA Pedro Martinez Boston Red Sox
WSH-PMO Paul Molitor Toronto Blue Jays
WSH-PS Pablo Sandoval San Francisco Giants
WSH-RA Roberto Alomar Toronto Blue Jays
WSH-RC Roberto Clemente Pittsburgh Pirates
WSH-RH Rickey Henderson Oakland Athletics
WSH-RJ Reggie Jackson New York Yankees
WSH-RJA Reggie Jackson Oakland Athletics
WSH-RJO Randy Johnson Arizona Diamondbacks
WSH-SC Steve Carlton Philadelphia Phillies
WSH-SK Sandy Koufax Los Angeles Dodgers
WSH-TG Tom Glavine Atlanta Braves
WSH-TL Tim Lincecum San Francisco Giants
WSH-TS Tom Seaver New York Mets
WSH-WF Whitey Ford New York Yankees
WSH-WS Willie Stargell Pittsburgh Pirates

ALL STAR ACCESS New Insert Set for Update Series
ASA-AC Aroldis Chapman Cincinnati Reds
ASA-AJ Adam Jones Baltimore Orioles
ASA-AM Andrew McCutchen Pittsburgh Pirates
ASA-ARA Alexei Ramirez Chicago White Sox
ASA-ARI Anthony Rizzo Chicago Cubs
ASA-BM Brandon Moss Oakland Athletics
ASA-DG Dee Gordon Los Angeles Dodgers
ASA-DJ Derek Jeter New York Yankees
ASA-DM Daniel Murphy New York Mets
ASA-EA Erick Aybar Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
ASA-FH Felix Hernandez Seattle Mariners
ASA-GS Giancarlo Stanton Miami Marlins
ASA-JB Jose Bautista Toronto Blue Jays
ASA-JS Jeff Samardzija Chicago Cubs
ASA-KU Koji Uehara Boston Red Sox
ASA-MCA Miguel Cabrera Detroit Tigers
ASA-MCR Matt Carpenter St. Louis Cardinals
ASA-MS Max Scherzer Detroit Tigers
ASA-MT Mike Trout Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
ASA-RC Robinson Cano Seattle Mariners
ASA-SP Salvador Perez Kansas City Royals
ASA-TT Troy Tulowitzki Colorado Rockies
ASA-YC Yoenis Cespedes Oakland Athletics
ASA-YD Yu Darvish Texas Rangers
ASA-YP Yasiel Puig Los Angeles Dodgers

POWER PLAYERS

PP-AG Adrian Gonzalez Los Angeles Dodgers
PP-AJ Adam Jones Baltimore Orioles
PP-AM Andrew McCutchen Pitsburgh Pirates
PP-AP Albert Pujols Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
PP-AR Anthony Rizzo Chicago Cubs
PP-AW Adam Wainwright St. Louis Cardinals
PP-CGN Carlos Gonzalez Colorado Rockies
PP-CGO Carlos Gomez Milwaukee Brewers
PP-CK Clayton Kershaw Los Angeles Dodgers
PP-FH Felix Hernandez Seattle Mariners
PP-GS Giancarlo Stanton Miami Marlins
PP-HR Hanley Ramirez Los Angeles Dodgers
PP-JA Jose Abreu Chicago White Sox
PP-JB Jose Bautista Toronto Blue Jays
PP-JE Jacoby Ellsbury New York Yankees
PP-JU Justin Upton Atlanta Braves
PP-MC Miguel Cabrera Detroit Tigers
PP-MS Max Scherzer Detroit Tigers
PP-MTA Masahiro Tanaka New York Yankees
PP-MTR Mike Trout Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
PP-PG Paul Goldschmidt Arizona Diamondbacks
PP-RC Robinson Cano Seattle Mariners
PP-SR Sergio Romo San Francisco Giants
PP-TT Troy Tulowitzki Colorado Rockies
PP-YV Yordano Ventura Kansas City Royals

The hunt begins Wednesday. Save me a Master Set, will you??!

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

bdj610’s 2014 End of Year MLB All-Star Teams…The Final Rosters

I was a bit busy yesterday, so I'm sorry if you were waiting for this post (sure you were, right??!)

After going over stats and arguing with myself as to who deserves to be on the team, I have finally finished completing my 36-man teams. I think I can say with confidence that the players who made my All-Star Teams were worthy of inclusion, not just because many of them are major superstars, but because their statistics were high enough above their peers that made them stand out from the rest. And believe me, it was tough to choose. Certain players were left off (I'll list them at the bottom for honorable mentions...and a possible twist.

So, without further ado, here are the players who made my 2014 MLB End of Year All-Star Teams (in alphabetical order by position):

American League First Basemen Jose Abreu, White Sox Miguel Cabrera, Tigers Albert Pujols, Angels Second Basemen Jose Altuve, Astros Robinson Cano, Mariners Brian Dozier, Twins Third Basemen Adrian Beltre, Rangers Josh Donaldson, Athletics Evan Longoria, Rays Shortstops Erick Aybar, Angels Alexei Ramirez, White Sox Jose Reyes, Blue Jays Outfielders Jose Bautista, Blue Jays Michael Brantley, Indians Yoenis Cespedes, Red Sox Nelson Cruz, Orioles Jacoby Ellsbury, Yankees Torii Hunter, Tigers Adam Jones, Orioles J. D. Martinez, Tigers Mike Trout, Angels Catchers Yan Gomes, Indians Brian McCann, Yankees Salvador Perez, Royals Designated Hitter Victor Martinez, Tigers Pitchers Zach Britton, Orioles Wade Davis, Royals Felix Hernandez, Mariners Greg Holland, Royals Corey Kluber, Indians Jon Lester, Athletics David Robertson, Yankees Fernando Rodney, Mariners Chris Sale, White Sox Max Scherzer, Tigers Jered Weaver, Angels

National League First Basemen Lucas Duda, Mets Adrian Gonzalez, Dodgers Anthony Rizzo, Cubs Second Basemen Dee Gordon, Dodgers Daniel Murphy, Mets Chase Utley, Phillies Third Basemen Todd Frazier, Reds Casey McGehee, Marlins Anthony Rendon, Nationals Shortstops Starlin Castro, Cubs Ian Desmond, Nationals Johnny Peralta, Cardinals Outfielders Carlos Gomez, Brewers Matt Holliday, Cardinals Andrew McCutchen, Pirates Hunter Pence, Giants Seth Smith, Padres Denard Span, Nationals Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins Justin Upton, Braves Jayson Werth, Nationals Catchers Jonathan Lucroy, Brewers Miguel Montero, Diamondbacks Buster Posey, Giants Designated Hitter Justin Morneau, Rockies Pitchers Madison Bumgarner, Giants Aroldis Chapman, Reds Johnny Cueto, Reds Zack Greinke, Dodgers Kenley Jansen, Dodgers Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers Craig Kimbrel, Braves Trevor Rosenthal, Cardinals Adam Wainwright, Cardinals Tony Watson, Pirates Jordan Zimmermann, Nationals

Most of the position players were chosen based on statistics comparing the top eight position players in each league (hits, runs, home runs, rbi's, walks, strikeouts, stolen bases, caught stealing, and batting average). In most cases, the players I had chosen earlier due to the one person per team rule made the top three.

In previous years, I tended to show a little more bias to Chicago players (on both sides) in cases where if I thought I could choose them over another person, I would (hey, I'm from Chicago, what can I say). But since I'm now announcing these publicly (compared to doing this privately in my mind), I thought I'd try to be as open minded as I can and pick the proper deserving players. Although both Chicago teams didn't fare very well this season (heck, even the priest of our church said prayers couldn't help them win the division this year, and this was before Opening Day). But all five Cubs or White Sox players who were selected to participate in the game (save the guy who was traded to Oakland) made it onto the teams this year. Sole player reps on teams this year include the Astros (Altuve), Rangers (Beltre), Rays (Longoria), Red Sox (Cespedes), Twins (Dozier), Diamondbacks (Montero), Padres (S. Smith), Phillies (Utley), and Rockies (Morneau). The Tigers send a league-high five players to the AL squad. The Nationals again have five players to the team, most in the NL. The Orioles and Cardinals each send four players onto the All-Star Teams.

There are 22 players on both rosters making my All-Star Teams for the very first time, eleven on each side.

Are there snubs? You bet. On the AL, as mentioned before, the DH spot was an issue, only because I only allow one spot on the roster for it. It was a three-man race between the Astros' Chris Carter, the Red Sox' David Ortiz, and the Tigers' Victor Martinez. Although MLB makes the AL add two DH's to their team (a starter voted by the fans, and then a backup voted by the players), with all of the great hitters already on the team, I see no need to add more than one DH to the teams, especially when I actually run simulations. Second base was also very contentious. Because I picked Brian Dozier of the Twins during my "every team needs a rep" portion in selecting the teams, it knocked out the Tigers' Ian Kinsler. It was a toss-up either way between Kinsler and Cano, for the last second base position.

On the NL side, I decided to place NL batting champion Justin Morneau as the DH. That left one first baseman spot open. It was also a tossup between the Braves' Freddie Freeman and the Dodgers' Adrian Gonzalez, with Gonzalez eventually being my pick. Second base was a tough call between Dee Gordon of the Dodgers and the Pirates' Neil Walker. Because I'm taking into consideration that I am actually simulating games, I decided to add the speedy Gordon rather than the Walker as there are enough sluggers on the NL side. The NL outfield started with Stanton, Smith, and Gomez. I actually wound up picking two more RF's (Pence/Werth), CF's (McCutchen/Span), and LF's (Holliday/Upton). But those picks left out players like Charlie Blackmon of the Rockies, Matt Kemp of the Dodgers, and Marcell Ozuna of the Marlins.

Now it's time to add a poll to this website, something I haven't done in quite a while, and will leave it up and running for a while. This is also the first time I'm going to let the readers (if I have any out there) have a say on who makes these teams, so if this works (meaning I get enough people voting), it may be something I'll do every year.

Just like MLB's Final Man Vote, I am going to list five players for each league. Tell me which snub should have been added to the team. The players are:

American League RP Dellin Betances, Yankees DH Chris Carter, Astros SP Wei-Yin Chen, Orioles 2B Ian Kinsler, Tigers DH David Ortiz, Red Sox

National League OF Charlie Blackmon, Rockies 1B Freddie Freeman, Braves OF Matt Kemp, Dodgers RP Francisco Rodriguez, Brewers 2B Neil Walker, Pirates

I'll give this a go for two-weeks. The players with the most votes (and you will only be allowed to pick one player, unless you go on multiple computers and continually vote) will be added to the above teams in what I will call the "HBC Final-Man selection." They will be added to the rosters when I run my simulations next year. Again, if there are enough votes for this, I will make this a yearly thing. Otherwise, this might just be a one-hit wonder and will be scrapped.

So ends the presentation for my 2014 End of Year MLB All-Star Teams. Please feel free to comment, debate, tell me that I did a good job, or that I don't know what I'm talking about and should have put in this person for another.

I promise I will get to running the simulations (thanks to SBS baseball) once the stats are uploaded onto the website next year. This way, we can see which of the above squads would win if they faced each other. I will also make sure images of all the cards of the players (if I have to, I'll try and make some) once the Cyber Museum uploads images of the 2014 Update Series cards on their site.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

bdj610's 2014 End of Year MLB All-Star Teams...Every Team Needs a Representative

With the pitching staffs set in our last All-Star Team post, the next step is to make sure that every team gets at least one representative. I believe in the All-Star rule that every team, no matter how well or how poorly they did, has at least one person they could tag as an All-Star, based on his performance on the field. If it means that another person gets snubbed, that's sadly the way it goes. It does not matter how many spots there are on an All-Star team, someone always manages to be left out.

Now the pitching staffs from both sides locked in one representative from nine of the AL teams and seven of the NL teams. So that means in this post, I am going to name six position players in the AL, and eight in the NL.

On the American League side, the Orioles, White Sox, Indians, Tigers, Angels, Royals, Yankees, Athletics, and Mariners have representatives. These six players will ensure that the AL has all 15 teams represented:

• OF Yoenis Cespedes, Red Sox (.260, 22 HR, 100 RBI)
• 2B Jose Altuve, Astros (.341, 7 HR, 59 RBI)
• 2B Brian Dozier, Twins (.242, 23 HR, 71 RBI)
• 3B Evan Longoria, Rays (.253, 22 HR, 91 RBI)
• 3B Adrian Beltre, Rangers (.324, 19 HR, 77 RBI)
• OF Jose Bautista, Blue Jays (.286, 35 HR, 103 RBI)

With two of the three 2B and 3B positions filled, it's going to be very tough to pick the player who takes the final spot. Many worthy candidates will be left out, I can sadly guarantee. The hardest team to find a proper player rep was probably the Red Sox. Yes, the defending World Series champs had an extremely bad year. And yes, David Ortiz had another fantastic year. The problem is that there is only one spot for the DH, and there were too many guys to consider there. Now, I'm not going to say if Big Papi made the team yet (stay tuned on Thursday to find out), but I figured that Cespedes, with his combined numbers with the A's and Red Sox, was a proper pick. Now, could he be the only BoSox player going?

In the NL, the Braves, Reds, Dodgers, Pirates, Cardinals, Giants, and Nationals have representatives. These eight players will ensure that the NL has all 15 teams represented:

• C Miguel Montero, Diamondbacks (.243, 13 HR, 72 RBI)
• 1B Anthony Rizzo, Cubs (.286, 32 HR, 78 RBI)
• 1B Justin Morneau, Rockies (.319, 17 HR, 82 RBI)
• OF Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins (.288, 37 HR, 105 RBI)
• OF Carlos Gomez, Brewers (.284, 23 HR, 73 RBI)
• 1B Lucas Duda, Mets (.253, 30 HR, 92 RBI)
• 2B Chase Utley, Phillies (.264, 25 HR, 85 RBI)
• OF Seth Smith, Padres (.266, 12 HR, 48 RBI)

Before you go screaming that the 1B spots are now full and that someone may be left out, understand that Justin Morneau won the NL batting title this year, so he needs to be on here. Now, does this mean that he can't be moved over to the DH position (as that is usually filled by the hitter with the best average who had not been picked for the team after the fielding positions were filled)? Duda and Rizzo were picked because they were the best power hitters on their respective teams (Mets and Cubs). Adding Stanton, Gomez, and Smith leaves six outfield spots open, which works out well considering that normally, the OF spots are usually filled by guys who wind up being the sole representative of their team.

Now before you start to say, "Where's this guy?" or, "Why didn't my guy make the team?" Please keep in mind that I'm not done filling out the team. These 14 guys are only here so that all 30 teams have a player. The best (trust me) is still yet to come.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

bdj610's 2014 End of Year MLB All-Star Teams...The Starting Pitchers

Yesterday, I named the bullpens for each of my 2014 End of the Year All-Star Teams. Now it's time to name the starters.

To recap, here is my American League relief corps:

• Zach Britton, Orioles
• Wade Davis, Royals
• Greg Holland, Royals
• David Robertson, Yankees
• Fernando Rodney, Mariners

and the National League bullpen:

• Aroldis Chapman, Reds
• Kenley Jansen, Dodgers
• Craig Kimbrel, Braves
• Trevor Rosenthal, Cardinals
• Tony Watson, Pirates

So, who would they be relieving???

Starting with the American League six-man rotation, we have (in alphabetical order):

• Felix Hernandez, Mariners (15-6, 2.14 ERA, 248 K's)
• Corey Kluber, Indians (18-9, 2.44 ERA, 269 K's)
• Jon Lester, Athletics (16-11, 2.46 ERA, 220 K's)
• Chris Sale, White Sox (12-4, 2.17 ERA, 208 K's)
• Max Scherzer, Tigers (18-5, 3.15 ERA, 252 K's)
• Jered Weaver, Angels (18-9, 3.59 ERA, 169 K's)

Honorable mentions go out to (meaning, if I had more space, I'd would have added) Wei-Yin Chen of the Orioles (16-6, 3.54, 136 K's), Phil Hughes of the Twins (16-10, 3.52, 186 K's), Matt Shoemaker of the Angels (16-4, 3.04, 124 K's), David Price of the Tigers (15-12, 3.26, 271 K's), and Dallas Keuchel of the Astros (12-9, 2.93, 146 K's). Most teams cringe just thinking about facing just one of these six aces, imagine if they were all on the same team.

In the National League, my All-Star six man rotation includes:

• Madison Bumgarner, Giants (18-10, 2.98 ERA, 186 K's)
• Johnny Cueto, Reds (20-9, 2.25 ERA, 242 K's)
• Zack Greinke, Dodgers (17-8, 2.71 ERA, 207 K's)
• Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers (21-3, 1.77 ERA, 239 K's)
• Adam Wainwright, Cardinals (20-9, 2.38 ERA, 179 K's)
• Jordan Zimmermann, Nationals (14-5, 2.66 ERA, 182 K's)

Honorable mentions go out to Doug Fister of the Nationals (16-6, 2.41 ERA, 98 K's), Wily Peralta of the Brewers (17-11, 3.53 ERA, 154 K's), Tyson Ross of the Padres (13-14, 3.54 ERA, 1954 K's), Jake Arrieta of the Cubs (10-5, 2.53 ERA, 167 K's), and Julio Teheran of the Braves (14-13, 2.89 ERA, 186 K's). These guys had great numbers in 2014, and would make a dominant rotation on their own.

So the pitching staffs are done. Next, we'll get to the position players. The first step is to ensure that every team has a representative, regardless of what position he plays. At this point, five AL teams and seven teams from the NL need to have a player. I have a few people in mind. Who will they be? Tune in some time tomorrow and find out.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

bdj610's 2014 End of Year MLB All-Star Teams...The Relief Pitchers

As the playoffs are going into full swing, it's time for my favorite time of the year, the naming of bdj610's End of the Year All-Star Teams.

With the introduction of the 2014 bdj610's End of the Year All-Star Teams, it will be the 26th straight season that I've been creating these imaginary teams. How significant is this? Let's put it this way. Twenty-nine MLB teams have made the playoffs since I first started this back in 1988. The final team, the Royals, just made the playoffs for the first time since 1985. And by the way they're playing, they'll be really hard to beat.

But I digress.

If you want to know what the heck I'm talking about and why I have created All-Star Teams for both leagues since I was 12 years old, please review the introduction and brief history (ahem...brief???) as to why I have done this every year for the past 26 years.

Quick rules on how I comprise the teams:

• Two teams, one American League team, and one National League team
• There are 36 spots on each team (three first basemen, three second basemen, three third basemen, three shortstops, nine outfielders, three catchers, six starting pitchers, four relief pitchers/closers, one relief pitcher/set-up, and one DH-the NL spot is taken by the player with the highest average who did not make the team at any position)
• Every team gets a representative. No exceptions. If a player gets snubbed by a guy who is only there because a team needed a rep, then that's sadly the way it goes.

This is going to be a four-post process. Today, I will announce the bullpen staffs for each team.

Why start with the bullpens?

Because it's relatively simple. The top four guys with the most saves are automatically on the teams. Usually.

Last year, I started with the National League staff, this time, I'll begin the American League closers. On this year's team are:

• Fernando Rodney, Mariners (1-6, 2.85, 48 saves)
• Greg Holland, Royals (1-3, 1.44, 46 saves)
• David Robertson, Yankees (4-5, 3.08, 39 saves)
• Zach Britton, Orioles (3-2, 1.65, 37 saves)

These four players led the American League in saves. Others I had considered were actual 2014 All-Stars Sean Doolittle of the Athletics (2-4, 2.73 ERA, 22 saves, 0.73 WHIP) and Glen Perkins of the Twins (4-3, 3.65 ERA, 34 saves).

The National League closers for the 2014 team are:

• Craig Kimbrel, Braves (0-3, 1.61, 47 saves)
• Trevor Rosenthal, Cardinals (2-6, 3.20, 45 saves)
• Kenley Jansen, Dodgers (2-3, 2.76, 44 saves)
• Aroldis Chapman, Reds (0-3, 2.00, 36 saves, 0.83 WHIP)

I get that Aroldis was out for a period earlier in the season (thanks to a line drive to the head), but based on his numbers, if he were to pitch another 10 to 15 games, he could have easily been up there with Kimbrel and Rosenthal. The fact that he came back as soon as he did and not miss a beat is incredible enough. Francisco Rodriguez of the Brewers (5-5, 3.04, 44 saves, 0.99 WHIP), Steve Cishek of the Marlins (4-5, 3.17, 39 saves), and Jonathan Papelbon (2-3, 2.04, 39 saves, 0.90 WHIP) were also considered for the bullpen spots. Side note:  Rosenthal becomes the third different Cardinals closer to make it onto the All-Star team for the third consecutive season (Edward Mujica in 2013, Jason Motte in 2012).

If recent All-Star Game history has shown us, it's that middle relief pitchers, those guys who ride the bullpen, and barely ever get any baseball cards, are now an important part of any All-Star bullpen. So many great pitching performances this year by so many different players, it's just so hard to choose just one player to fill this spot. But one spot is available on both sides for a middle reliever. When all was said and done though, the two players I selected were more than qualified to make it onto the respective teams.

The AL Middle Reliever for the 2014 team is Wade Davis of the Royals. He led the AL in holds with 33, earned an impressive 9-2 record (which means that he was able to hold the opposing team down just before the Royals would mount one of their famous comebacks), an ERA of 1.00, struck out 109 batters, and achieved a 0.85 WHIP. Opposing batters could only muster a .151 batting average against him. The only other person who was considered was Yankees' All-Star Dellin Betances (5-0, 1.50 ERA, 135 K's, 1.09 WHIP, .149 BAA, 22 holds).

The NL Middle Reliever for the 2014 team is the Pirates' Tony Watson. His 34 holds were good for second in the NL, but a 10-2 record (which also means that he kept opposing teams down before his Bucs would rally), along with a 1.63 ERA, 81 strikeouts, and a 1.02 WHIP was more than enough to get him added as the middle reliever. Others in consideration for this spot include Tyler Clippard of the Nationals (7-4, 2.18 ERA, 82 K's, 40 holds), and Pat Neshek of the Cardinals (7-2, 1.87, 68 K's, 0.79 WHIP, 25 holds).

So right now, we've named the bullpens for each team. Who will fill out the rest of the rosters? Tomorrow, I will name the six starting pitchers that will round out the pitching staffs on each team.

By Wednesday, every team will get a representative as I announce just some of the players who will take spots on both leagues' rosters.

And finally on Thursday, I will round out the rest of the rosters and introduce the complete American and National League teams.

Wait and see. It's going to look good I promise.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama