Burner Turner

I was lucky enough to watch to future first round draft picks play baseball at NC State the last couple of years.  Most baseball folks are familiar with left-handed pitching prospect Carlos Rodon who was drafted third overall by the White Sox.  It was long rumored that the Astros were going to use the first overall pick for the hard throwing starting pitcher, but third is still pretty good.  A little bit later in the first round the San Diego Padres selected Trea Turner who was the shortstop off the Wolfpack baseball team throughout Rodon's time in Raleigh.  

Turner was definitely a speed guy in college.  He's got some pop and he's a good fielder too, but the wheels are really what stood out when you watched him play at that level.  

Turner started out in Low A for the Padres, but was promoted towards the end of the summer to their High A team in the Midwest League.  Turner played almost 50 games and squeezed in 200 plate appearances for the Fort Wayne Tin Caps (great name) and posted a .369/.447/.529 line with 4 home runs and 14 steals.  The Padres sent Turner onto the Arizona Fall League where he has had some great games.  

and as the end of the baseball calendar rolls around and the draft sets start to hit the market, I am getting my first cracks at some Trea Turner cards since I landed a few of his USA Baseball autographs a few summers ago.  First up is his Leaf Draft autograph.....

The Turner card is the base version on his autograph out of the Leaf set.  No print runs of 50 or anything, but it is still a really cool card.  I like the fact that Turner is wearing his NC State uniform in the picture.  I just wish it had the Block S logo on the helmet and jersey.  I am going to go watch that cool rally video they play at the State baseball games and go bid on some more Turner autographs.  Go Pack!  Go Turner!  

It's come to this...Leaf Cards.

You can feel the air getting colder outside and the baseball season has ended.  There are only a few card releases left on the calendar and the majority of 2014 cards have been opened and sorted.  Back in the day things would be ramping up for the 2015 Topps products to drop sometime around the holiday shopping season.  Instead the new year products drop in February which means I will probably walk down deserted streets in 2 inches of snow to the Target to buy a few packs of the new cards before I venture into my local card shop to open a jumbo.

So what is there to do right now?  Yes, I will do a little bit of work on Bowman Draft.  That Panini Draft product might be a little intriguing.  Maybe.  I have made a few trades of late and have a few cards I am keeping a close eye out for (TJ Warren in an NC State uniform and Rays acetate cards), but really I am not sure what I really need to add to close out the year.  Maybe I will spend some time Tuesday finding some holes to fill in for 2014, but really.......

I found two autographs that a collector on Facebook was unloading cheaply and decided to bite on both cards.  They're Leaf cards.  I have gone on enough rants already about unlicensed cards, so I will spare you a little bit here.  Basically, there are a few college players from the 2014 draft I have been interested in, but had not really thought to go the Leaf route.  There's the two NC State players (Rodon and Turner) and the Cardinals and Rays have a few players stuck in there too.  I picked up one of each.

First up is former NC State star, and White Sox first round draft pick, Carlos Rodon.  This is the blue copy of his Leaf Draft card.  Yes, I noticed that Rodon is wearing a White Sox uniform with no logos on the card.  I am happy to have a copy of a Rodon autograph as a pro.  Rodon made it all the way up to Triple A Charlotte last year and will not be surprised if he makes it up to the Majors quickly in 2015.  I dare say he might start there, but I honestly think he's back in the International League for a few starts.  He has looked good so far in the minors.....

I also picked up a card of Rays top draft pick Casey Gillaspie.  He's already considered the team's best prospect and was selected 20th overall out of Wichita State.

Gillespie seems to have plenty of power, but is really really slow.  You do not have to run fast however when the ball is on the other side of the fence.  He still might be another year or two away from Tampa, but this looks like a pretty good swing.....

The Gillaspie card is from the same set as the Rodon, but this is the base look for the autographs.  While Gillaspie is considered the Rays best prospect at the moment, it's not like the players in their system are world beaters around the card industry.  Still this card has been selling for more than $10 on Ebay, which is pretty good for a non-lisenced autograph of a non-big name prospect.  Maybe he's going to be pretty good.  Time will tell.