2023 Topps Archives Team Set

I picked up this team set on Ebay recently.  I have not had a chance to try out my luck with the set through packs so I needed every card.  That did deprive me of a chance of seeing if I could pull some Fan Favorites autos, but the Red Sox cards for that were sort of underwhelming this year.  Boston's options were David Ortiz, Fred Lynn and Masataka Yoshida.  Which are fine, but I like it better when Topps unearths some lesser-known players.  Like they did last year with Eddie Bressoud.

Anyway, here are the base cards:

1.  Enmanuel Valdez.  He took a step backwards from his minor league stats in 2022, but Valdez is still just 24 and hit reasonably well in a couple stints in the Majors.  His defense needs some major help though.

2.  Triston Casas.  Had he not started so slow and then gotten hurt for the last few weeks of the season, Casas might have finished higher than third in the Rookie of the Year vote.  He finished the year hitting .263/.367/.490 with 24 home runs and 65 RBIs.  He too needs to work on his defense.

3.  Trevor Story.  Story has played in just 137 games with Boston, hitting .227/.287/.398 with 19 home runs, 80 RBIs and 23 stolen bases.  Those numbers would be acceptable if they were in one season, but that's over two years.  Hopefully he will be healthy in 2024.  His defense has been fantastic though.

4.  Brayan Bello.  Since I just talked about Bello yesterday, I don't need to go back over him today.

5.  Enrique Hernandez.  Hernandez was one of the worst players in the game last season while with Boston and was eventually dealt back to the Dodgers.  That's a shame because he had some great moments in Boston, particularly the 2021 postseason when he was absolutely on fire.

6.  Wade Boggs.  I have talked about Boggs a lot too.  My first favorite player.

7.  Tris Speaker.  I like that some of these older players have different photos being used.  This card highlights Speaker's speed.  He stole 267 bases while with the Red Sox.

8.  Ted Williams.  Another photo that has not been overdone.  This is a Red Sox blog, I've talked about Williams a ton.  The all-time franchise player.

9.  Rafael Devers.  Another player I talk about a lot.

10.  Nomar Garciaparra.  Lately there has been a push for some higher-peak players for the Hall of Fame.  I wonder how long it will be before Nomar starts to get re-examined.

11.  Justin Turner.  Man, Turner was fun to watch last season.  I would love it if Boston brought him back in 2024.  He hit .276/.345/.455 with 23 home runs and 96 RBIs.  

12.  Chris Sale.  Sale was traded to the Braves a couple weeks ago for infielder Vaughn Grissom.  This will be an interesting trade to monitor.  Sale has been disappointing in Boston for about five years now.

13.  Carl Yastrzemski.  Another new photo for a player I have discussed endlessly on this blog.

14.  Alex Verdugo.  Verdugo was also traded, for a package of Yankees pitching prospects.  The big name is Richard Fitts and the one most likely to make an impact this season is Greg Weissert.

15.  Babe Ruth.  Unfortunately, we see this picture a lot.  There have to be some photos that are not overused of the Babe with the Red Sox.

16.  Masataka Yoshida.  I do not put too much stock in trade rumors involving Yoshida.  I think Boston is doing their due diligence in listening to offers, but someone would have to blow them away for Boston to trade him.  Yoshida finished sixth in the Rookie of the Year vote.