Mailday: January 23, 2024

In order to get through some of these packages quickly, it might be easier to just do a general mailday post, unless there is something really special.  So, the mail arrived on Tuesday and contained a few packages that seemed to get lost while we were completely covered in snow for a week.  

Up first is a Connor Wong card:

This is the 2022 Panini Immaculate Clear Button card.  I believe this is my third button card of Wong.  It is serial-numbered to 10 and puts me at 506 Connor Wong cards.

Up next is a group of three auctions from 2023 Panini Prizm, one of my favorite sets from last year.  Each auction consisted of a base card and a parallel, all of which I needed.

1.  Tim Wakefield.  Wakefield's death last year really affected me.  I watched Wakefield since I was 14 years old.  He was one of my favorites.  The knuckleballer was so much fun to watch.  So, I have determined I should get more cards of Wakefield.

2.  Miguel Bleis.  Bleis is somewhat of a forgotten prospect at this point.  He went into last year expected to make a big splash.  Then he got hurt and missed most of the year.  He is still Boston's number five prospect and hopefully he will get back on track. 

3.  Carlton Fisk.  I love the photo on these cards.  I have not seen it before, which makes it that much more appealing.

Up next is a TCDB trade.  There are going to be a lot of these in the coming weeks.  I recently added all the Red Sox cards I did not have to my wantlist and suddenly there are tons of offers.  I have gone with the flow so far, but it has been a bit overwhelming.

1.  Enmanuel Valdez.  I seem to be a magnet for Valdez cards.  I am having no problems adding him.

2.  Nazzan Zanetello.  Boston has been drafting a lot of shortstops in recent years.  That makes sense since the shortstop on college and high school teams tend to be the most athletic players.  Zanetello was Boston's second-round pick (Kyle Teel did not appear in Draft in 2023) and signed for an above-slot bonus.  So, he must be highly-regarded.

3.  Connelly Early.  Early was Boston's fifth-round pick in 2023  

4.  Kristian Campbell.  Campbell was selected in the compensatory part of the fourth round in 2023.

5.  Justin Riemer.  Riemer was another compensatory pick in the fourth round.  His bonus was slightly above slot.

6.  Reese McGuire.  McGuire has been popping up a fair amount lately too after not having any Red Sox cards until just a couple months ago.

7.  David Ortiz.  I suspect there are going to be a lot of Ortiz cards as a result of the trading on TCDB.  

8.  James Paxton.  Paxton recently became the latest former Red Sox to catch on with the Dodgers.  I would have liked to see him back on a reasonable deal.  When he was on last year, he was great.

9.  Rob Refsndyer.  Refsnyder will be in a similar role as Boston's fourth outfielder in 2024.

10.  Trey Ball.  Ball is one of the bigger draft busts in recent years for the Red Sox.  Ball was drafted seventh overall in 2013 but never came close to the Majors.  

11.  Garin Cecchini.  Cecchini was a well-regarded third-base prospect, but only ended up playing in 13 games.  He did get to hit a home run though.

12.  Teddy Stankiewicz.  Stankiewicz also never made the Majors.  

13.  Anthony Ranaudo.  Ranaudo had the most success of these players in the Majors.  He was 4-3 with a 4.81 ERA in 39.1 innings, striking out 15 and walking 16.  He was then traded to the Rangers for Robbie Ross and appeared in games with the Rangers and White Sox.

1.  J.D. Martinez.  Martinez is one of several free agents still out there right now.  Boston needs a right-handed power bat, but I would be surprised if he came back.

2.  Jose Iglesias.  I think of Iglesias as a more successful version of Tzu-Wei Lin.  Longtime readers will remember my obsession with Lin.  Iglesias was an international free agent middle infielder renowned for his defense.  I even briefly considered a mini-player collection of him.  He made the Majors on the strength of his defense, but he stuck around and had a successful career because of his ability to make some contact.  He even came back to Boston at the point of this card.

3.  Kyle Schwarber.  Schwarber will go down as one of Bloom's better trades.  He was awesome in Boston, but his inability to play reasonable defense anywhere made it hard to bring him back unless the DH spot was open.  When J.D. Martinez did not opt out, Schwarber was not able to stay in Boston.

4.  Christian Vazquez/Xander Bogaerts.  Hard to believe, but both of these players are now gone from Boston.  It was Vazquez's trade that apparently made Bogaerts realize he could leave Boston.  I think his contract with the Padres is already being looked at as a mistake though.

5.  Pedro Martinez.  Martinez has been working with Brayan Bello this offseason, hopefully that will lead to another step forward for the young pitcher.

6.  Freili Encarnacion.  Encarnacion is a potential power bat infielder who was signed as an international free agent.  He is 19 and has yet to reach A-ball, so there is a lot of uncertainty here.

And finally, a package from Zippy Zappy:

A dual game-used bat of two of my favorite all-time Red Sox: Jason Varitek and Wade Boggs.  I have not decided what my collecting goals for 2024 are yet.  I don't think I will do a year specific for Varitek, most of the cards being produced of him now are autographs.  Still, I think pushing him to 1,250 is possible, but may take awhile.

Thanks ZZ!