A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That

Today's post is some rando stuff that I've gotten in recently, along with a blaster break.

Up first is a two-card TCDB trade with some boxed oddball cards from the 1980's:

1.  Wade Boggs.  Unfortunately, I was not collecting at the height of the oddball craze in the 1980's when you could walk into Rite-Aid and pick up a special box of cards.  So, I still have to work to find some of these things.  

2.  Mike Greenwell.  Greenwell was once one of the brightest young stars in the game and looked like a superstar for years to come.  After 1988 though he just sort of settled into being a good, occasionally very good, player.  He still hit .303 for his career, which is often overlooked.

Up next is a blaster of 2024 Topps:

1.  Masataka Yoshida.  Yoshida started off the season a little slowly, but has started getting it going in recent days.  

2.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Rafaela signed an extension shockingly.  His defense has been terrific, but there have been some growing pains offensively.  He's a bit of a free swinger, which is a bit problematic.  We will see where that leads.  He will likely settle in at shortstop for this season.

3.  Kenley Jansen.  He has had a couple of rough outings but seems to be stabilizing.  I still think he is going to get traded.

1.  Keith Foulke.  This was a one-card deal that got me a jersey relic of Boston's closer for the 2004 season.  That season he was 5-3 with a 2.17 ERA, 79 strikeouts against 15 walks in 83 innings, and saving 32 games.  Unfortunately, he was never again a reliable closer, but he made a big impact in 2004.

1.  Trevor Story.  Unfortunately, one of my big predictions for the year will not come true.  Story suffered a season-ending shoulder injury a couple weeks ago.  I really thought he was going to be healthy this season and turn in a 20/20, Gold Glove season.

2.  Manny Ramirez.  Ramirez is still playing professional baseball in Asia and just hit a home run the other day.  He says he is not officially retired.

3.  Bobby Dalbec.  One of my more negative predictions was that Dalbec would be released by the Red Sox.  That hasn't happened yet, but considering he has just one hit in 32 plate appearances with 18 strikeouts, it probably is not far off.

4.  J.D. Martinez.  Martinez had a bounceback season last year with the Dodgers but has yet to play for the Mets this season.

5.  Alex Verdugo.  I expect his tenure with the Yankees to be short.  I just do not see him enjoying the much more strict clubhouse culture of the Yankees.  He's not playing great right now either.