I am way behind. Maybe I will throw everything together at once. Let's do something a bit different and do a count for how many of each player are in this huge post. It probably will not be a surprise who wins.
1. Brayan Bello. Card #1. Bello imploded in his postseason start last year and was the subject of trade rumors all winter. He had a good year last year and remains a break-out candidate, but it is becoming increasingly likely that this is just who he is.
2. Nick Pivetta. Card #1. Pivetta had a nice season for San Diego last year. I always thought he was capable of that.
3. Marcelo Mayer. Card #1. Mayer could win either the second base or third base spot with a strong spring.
4. Ceddanne Rafaela. Card #1 (of likely many). I went through a brief phase recently of trying to get each of the animal patterns for 2023 Leaf Exotic. This is the clown fish pattern. You know, Nemo.
5. Ceddanne Rafaela. Card #2. This was a quick one-for-one trade on the TCDB forum.
6. Xander Bogaerts. Card #1. Bogaerts looks like one of the worst contracts going right now. He still has an outside shot at building to a Hall of Fame career though. He should have never been allowed to leave Boston.
7. Dustin Pedroia. Card #1. Speaking of outside shots at the Hall of Fame. I was pleasantly surprised by Pedroia's gains this year. It's going to take awhile, but he could get in some day.
8. Pedro Martinez. Card #1. Pedro is of course, already in.
9. Tris Speaker. Card #1. So is Speaker.
10. Triston Casas. Card #1. I have no idea what Boston is going to do with Casas this year. They never traded an outfielder, so they still have Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, Roman Anthony and Ceddanne Rafaela in the outfield and DH, plus Masataka Yoshida. And now Willson Contreras at first base.
11. Walker Buehler. Card #1. Man, what a disaster Buehler was in Boston. That was just frustrating. I like the guy, but he did very little in Boston. A 5.45 ERA is just not getting it done.
12. Ceddanne Rafaela. Card #3. Still the only guy with multiple cards. So far.
13. John Schreiber. Card #1. I was disappointed when Boston traded Schreiber. At least he finally has a card with the Red Sox.
14. Dom DiMaggio. Card #1. At one point, there was some talk about him getting elected to the Hall via the Veterans Committee. Unfortunately, they never seemed to have the right mix of voting members to do so, not like the all the Giants players elected in the 60's and 70's.
15. Jose Peraza. Card #1. Like Buehler, Peraza was a one-year wonder for a reason, he was very bad in Boston. He had a 64 OPS+. That is simply awful.
16. Connor Wong. Card #1. I still get Wong cards on occasion, but his year was so bad last year that I have lost a lot of enthusiasm for it. It came out that he was dealing with injuries all year long, so let's see if he rebounds this year before I decide whether to move on entirely, not that I would ever get rid of my cards of him.
17. Mookie Betts. Card #1. These cards came from a Topps Update blaster. Mookie is, to date, the last Red Sox player to win MVP. He had a phenomenal 2018 season in which he won the batting title and became Boston's second 30/30 man.
18. Kristian Campbell. Card #1. Another player seemingly left out in the cold. He was so good early last season that he was rewarded with a big contract, then he struggled and was sent back to the minors. I have no idea where he starts this season.
19. Walker Buehler. Card #2. Finally, a player besides Ceddanne Rafaela gets a second card.
20. Marcelo Mayer. Card #2.
21. Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer. Card #2 for Campbell, Card #3 for Mayer. Mayer has tied Rafaela. For now.
22. Kristian Campbell. Card #3. And now there is a three-man race. For now.
23. Ceddanne Rafaela. Card #4. Just when there was a bit of a race, it looks like here is where Rafaela pulls way ahead. I considered focusing on Prizm parallels for a bit too.
24. Ceddanne Rafaela. Card #5.
25. Ceddanne Rafaela. Card #6. This is the Zebra Prizm card. I love this one.
26. Ceddanne Rafaela. Card #7.
27. Ceddanne Rafaela. Card #8. I love the red, white and blue of this card.
28. Ceddanne Rafaela. Card #9.29. Ceddanne Rafaela. Card #10. I squeezed the A&G mini in here.
30. Kristian Campbell. Card #4. He's not giving in yet.
31. Franklin Arias. Card #1. Arias is really high on some top prospect lists. Keith Law has him at #12. He's still pretty low in the minors for me to get that excited about him yet, but he looks pretty good.
32. Ceddanne Rafaela. Card #11. Another Prizm parallel.
33. David Price. Card #1. I still think he should have been the World Series MVP in 2018.
34. J.D. Martinez. Card #1. This trade was great because it contained four of these cards that were only available in National Trading Card Day packs at Fenway. I like in Nebraska so I couldn't exactly run over and get them.
35. Willy Mota. Card #1. It also included this card which was only available in special complete sets from Topps along with four other rookie cards. Mota never made the Majors.
36. Steve Pearce. Card #1. I don't mean to disparage what Pearce did in the World Series when I say Price should have won it, Pearce was awesome.
37. David Price. Card #2.
38. Chris Sale. Card #1. Man, that Chris Sale trade looks awful. Boston never got anything out of Vaughn Grissom and then traded him to the Angels for a prospect over the winter.
39. Ceddanne Rafaela. Card #12. Will anyone even come close?
40. Ceddanne Rafaela. Card #13.
41. Ceddanne Rafaela. Card #14.
42. Ceddanne Rafaela. Card #15.
43. Ceddanne Rafaela. Card #16.
44. Danny Janzen. Card #1. Yet another card celebrating his unique achievement of playing in the same game with both teams.
45. Kutter Crawford. Card #1. Crawford is another player seemingly left behind. He was decent in 2024, but missed all of 2025 with injuries, and now has to find playing time.
46. Tris Speaker. Card #2.
47. Ceddanne Rafaela. Card #17. He's running away with it.
48. Ceddanne Rafaela. Card #18.
49. Ceddanne Rafaela. Card #19.
50. Ceddanne Rafaela. Card #20.
51. Ceddanne Rafaela. Card #21.
52. Masataka Yoshida. Card #1. I like Yoshida. I hope he finds a way to get some playing time. When he was finally healthy last season, he hit really well.
53. Caleb Hamilton. Card #1. Hamilton played four games with Boston, without a hit.
54. Bobby Doerr. Card #1. A Hall of Famer who got in via the Veterans Committee for the Red Sox.
55. Chris Sale. Card #2.
56. Trevor Story. Card #1. Story had a weird issue on defense late in the season that took him out of the running for Gold Glove. It seemed more mental than anything, almost like the yips.
57. Brayan Bello. Card #2.
58. Marcus Wilson. Card #1. Wilson never played for the Red Sox. He was the return they got when Blake Swihart was traded to Arizona. He appeared in a handful of games for the Mariners.
59. Alex Verdugo. Card #1.
60. Alex Verdugo. Card #2.
61. Alex Verdugo. Card #3. Verdugo is making a push..
62. Jeter Downs. Card #1. I think this trader was making fun of me sending Verdugo and Downs. I just needed Connor Wong to complete the trifecta of the Mookie Betts trade.
63. Luis Tiant. Card #1. A player that should be elected to the Hall of Fame.
64. Nomar Garciaparra. Card #1. I am curious to see how he would do if he was on an Eras Committee ballot.
65. J.D. Martinez. Card #2.
66. Connor Seabold. Card #1. Wrong Connor.
67. Masataka Yoshida. Card #2.
68. Bobby Doerr. Card #2.
69. Bobby Doerr. Card #3. I have no idea what these cards are, they are kind of ugly.
70. Cy Young. Card #1.
71. Ceddanne Rafaela. Card #22. At this point, the interesting race is for second place.
72. Ceddanne Rafaela. Card #23.
73. Ceddanne Rafaela. Card #24.
74. Ceddanne Rafaela. Card #25.
75. Ted Williams. Card #1. Williams was an advocate for Dom DiMaggio getting in to the Hall, but he never had the right votes to do so.
76. David Ortiz. Card #1. This is seriously the first Big Papi in this post?
77. Wade Boggs. Card #1.
78. Jarren Duran. Card #1. A lot of weird players appearing for the first time finally.
79. Masataka Yoshida. Card #3. Puts him in a big tie for third.
80. Alex Bregman. Card #1. I have a lot of thoughts about what happened with Bregman, most of them not good. I might get into that at some point in the future. Boston screwed up, but I was never a huge fan of Bregman in the first place.
81. Tanner Houck. Card #1. He was just an All Star in 2024, now his future looks really murky.
82. Marcelo Mayer. Card #4. Moving into a tie for second with Kristian Campbell.
83. Ceddanne Rafaela. Card #26. A rare appearance in a trade.
84. Garrett Crochet. Card #1. Crochet is kind of weirdly underrepresented in my collection right now. I expect that to change very soon.
85. Dwight Evans. Card #1. Another guy I would like to see get in to the Hall of Fame, and he should be in.
86. Nomar Garciaparra. Card #2.
87. Kristian Campbell. Card #5. He moves back into sole possession of second place.
88. Ceddanne Rafaela. Card #27. I kept trying to trade for this card and finally gave up and bought it.
89. Alex Bregman. Card #2.
90. Marcelo Mayer. Card #5. Moving back into a tie for second place.
91. Mickey Gasper. Card #1. My first Gasper card, he played in a handful of games without a hit for Boston in 2024, played a bit more with the Twins last year, was released and is back in the Red Sox organization this year.
92. Ceddanne Rafaela. Card #28.
93. Chase Shugart. Card #1. Also, my first Shugart card. He had a 4.15 ERA in six games for Boston in 2024 and had a nice year for the Pirates last year.
94. Hirokazu Sawamura. Card #1. I always like Sawamura. I wish he had stuck around longer.
95. Alex Verdugo. Card #4. Still hanging in the race.
96. Ted Williams. Card #2.
97. Trevor Story. Card #2.
98. J.D. Martinez. Card #3. Little surprised he's not higher given how often he appears in my trade packages.
99. Chris Sale. Card #3. Same here.
100. Luis Guerrero. Card #1. He was traded to Tampa Bay this offseason for a utility player. Watch him become their closer.
101. Kristian Campbell. Card #6. Back in sole possession of second place.
102. Masataka Yoshida. Card #4. Don't sleep on him yet.
103. Blake Loubier. Card #1. I don't even know who this is.
104. Bobby Dalbec. Card #1.
105. Pedro Martinez. Card #2.
106. Brandon Walter. Card #1.
107. Rafael Devers. Card #1. Weird that this is his first appearance, but I definitely started limiting his cards after he was traded away. I hate that trade more and more now. I will get into that later.
108. Nick Pivetta. Card #2.
109. Bobby Dalbec. Card #2.
110. Rafael Devers. Card #2. Making a late push.
111. Rafael Devers. Card #3.
112. Masataka Yoshida. Card #5.
113. Rafael Devers/Wade Boggs. Card #4 for Devers, #2 for Boggs. Yes, Boggs is on the back.
114. Triston Casas. Card #2.
115. Masataka Yoshida. Card #6. Tied with Campbell for second place.
116. J.D. Martinez. Card #4.
117. Jose Iglesias. Card #2.
118. Enrique Hernandez. Card #1. One of the heroes of the 2021 season.
119. Ryan Weber. Card #1. I'm going to have to remember Weber for the Immaculate Grid. Braves, Mariners, Rays, Red Sox, Brewers and Yankees.
120. Alex Verdugo. Card #5.
121. Masataka Yoshida. Card #7. Taking the lead. This is a blaster of 2026 Topps, my first.
122. Garrett Crochet. Card #2.
123. David Ortiz. Card #2. Pulled an insert. I love the 1991 design because those were my first packs.
124. Kristian Campbell. Card #7. Tied again.
125. Lucas Giolito. Card #1.
And that's it.
So, in first place was obviously Ceddanne Rafaela, who didn't appear in the last five scans, but had such a commanding lead no one was coming close. He finished at 28. Masataka Yoshida and Kristian Campbell tied for second place with seven, and neither of them is assured a spot on the roster coming into the season. Marcelo Mayer and Alex Verdugo, of all people, tied for third at five cards each. That was not as exciting as I had hoped it would be.
But at least I am now caught up.
Always good to be caught up.
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