Pair of Bulls and CarGo

I am working on catching up with a few 2014 releases I have not delved too far into over the past month or two.  Working out a few Cardinals cards from Triple Threads still, but I did start working on a few former Durham Bulls who appeared in the card set.  One of the tricky parts about this year's Triple Threads set was it's timing around the trade deadline.  For example, Joe Kelly appears in the set as a Cardinal, but is actually a Red Sox now.  I have ran into several Cardinals collectors who are still collecting Joe Kelly cards and are trying to also track the cards down.  Same with several Red Sox collectors I know.  Allen Craig, former Cardinal and current Red Sox, seems to be following a similar trend on his Triple Threads cards.  It seems to be a trend in more than a few places this year. 

The card I spent the most time seeking out from the Triple Threads set was the Nick Franklin Jumbo Jersey card.  There are also some patch versions of this card which were my initial target, but I missed out on them all.  Similar to the Craig and Kelly cards, Franklin was traded at the the deadline for Rays star pitcher David Price.  Similar to Craig and Kelly, there seems to be a little bit of competition for the his cards.  Especially the patch versions which feature some nice Mariners pieces. 

While the overall numbers do not blow people away with Franklin, he has been rated as high as the #44 prospect by Baseball Prospectus.  He still has not produced at the big league level, but I saw him several times in Durham during their playoff series games against both the Columbus Clippers and the Paw Sox.  The ball looked good coming off his bat and he had several big hits and a home rum or two to boot (a long loud foul too).  He got a cup of coffee in Tampa in September and will be a little surprised if he is back in Durham next year.  On to the card....After missing out on the patch pieces I ended up settling for this number......

It's got a nice dark navy piece of jersey and is numbered out of just 36.  Franklin does not have any autographs in the Triple Threads set, just the jersey and patch pieces.  I am hoping Topps will throw a Franklin autograph into their Traded set later this fall.  Franklin has always been a pretty signer.  Besides the Franklin I picked up one more former Durham Bull...

This Matt Moore card was dirt cheap.  I know he is out for the year with Tommy John, but he was good before the surgery and the bounce back rate on elbows is pretty good.  I am sure we will see Matt Moore back with the Rays next spring and he will be just fine.  Although if the Rays sent him to Durham for a little conditioning I would not complain. 

I bought both the Moore and Franklin from the same seller on Ebay and can never pass up on free shipping.   This CarGo jumbo jersey card was slightly more than $2.  The stripe is crooked, but hey there is a stripe.  More Triple Threads cards to come.