2011 Topps USA Baseball Michael Wacha Triple Relic Autograph

The quality of Cardinals prospects on the field and in baseball card sets has been on the uptick in recent years.  While it makes my job as a Cardinals collector a little bit more difficult, I will take the challenge of tracking down a good Oscar Taveras over the likes of Jim Journell any day.  My most recent Cardinals card addition fits that profile.

2011 Topps USA Baseball Michael Wacha Triple Relic Autograph

The Cardinals made Michael Wacha their first round pick in last summer's amateur draft.  I remember searching my favorite card sites after the end of the first round for signs of Wacha cards.  I found that he appeared in several of the USA Baseball products, but also found that the cards were selling north of $30.  I found several that were available in trades, but the asking price was often steep for a player that just graduated college.  

Now, I understand Wacha has been a fast mover through the Cardinals system and that Cardinals collectors can be, at times, a little overboard about picking up cards.  I remember the J.D. Drew craze in 1998.  However, with a little patience, and Leaf flooding the market with non-licensed/unattractive autographs, the market on Wacha cards has greatly turned for the positive.  If you're buying.  Most of these cards are now selling around $10 and can be easily picked up in trades with collectors for say a Adam LaRoche and Sean Burnett autograph.  Not bad at all.