Wrong Way

The 2017 Cardinals had a lot of help from the Memphis Redbirds.  There were nearly a dozen different Minor Leaguers who debuted with the Cardinals during the past year.  Some were successful, like Paul DeJong and John Brebbia, while others were less successful.  The Cardinals also had a few players who failed to met expectations.

Really third place is not cool in St. Louis, and if I were just going to strictly write a post about baseball, I could write a dissertation about why Matheny should be unemployed at this point.

One of the bigger names, who ended up going the wrong way this season, was shortstop Aledmys Diaz.  As a Cardinals fan, it was fun to watch the Cuban import hit his way into the line up last year.  As a card collector, it was fun to have another Cardinals player to collect.  However, this year was bad on the field, so guess what has happened to his cards?

They're are headed the wrong way.

Which can be good, or bad, all depending on what happens from this point going forward.  Last year I pulled my first Aledmys Diaz card from a box of Topps Traded after debating whether or not to skip the product to buy a single autograph of him.

Last year when I pulled this I had a fellow collector suggest that I sell this card, it was selling for roughly $30 last fall, because there was no way that Aledmys Diaz was going to maintain that sorts of card prices.  My brain might have known that there was truth in that statement, but my heart was happy to pull a card that I wanted out of a box of cards.  How often does that happen?

Even now that this card is selling for a fraction of that $30 price, it is still a great memory.  The card is staying for sure....

Now, that they are cheap and getting cheaper I am actually finding some great bargains on Aledmys cards.  A few weeks ago I wrote about two new cards of his that I had added to the old collection.  Today, I have two more.

First up....

Is a Topps Clearly Authentic card.  This is an acetate set, which I really love.  I also have a Luke Weaver autograph from this set.  Of course, the best part of the acetate cards are looking at the card backs.....

Very nice. Next card....

is an insert from Topps Chrome.  I usually have a pattern of sorts with Topps Chrome, more on that this weekend, and this card does not really fit the pattern.  I am not really a huge Topps Chrome person in terms of autographs.  Often I buy a base autograph, or two, and then call it quits.  I never go after the inserts, let alone the insert autographs.

Overall, Aledmys Diaz cards may continue to slide, but I am still having fun tracking down his cards and that's the most important thing.  Maybe he will bounce back and have a good year in 2018, or maybe he will be hanging out in Memphis, either way there are still some more cool Aledmys cards to find.....