Buy This Guy

Baseball card people love prospects. It's just really hard to figure out which Minor Leaguers are going to end up being good Major Leaguers. So much money lost. In fact, I was playing around with some Delmon Young cards just a few days back. Going to make a post about those later this week.  

I try to spend very little on prospects, but let me sell you on one of my current favorite Minor League players.  

I have posted a few Jonathan Aranda cards over the past year, but not really given him much of a write-up. Honestly, he does not have very many cards, nor is he a very highly regarded prospect. The cards that Aranda does have are generally really inexpensive, like he's typically the amongst the cheapest autographs or inserts in the products with his cards. I honestly have no idea why more people aren't in on his cards.  

Let's rewind to the 2021 season. Aranda played in Double A with the Montgomery Biscuits. He won the Southern League MVP and was a Postseason All-Star for his performance in the Double A playoffs. Last year, Aranda played with the Durham Bulls. He won his second straight MVP Award, was named a Triple A All-Star, and was named a Triple A Postseason All-Star for helping the Bulls win the Triple A National Championship.  

This year?  

Aranda is still playing for the Durham Bulls and is batting .339 with a .613 slugging percentage. He has 25 home runs and 23 doubles in roughly 350 at-bats. There is a very good chance he's going to win his third league MVP in row later this fall without taking another at-bat. Add in that the International League is a pitcher friendly league, and as a left-handed batter, the Durham Bulls Athletic Park has a deep right-field line and power ally. 

Aranda has now been up with the Rays for two weeks. He was up briefly earlier in the year due to injuries, but this latest call-up feels like it might be for good. Especially considering Aranda has hit. In two weeks worth of games Aranda has on-base percentage over .400 and has a handful of extra base hits.  He's walking as often as he is striking out, which is a very good sign for a young hitter. 

Here are my latest cards of Jonathan Aranda. 

Again, this is just about the cheapest autograph in Topps Finest this year. I got this for under $5 and it has been that low for the majority of the summer. There are colored parallels that cost more, but I like the base autograph just fine. I also like that he is batting in this card. Strangely the majority of his cards show him in the field, which is his real weakness. Not the best defender.

Next. 

There are some really bad autographs in this year's Topps Chrome set, so this is not quite the cheapest autograph. It's still right around $5. Little better signature on this card. Aranda has variance on how he signs the "A", which is a better look here than on the Finest card. 

Last card.  

Not an autograph, but I am a sucker for combined shipping on cheap cards. I picked this up as a bonus with the Topps Chrome autograph. The same seller had this Silver Pack insert listed for $1. Great looking card of Aranda playing second base. 

If you're into prospect, you should definitely buy this guy.