Baseball Card Market Report for May 4-10, 2023 - Top eBay Sales

PLUS -- Waging WAR in the Investment Corner

May 12, 2023

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Any Way You Want It …

Like Journey and Burger King the top end of the baseball card market continues to serve up high-powered cardboard made to order.

You want century-plus old tobacco cards?

Check.

You want Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays?

Check.

You want young prospects you’ve barely even heard of?

Check.

You can see all those goodies checking boxes down at the bottom of this post, where you’ll find the list of the top-selling baseball cards on eBay last week.

And, of course, you’ll also find some of today’s top stars, like Ronald Acuña, Jr., and Mike Trout.

Those guys (surprise!) are among the major league leaders in WAR so far this season.

Given that backdrop, you probably won’t be shocked to see our hobby play-group topic for this week…

Waging WAR in the Investment Corner

As always, the Hall of Fame is the ultimate individual goal for a baseball player, and it’s also the ultimate driver for a player’s card prices.

And, while it’s easy to pick out the surefire Hall of Famers, you might be better served to try and find some winners among less likely enshrinees if you want to squeeze the most value out of your hobby bucks.

So, for this month’s Investment Corner, I’m going in search of some current players who are NOT locks to make the Hall, but who have at least an outside shot. I’ll find my candidates from among the list of active WAR leaders (as listed at baseball-reference.com).

And then, I’ll look for some cards to faux-buy.

As a refresher, here are the rules:

I get to fake spend about $1000 on cards matching our theme — down-the-line HOFers in this case.
I have to “buy” cards that have actually sold on eBay recently.
I have to revisit these picks in a year to see how they’ve performed.
We all have to realize that this is all cardboard we’re talking about, so investing any real money in said baubles is dicey at best and likely to leave you with significantly less money if it all turns out to be a *ahem* house of cards. This is all for fun, in other words, and no money will or even should change hands.

With all that said, here are the guys I’m betting on this month to hopefully pay off in several dozen (or even hundreds of) months.

2005 Topps Updates & Highlights Nelson Cruz (#UH206) - PSA 10 - $61

Yeah, I know … Cruz is ancient and doesn’t have a real shot at Cooperstown. But as I write this, he has hit three homers for the Padres this season. It’s not out of the question to think he’ll hit 20 on the year, which would leave him right around 480.

If he does that, Cruz will almost surelybe back to shoot for 500. All bets are off if he joins THAT club.

See listing (affiliate link)

2004 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks Zack Greinke (#14) - PSA 10 - $227.50

Greinke is one of the most underappreciated aces of his generation. He’s struggling back home with the Royals this season, but he should be a first-ballot lock. There’s enough sentiment against that sentiment, though, that he might have to wait a bit. And that’s why his cards might still have some room in them.

See listing (affiliate link)

2011 Topps Finest Freddie Freeman (#72) - PSA 10 - $132.49

Freeman just went over 50 career WAR, and his 297 home runs are light by first-base HOF standards. But he’s also got an MVP, a World Series ring, nearly 2000 hits, and enough time to erase any Cooperstown doubts. He hasn’t done that yet, though.

See listing (affiliate link)

2010 Topps Update Kenley Jansen (#US114) - PSA 10 - $12.50

What makes a guy a Hall of Fame closer? Well, being Mariano Rivera does it, but beyond that, the qualifications are still pretty murky. Jansen’s been one of the top firemen in the game for 14 years now, though, and his next save will be his 400th. He has as good a shot at a plaque as any current reliever.

See listing (affiliate link)

2011 Topps Update Craig Kimbrel (#US143) - PSA 10 - $43

Unless it’s Kimbrel, of course. Also a 14-year guy, Kimbrel was lights-out early in his career and was even named National League Rookie of the Year in 2011. He’s only two saves behind Jansen as I write to you, though Kimbrel is showing some rough edges in Philly.

See listing (affiliate link)

2008 Topps Joey Votto (#319) - PSA 10 - $56.55

I’m up and down on Votto for the Hall of Fame. With the Reds’ superstar on the shelf again early this season, at age 39, I’m more on the down side right now. He has yet to eclipse 2100 hits and has “just” 342 home runs, not a ton for HOF first basemen. Votto has been one of the great Sabermetrics guys, but he’s still sitting below 65 career WAR on the Baseball Reference scale.

He’ll probably get in because his legend is large, but there remains some uncertainty around Votto and Cooperstown.

See listing (affiliate link)

2006 Bowman Chrome Evan Longoria Autographed (#DP66) - PSA 10 - $125.51

Longoria doesn’t even have 1900 hits yet, so he’s probably not most people’s idea of a HOFer at first glance. But his 334 dingers are healthy for the hot corner, and he’s a former ROY and 3-time Gold Glover. He’s a dark horse for Cooperstown who could get some cardboard love if his name heats up on the ballot in a decade or so.

See listing (affiliate link)

2011 Topps Update Anthony Rizzo (#US55) - PSA 10 - $61.06

With just over 40 WAR, 1500 hits, and fewer than 300 homers, Rizzo has his work cut out for him at age 33. But he’s hitting well for the Yankees again in the early going here in 2023, and a long-ish successful stay in the Bronx could definitely boost his ballot appeal.

See listing (affiliate link)

2014 Topps Chrome Jose Ramirez (#45) - PSA 10 - $108.50

Ramirez is way down this list in terms of counting stats, with fewer than both 1200 hits and 200 home runs. But he’s just 30 years old, has 40+ WAR, and is locked in with Cleveland through 2028. If he can help the Guardians win a World Series, stick at third base, and keep producing, he’s got a shot at the Hall.

See listing (affiliate link)

2007 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks & Prospects Jason Heyward (#BDPP54) - PSA 10 - $9.50

This pick probably seems pretty silly, but it wouldn’t have a decade ago. Yeah, ancient history, but Heyward has four homers already for the Dodgers this season and is still a few months shy of his 34th birthday. If he could turn it around and make a late Cooperstown push, his cards might do their own phoenix act.

See listing (affiliate link)
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All in all, that’s a total fake spend of $837.61. Yeah, it’s way under budget, but it’s not easy to find enought cards to spend a full grand on these guys when there are no guarantees about their future enshrinement prospects.

Do you like your baseball cards with a side order of nostalgia?

Then you might enjoy our free weekly Wax Pack Gods newsletter, where we dive deep into the fun, silly, and amazing joys of the hobby that keep us coming back year after year.

Here are a few examples of recent posts, just to whet your cardboard appetite:

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So we’ll just leave a little breathing room and see what last May’s picks have wrought.

Even 3000 Hits Can’t Overcome Sliding Prices

When we put together our list of fake investments last May , Miguel Cabrera had just picked up his 3000th hit.

So we honored the Tigers’ great by dumping a grand into other members of the 3000-hit club.

Here’s how it’s gone so far, after a year:

All in all, not a great year for the hit men as the market made post-pandemic adjustments.

Good thing these are fake investments, and that we can hold on awhile longer if we want.

At least we didn’t drop this kind of cash on our stash …

Top Baseball Card Sales on eBay for May 4-10, 2023

(Quick note — this list contains affiliate links to the original eBay listings.)

If you want to see updated 30-day market toppers anytime, we have a couple of resources over on WaxPackGods.com:

Most expensive baseball cards sold in the last 30 days
Most expensive football cards sold in the last 30 days
Most expensive basketball cards sold in the last 30 days

Now, on with the show …

Baseball Card Values Newsletter

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