Starting 10: February 23, 2013

2/5 Remaining Jays

It's about time, man. Spring Training games started yesterday for a bunch of teams no one cares about, but today marks the first day of a heavy schedule of games in both the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues. Of particular interest to myself are a pair of Grapefruiters, starting at 12pm with the Mets and Nationals (Stephen Strasburgh, Shaun Marcum and dearly departed Travis d'Arnaud) and later on at 1pm, the reigning American League Champion Detroit Tigers (Torii Hunter, Alex Avila) take on the 2012 Vegas favourite to win the whole thing - Toronto Blue Jays.

In case you haven't noticed, this is a rather Blue Jays-heavy blog. Also, Spring Training games mean nothing more than entertainment and finally seeing some new guys and young guns in your team's new uniforms for the first time.

So here's your February 23, 2012 starting lineup for the Blue Jays, cardboard style!

1. Emilio Bonifacio, SS

2011 Bowman Platinum
Seemingly unnamed relic-auto Insert /1166

The Trade (TM) brought in a bunch of new Jays to the picture, and aside from Jose Reyes, I am most excited about Emilio Bonifacio. While Reyes will likely bat leadoff every day, Bonifacio provides a more than solid backup, and currently steals more bases than Jose.

Card source: COMC

2. Maicer Izturis, 2B

2011 Topps Black /61

The signing of Maicer Izturis was a middle-infield depth move, which is fine considering the losses of Aaron Hill, John MacDonald and Kelly Johnson (not really a loss) in the past two seasons. For a few weeks, Jays fans were suspicious that Izturis would be the starting 2b this season, but I think a lot of his playing time will be super-utility, starting mostly every day but rarely in the same position.

Card source: I don't own this.

3. Brett Lawrie, 3B

2012 Bowman International

Well, hopefully this is Lawrie's breakout year. He's currently being mentored by Mark DeRosa, or so MLB.com would have you believe. We'll see how it goes.

Card source: Ebay

4. Adam Lind, 1B

2012 Bowman Chrome
Blue Refractor

Adam Lind facing left-handers certainly makes me blue. A platoon would be fantastic, and if the Blue Jays do look like a playoff team come the trading deadline, I expect that to be the move that Anthopoulous will need to make.

Card source: Card show!

5. JP Arencibia, DH

2011 Topps S1
Silk Collection /50

There's a bit too much JPA on this blog, so no comment here. Just cannot wait to bombard ya'll with Team USA homerism this coming month.

Source: Ebay

6. Josh Thole/Mike Nickeas, C

Josh Thole will be starting and Mike Nickeas, who is travelling with the team will be backing him up. JP doesn't catch today's starter very often, so I'm assuming that is why Thole is starting and Mike is with the team. That Thole is a tremendously awesome card and I need to add it to my collection. The Nickeas was added recently in a trade. I expect to see him more with AAA Buffalo this year, however, with Thole's mad skillz in catching RA's knuckler.

Source (Thole): Don't have it, but it's on COMC. Almost all of my Tholes went to The Sandlot.
Source (Nickeas): William at Foul Bunt.

7. Moises Sierra, RF

Bowman Chrome
I forget which year

I like Sierra, and I'd be happy to see him as a bench bat for the Jays this season, but would also love to see him smash some dingers and show off his cannon of a RFer arm for Buffalo. With the surprisingly deep bench that the Jays have this year, that is likely the case, as Moises is behind Bautista, Bonifacio, Rasmus, Gose on the OF depth card. And Mark DeRosa, I suppose, since I do not expect Omar Vizquel, 2013 Edition to get cut.

Source: I don't own it, Moises Sierra cards are ridiculously expensive on COMC for some reason.

8. Anthony Gose, CF

2012 Topps Pro Debut
MiLB Cap Logos

One of the more expensive cards I have ever purchased, and I regret nothing. I scored this back in October or so, and I haven't seen one since.

Also: Anthony Gose is fast.

Card source: Ebay

9. Ricardo Nanita, LF

2009? Bowman Chrome
XFractor

Little-known Ricardo Nanita will be manning left field and batting ninth today. I know next to nothing about him, and this 2008 BoChromer is really his only card in existance, and he's pictured as a palehoser.

Card source: A steal on COMC earlier today.

And today's starting pitcher:

Brandon Morrow

2012 Bowman
Red Ice /25

Ahh, the cornerstone of my limited Brandon Morrow collection. I love Morrow, but his cards suck. This, though PhotoToppsed, is awesome in-hand. Personally, I think Morrow should be the Opening Day starter, but I guess trading two huge prospects for the reigning Cy Young award winner kinda defaults you to Opening Day status.

Source: Ebay Steal $.99 + Shipping

I plan on doing these posts every once in a while when I add new cards from small trades, ebay pickups and COMC orders. It allows me to avoid the MAIL DAY!!1 post a bit, plug some good blogs, and talk a little bit about Jays other than Arencibia, Romero, Reyes and Hutchison.

COMC Black Friday Dealz

I may be jumping the gun on this post a bit, but I don't care.

Recently at comc.com, the great gang there was running a special for Black Friday, the newest American holiday.

Aside from their seller incentives, which with myself not being a seller, I don't know the specific, buyers were being rewarded handsomely. COMC was offering free shipping on orders of 10 or more cards shipped on Friday, as well as a $.10 store credit gift for every one of those qualifying cards. I grabbed 18 in a few hours drinking coffee with my Dad that morning, and here's some of the highlights:

I suppose it wouldn't be a Black Friday without a BLACK refractor autograph, would it? I have struggled to find this piece of the Magical J-PA Rainbow Crusade for under $30 without shipping, and the seller graciously gave this one up for a meager $7.75 - the most I have ever spent on one card off COMC, and I'd do it again.

I picked up a Drew Hutchison autograph from the world-ending Bowman Chrome release. Probably the start of another rainbow.

I like anything with a Montreal Expos logo on it.

A Nue Jay that can match his siblings, a J-PA bat and plain gray swatch of jersey. Emilio, or "Boni" as John Buck referred to him as recently in an interview, is supposedly one of the best teammates anyone could ask for. Maybe he can work his magic on Cletus B. Centrefielder this season...

I love mini relic cards. My only other relic of Ricky prior to this beauty was from an Upper Deck Team USA set, decked out in stars and stripes and holofoil. This, however, is just as American.

Any relic featuring catcher's equipment is a must-have, and this John Buck from his backstopping days in Houston is no exception. There are four versions on this one, I believe, with the near-impossible-to-obtain five-piece, featuring shin guard is the top tier. This is also the inspiration to a new banner for this blog that I hope to roll out soon enough. #80want

I also decided to work towards my World Baseball Classic relic collection. While this Nick Weglarz of TEAM CANADA (shameless attempt at Canuck page hits) isn't my first, this was the first real movement on this goal since 2010 or so.

I also knocked of South Africa (in refractory-fashion)...

And Mexico. These were rushed into my Black Friday shipment, and with more sellers capitalizing on the the weekend deals, by Sunday night I had also checked off Cuba (Yulieski Gourriel) and South Korea (Po-Hsuan Keng) to go with the Venezuela (Magglio Ordonez) I already had.