How The Twins Maeda Lemonade Outta Lemons

Topps printed these out after all! I wasn't sure if they would, given that the "wild three-team deal" turned into a pair of two team trades. The wild part was certainly true. Kenta Maeda, Alex Verdugo, Brusdar Graterol, Mookie Betts, and David Price all ended up in new organizations after all, but it took some doing on the part of all parties combined.

Topps is playing the game of two truths and a lie here... 

Speaking of trading and the Red Sox . . . Matt of Diamond Jesters! Please send me your mailing address. I have your Free Stuff Friday cards just chillin in an envelope ready to go. 

I am going out of town this weekend, so the cards for tomorrow's Free Stuff Friday might take a little longer to find their way into the hands of you, loyal readers. But fear not! 

NOW showing: My First 2020 Topps Card

I'm curious to see what replaces the 150 years Online subset this year - maybe something already has? Anyway, I was happy that Rod Carew's 1977 MVP season made the cut for this checklist.

The post season awards did result in a few Twins getting recognition for a record setting season. Cruz won a Silver Slugger Award at DH, and was also named the 2019 ALL-MLB 1st Team DH.

The Silver Slugger Award also went to Twins Catcher Mitch Garver, thanks to a tremendous season that set team records for homers by a backstop.

I was hoping to find some 2020 Topps Series 1 at Target today, but I struck out again. I did finally add a 2020 Topps card to my collection, though. The Topps NOW design hasn't changed yet for the new year, but obviously from the date, this card came out in January.

There was another one for sale yesterday featuring Kenta Maeda as the newest Twin, but we'll have to wait and see if he really becomes one! Today's news was that the Red Sox were expressing concerns that Brusdar Graterol's injury history projected him as a reliever instead of a starter. The young pitcher frequently tops 100 mph on his fastball and has a wicked slider, but had Tommy John surgery a few years ago and a minor shoulder issue during the season last year. Personally, I was looking forward to Graterol being a regular in the Twins bullpen in 2020, but getting a pitcher like Maeda that can help the rotation this year is an opportunity that can't be missed.

NOW That's What I Call Dominant

More Topps NOW cards - there is variety on the horizon, I promise. I couldn't pass up Thor's complete game from May 2nd. Not only did he go the distance and strikeout 10 batters, he was also the only guy to cross home plate, crushing a solo homer for the Mets. A real do-it-yourself masterpiece!

I wanted to know who the 1983 fella was that was the last pitcher to toss a CG and hit a homer, so now you reap those benefits as well. It was Dodgers hurler Bob Welch, who also beat up on Cincinnati. The Reds have guys on their team that could return the favor- Michael Lorenzen comes to mind, though I guess he's a bullpen guy now. He certainly has the home run power, hitting 6 homers in his career, including 4 last season alone. Luis Castillo is a good candidate to shut another team out, not sure if he can muscle up on a pitch to hit it out, but anything's possible!

Ed-die!

ED-die!

ED-DIE, ED-DIE! Rosario broke out in a big way last season, and he's right back on top the HR leaderboard in 2019. He has 17 homers, tops among AL outfielders- and that's with him still trying to snap out of a bit of a slump in May. April was a record setting month for him, becoming the first Twin to hit 10 or more homers in the first month of the season (it's hard to do in the snow!). Of course, he's not the only one mashing taters for the Twins. The whole team has been killing the ball since the start of the season, and they don't seem to be slowing down. Nelson Cruz and Mitch Garver went on the IL, just in time for Miguel Sano to return. Jason Castro was meant to be the primary catcher anyway, and he's picked up right where Garver left off. Castro has 7 homers in just 27 games, which is pretty impressive given his career high is 18.  They became just the 2nd team in MLB history with over 100 homers in their first 50 games.

NOW That's What I Call A Milestone

I am pretty good at keeping up with the Twins' new cards from Topps NOW, but every once in a while I make an exception for other teams or players. To be honest, I've never been a fan of C.C., since he's been with Cleveland and after a brief stint in Milwaukee with the Yankees. Tough position for a Twins fan to be in - but I have to say I have great respect for Sabathia, as much as I have wanted him to have a bad night when he's pitching against my favorite team.

3,000 strikeouts is quite the feat. More exclusive than 3,000 hits, with Sabathia being just the 17th pitcher in MLB history to reach the milestone. Even more exclusive, he's just the 3rd lefty - Randy Johnson and Steve Carlton being the others.

Speaking of 3rd - Albert Pujols is now ranked 3rd* on the RBI list. He's not exactly the Machine he once was, but 2,000 RBI is nothing to sneeze at. I really like this photo, which captures Albert flipping his bat in ... relief? Having blasted a home run to pass 2,000.

The list of course is missing Babe Ruth - (and Cap Anson), who also drove in more than 2,000 runs in his career. Before 1920, the Runs Batted In statistic was not counted in a consistent way from game to game, so the RBI the Sultan of Swat accumulated prior to 1920 are not included on this list. Pujols is likely going to pass A-Rod for 2nd overall some time next season (if he doesn't retire first). Pujols is another guy, like Sabathia, that I've never been a big fan of the teams he's played for. But, 2,000 RBI is great, and not likely to be repeated.

NOW the Cycle Comes Full Circle

In an otherwise forgettable game (for Twins fans), Jorge Polanco had himself a ballgame in a rain-soaked series opener against the Phillies. Topps commemorated the event for the Twins' first (and so far only) Topps NOW card.

The back gives a quick rundown of Polanco's cycle, the first of 2019 in MLB. Polanco has continued to high well in 2019, his average just dipping below .400 for the first time this weekend.

In the mail yesterday, I finally received the Topps NOW Road to Opening Day Twins team set! All the new position players were included, even Marwin Gonzalez, who signed later on during Spring Training. Only 115 sets were made of the Twins' team cards, I wanted to get these as I missed the set the first time it was offered in 2017. (Don't worry, I bought the 2017 Kennys Vargas card from that set as a single on eBay!)

Last year, the backs all had exactly the same text, not even mentioning the player's name. This year, Topps made the minimum additional effort by adding a little blurb about each player.

The team's young nucleus was all represented, too.

Jorge Polanco's card is foreshadowing (aft-shadowing, since the card just showed up?) how Polanco's on base skills would be put to work on April 5th in Philadelphia.

Like I said in the title - the Cycle comes Full Circle! Topps adds bonus cards throughout the year if there's a no-hitter, or a player hits for the cycle, a 3-HR game, or a 15+ strikeout game. They are also giving out a bonus card if the team is in 1st place at the All-Star Break.

Last year I paid the premium for the autograph version of this set, but this year Topps only offered the auto for the popular teams, a bit of a bummer since last year I received a Dozier autograph and I was all ready to roll the dice again. 

Big In Japan

Retirement comes for all athletes eventually, and Ichiro had already flirted with the concept a couple times before. Once when his Marlins contract expired, then again after a short reunion in Seattle. But this time everything aligned just right, playing his final MLB game in Japan.

I had to pick up at least one of the Topps NOW Ichiro cards (I think there were three different ones made during the 2-game series), so it's a chance to check out how the design has evolved. Not much to it, but the simplicity allows a good photo to shine.

NOW, More Than Ever

What a moment! I am unabashedly a Twins fan, and part of me was disappointed that Cleveland won this game, but there's no denying the excitement that Lindor brought to the crowd in San Juan, Puerto Rico last month. Topps Now of course was there to capitalize.

But Topps decided to do something special for this card, donating a portion of the proceeds to Puerto Rico hurricane relief efforts. Normally I would have skipped this card, but it tangentially involved the Twins, and directly benefited people in need. Topps would also add donations to two Stephen Piscotty cards, who lost his mother to ALS in May.

Topps found that there are still more ways to get me to shell out some cash with a new Topps Now feature called "Moment of the Week."

Ohtani has been every bit as good as advertised, and I couldn't pass up a chance to get in on the fun. I was unaware of the voting period this first time around, so I missed out on the gold parallel of this card, given out to collectors that voted for Ohtani to be the first moment of the week.

Last but not least, I still collect the Twins when they manage to make it on Topps Now cards. I was fortunate enough to be in attendance for this game, in which the Twins nearly gave away a 10 run lead to the defending champs. Kepler's homer was an absolute laser beam out to right field, and the whole ballpark knew it was gone the moment he connected with it.

I was able to see this game in person as well, as Mauer collected both hit # 1,999 and hit # 2,000 on the same night. The 2 run single for 2,000 was vintage Joe Mauer, a screaming grounder up the middle past the pitcher and into center field. His first hit of that night was greeted with a big roar from the crowd and the team played Prince's "1999" over the PA. It was good timing by Mauer, as the rest of the Chicago series was postponed due to snow and rain, meaning it would be some time before he would play in front of his home fans again. He's up to 2,025 hits now, though he just landed on the DL with a neck injury.

Bringing it full circle - the night after Lindor's homer, it was the Puerto Rican Twins players that put on a show. Jose Berrios pitched 7 shutout innings, and the winning run was scored by Eddie Rosario. This is the first appearance for Ryan LaMarre on a Twins card. He was a journeyman AAA outfielder and tore up spring training. Given the opportunity to start in the big leagues, LaMarre played very well for the Twins in April.

It seemed to me to be the very best outcome for the fans in P.R., with the heroes each night being from Puerto Rico.

NOW things are starting to heat up

Topps NOW is back and testing my wallet already. Topps has added a "Moment of the Week" and the Topps Living Set in addition to the daily Topps NOW offerings and weekly TBT (Throwback Thursday Offerings). I will still be picking up the Twins as the days go by, and I will tell you right NOW that they are going to have at least one if not two or more cards this week with their historic trip to Puerto Rico vs Cleveland. Jose Berrios is a beast, and if it weren't for Mauer's 2,000th hit, he might have been featured again last week. He hurled a 3 hit shutout against the Orioles on April 1st, but his start against Chicago was also impressive.

I don't go outside of Twins cards too often for Topps NOW, but I saw this one and had to make an exception. Ichiro has been one of my favorite players for over a decade, and he's still making plays.

Here's a peek at the card backs. in 2017, Topps added a glossy refractor coating to the backs of Topps NOW, this year's version is a little more subtle. The "Topps" logo catches the light as the card is tilted, but at other angles, it is almost invisible. This is their "Upper Deck Hologram" security feature, which I assume is more flash than substance.

And NOW, The 2017 Topps All-Star Rookie Team

I realize I am skipping ahead in the order here, but a set from Topps Now of the 2017 Topps All-Star Rookie Team arrived, so I'm going to have a little fun with it. These guys may or may not have been selected by the Youth of America as was the case in the 1960s, but the rookies this season were impressive. Thinking back on all of the selections of years' past, I thought it might be fun to try to find some comparable players to this year's team.

Catcher - Manny Piña
Manny was a 30 year old rookie for the Brewers, which is more common than you might think when it comes to catchers. He had a decent year behind the dish as the team's primary backstop, slugging 9 homers and hitting a respectable .279 with 30 extra base hits.  

For his comp, I picked Bob Geren, who had a similar journey to the majors, though he was initially a first round pick of the Padres back in 1979. Geren also had 9 homers in his rookie campaign and hit .288, playing in a total of 5 major league seasons. Geren went on to a career as a manager and coach, and was the Oakland A's skipper for 5 seasons.

First Base - Cody Bellinger
The National League Rookie of the Year smashed expectations of what a rookie could do, and he did it in style. His 39 Homers were even more impressive considering he was not called up until the end of April. In addition to playing First Base, Bellinger was able to move to the outfield and provide solid defense at all three positions.

I am pretty much stumped for a quality comp for Bellinger, as there are very few rookie seasons that come close to matching his 2017 campaign. I thought about Mark McGwire, but other than the power numbers, it just didn't seem like that close of a comparison. So, instead, I'm picking Willie McCovey,  who managed to live up to the hype and like Bellinger had a deadly swing from the left side.

Second Base- Ian Happ
He's listed as a second baseman, but Happ played all over the diamond for Joe Maddon, like a young man's Ben Zobrist. Happ also brought some impressive power numbers, crushing 24 homers and a .253 average.

For a comp I decided to go with the versatile and powerful Ron Gant, who came up as a second baseman before transitioning full time to the outfield. I could see a similar career path for Happ. Gant's rookie year - 19 homers and a .259 average. Both guys are 6 feet even and roughly 200 lbs. I also considered Gregg Jefferies, but I decided that his rookie season came with a lot more hype than Happ's, Gant was similarly under the radar.

Short Stop - Paul DeJong
Just about any other season, we'd probably be talking about Paul DeJong's ROY trophy. The Redbird's short stop hit .285 with 25 homers and was already a key contributor as a rookie to a veteran team with playoff aspirations. The team didn't quite reach their goal, but they did find their SS of the future, going as far as trading away the promising Aledmys Diaz this offseason to keep DeJong's path clear.

For a comp I toyed with the idea of Nomar, but felt that might be a little too lofty to start. Troy Tulowitzki had a similarly impressive rookie season, but also came in second place for Rookie of the Year, losing out to Ryan Braun, who had one of the better Rookie seasons of all time to beat him. Tulo had 24 homers and 99 RBI his rookie year.

Third Base - Rafael Devers
You can't deny that Devers made quite the impression in a small sample size this season. Like many of the players on this list, hitting homers came quite easily to Devers, who launched 10 bombs in just 58 games, including a memorable shot off Yankees relief ace Aroldis Chapman. He turned a 103 mph fastball into a laser beam heading the other direction, leaving the yard in a hurry. The real impressive number? Devers is just 20 years old.

There have been plenty of young sluggers to come up and make an immediate impression with raw talent (Gary Sheffield came to mind), but I chose Richie Allen as a comp just based on reputation alone. Will Devers become Richie Allen? Maybe not, but there were few third basemen on the list that could match the kind of excitement of Devers at a young age. Allen had a tremendous rookie year at the age of 22, leading the league in Triples and runs scored while hitting 29 homers, including 2 on the final day of the 1964 season.

Outfield - Aaron Judge
This guy. YIKES. I won't waste your time with tales of the longest homers, the hardest hit homers, the most homers by any rookie in the history of baseball. You already know by now. Judge was an absolute beast in 2017.

I thought about McGwire again here, the obvious reason being that Judge passed him for the Rookie home run record, but I think I will go with another outfielder instead, the Bash Brother from another mother, Jose Canseco. I feel the same sort of disgust (and amazement) watching Judge murder baseballs against my favorite teams that I felt watching Canseco as a kid. There's something intangible about these two dudes that just changed the mood at the ballpark whenever they came to the plate.

Outfield - Andrew Benintendi
Similar to DeJong in the National league, Benintendi will go down as the guy who came in second place to a runaway freight train. There's no shame in his season, which saw excellent returns at the plate along with a fearless approach to outfield defense. His sprawling catch against the short wall at Tropicana Field will be shown in highlight reels for years to come.

Benintendi's instant classic reminded me of another reckless left fielder, Washington Senator Bob Allison. Of course, he made his mark in Minnesota and the famous catch came years later in the 1965 World Series, but the mix of power at the plate and superb defense sure seems familiar to me. Maybe could have gone with fellow BoSox phenom Fred Lynn here, but I felt Bob was more apropos.

Outfield - Trey Mancini
Geez, another guy with 20+ homers in their rookie year? Mancini played both corner outfield positions as well as spending some time at first base. His defense didn't exactly set the world on fire, but his bat more than made up for it.

The first guy I thought of was Jay Buhner, but I think I'll go with Jim Rice- beefy power at the expense of speed seems about right here.

Right Handed Pitcher- German Marquez
Well, with all those homers, you'd expect the pitching to be a little harder to find. Marquez had a fine season, and of course pitched in the worst environment for pitchers, let alone rookies, as his home field. He had a respectable 114 ERA+, making him slightly better than league average. He didn't strike out a ton of batters, and did give up 25 homers, though 15 of those came at home in Coors Field.

It took a little research to find a righty rookie All-Star with similar numbers, but Mark Leiter had a similarly solid season in 1991 for the Tigers, sporting an ugly ERA of 4.26 (which was exactly league average that year) and a low strikeout rate. I could also have gone with another Rockie, Jason Jennings, who had a very good career in a very tough ballpark.

Left Handed Pitcher - Jordan Montgomery
Jordan Montgomery was the best of a less than stellar crop of lefty rookie starters in 2017. The opposition was tough! Lots of homers and it can be very difficult for rookies to adapt to that kind of aggressive and unforgiving landscape. He gave up his share of longballs (21), but he kept traffic on the basepaths to a minimum, walking 51 in 155 innings pitched. 

The best comp I could find was Woodie Fryman, the Pirates lefty who had excellent control. Fryman would go on to have a dependable role in bullpens and the middle of rotations throughout the league. He didn't strike out a ton of batters, but was very stingy with walks as well.

Relief Pitcher - Josh Hader
He only pitched 47 innings in 2017, and he wasn't the Brewers' closer at any point, but he was probably their best bullpen weapon. The lefty was devastating to opposing lineups, striking out 68 batters in those 47 frames to the tune of a 2.08 ERA.

The other lefty fireballer that comes to mind? Billy Wagner, who torched the league in 1996 - striking out 67 batters in 51 innings. He would slide into the closer role the following season and never looked back, racking up 422 career saves over 16 seasons.

Let me hear it in the comments if you agree or disagree with these comparisons!