Thursday Trading Post / Jeudi Comptoir Commercial

This trade comes from Canada, where both English and French are spoken widely. The French Canadians knew a thing or deux about making trades! Douglas of Sportscards from the Dollar Store and I have executed a flurry of transactions recently, and here is the latest.

Minnesota remains "The State of Hockey" even though one NHL team left and the other has been trying to compete with the MN State High School tourney for ice time ever since they arrived.

Baseball card collectors can have a little hockey, as a treat.

The Vikings are completing their annual agony tour, attempting to twist the Viking Horn deeper into the hearts of their fans by upsetting the Saints to set up a potential NFC championship matchup with long-time rival Green Bay. It's just as likely neither NFC North team will be in attendance at that game, but I'm sure they'd love nothing better than to inflict maximum psychological torture on fans by improbably managing to reach the championship again, playing just well enough to give people hope before ripping the football away like Lucy holding a field goal attempt for Charlie Brown.

This is a really cool card of high flyer Zach LaVine. The Wolves are having a mess of a season this year, and yet still sit near the final playoff spot along with 7 teams hovering just below .500 in the West. This card shimmers in the light and is numbered to just 60 copies!

I've been saying it every year since I started this blog, but if Buxton has a full, healthy season, there's no limit to what he can do. I'm pulling for him again this year, and Twins fans are going to be sad to see him go. Hopefully later than sooner! Thanks again for the trade, I've always got an eye on that list of 10 most wanted!

Trading Up North Again

Douglas from Sportscards From The Dollar Store surprised me with a nice stack of cards this month.

As has been the custom from our trades, the four major North American sports were all represented!

In Hockey, both the expansion Wild and the (much earlier) expansion North Stars were included. 1990 Bowman was so terrible for baseball, but for hockey I don't mind it at all - maybe it's the inclusion of more on-ice action and less portrait shots.

The Wolves will be trying again to make some progress in the talent rich Western Conference, but without Rose and Jimmy Butler. Butler is somewhat of an enigma - he does really endear himself to his new team, but is seemingly quick to spoil a good thing. He's also pretty good at burning bridges, I doubt the Wolves will be trying to orchestrate a reunion.

Back to Hockey, I thought this was the coolest one- a clear acetate card reminiscent of a freshly zamboni'd rink.

And a hit! Jordan Greenway was a 2nd round pick of the Wild back in 2015 out of Boston University. He played in 81 games last season, scoring a dozen goals and assisting a dozen more. He'll be looking to increase his production this season, as he's in the final year of his rookie contract. He's a big dude, 6'6" to be exact, and the Wild will be counting on him to provide a physical presence in the offensive zone, probably on their 3rd shift.

Speaking of talented youngsters, the Twins are well stocked. Alex Kiriloff made Lewin Diaz expendable in yesterday's Sergio Romo trade, despite the fact that Diaz was projected to be MLB ready as soon as 2020.

Recent first rounder Royce Lewis was just promoted to AA taking Lewin's roster spot. He will most likely take over at Short, with someone else shifting over to be the everyday 1B. It won't be Willians Astudillo, who remains with the Big League squad, albeit on the IL for the forseeable future.

A couple more hits! Jose Berrios is the team Ace, and Twins fans will be hoping for a strong finish to 2019 from the young right hander, who just made his first All-Star squad.

Last but not least is the speedy Jake Cave. He was sent down to AAA this week, as Byron Buxton returned from injury. Given Buxton's history and the grind of the full season on all the outfielders, chances are Cave will get another shot to contribute to the Twins in 2019.  

Thanks so much for these, Douglas! I don't have a great package to send you - yet. But I'll have something headed your way as soon as I do!

A (Belated) Boxing Day Bonanza

Douglas from Sportscards From The Dollar Store surprised me with a hefty mailer from Canada! Football, Basketball, Hockey and of course Baseball were represented. Did you know that after his career as one of the Vikings' "Purple People Eaters," Alan Page became a State Supreme Court Justice? He was a Justice the Minnesota State Supreme Court for nearly 30 years, retiring in 2015 (MN has a mandatory retirement age of 70 for its court). Owen Nolan was a surprising name, I actually recognized him from my youth! He was a member of the San Jose Sharks in one of my favorite video games of all time, NHL '95. I didn't realize he played for the Wild as well.

There was variety of cards new and old, including a stack of minor league cards. Rochester is the Twins' AAA Affiliate, and Fred Costello is their organist - that's a very cool card. Topps should feature organists in the Opening Day set, that would be a fun subset.

Royce Lewis was the Twins' #1 Overall pick, Brent Rooker came later on, but both will be forcing their way into the major league plans in a few years.

Here's a group that's even closer - Kiriloff has been compared to Christian Yelich, and might debut by September. Nick Gordon (Dee's Brother and Tom's Son) has an outside chance of being a regular in the Twins' lineup soon. Stephen Gonsalves already made his MLB debut last season, and has a possible spot in the rotation this season. Brustar Graterol is making a name for himself, and looks to debut in 2020 or 2021.

There were some "traditional Twins" as well, with a very cool Bowman Platinum of Joe Mauer. In the most obvious move of all time, the Twins announced that Mauer's #7 will be retired at some point in the 2019 season.

A Hit! Zack Granite has one of the great baseball names, and he's still on the fringes of the Twins' 40 Man roster. The uncertainty surrounding Byron Buxton's development and injury history has left the door open a crack for Zack.

And a ton of hockey cards! The Mikko Koivu in the middle is one of those clear acetate cards. I'm pretty sure all of the cards in the hockey stack were new to me.

Thanks so much Douglas! I'll be getting a package out to you soon.

Trading Up North

Friends. Unless you've been under a rock for the last couple weeks, you may have noticed that I've been under a rock for the last couple weeks. Crazy work and home schedules have kept me from blogging again. Keeping up has been tough, but I didn't want to delay any longer in acknowledging the great trade package from Sportscards from the Dollar Store!

Take a look at this sweet 1975 O-Pee-Chee! Roof may seem a little off-center, but the card is otherwise pack fresh. Underwhelming at the plate, Roof was tremendous behind it. Most of his career was spent as a backup, though he was the number one catcher for the Brewers in 1970.  Phil became a manager after his playing days, spending over a decade with the Twins' triple A Affiliates, finishing with over 1,000 wins.

More minor league greatness! The Twins have a good problem on their hands in the minors, as several young arms are making their case to join the big league club, despite a bit of a logjam already at the top once Ervin Santana returns.

Even more Twins from all over the map. I read recently that Topps renewed its exclusive license with MLB, so there will be a tougher road for start ups like Honus Bonus, but I hope the non-Topps card companies don't give up.

Norm Green gave up on the State of Hockey and moved the North Stars to Dallas, and I'm still "not mad" about it. The Minnesota Wild were better this past season than they've been in a while, so there's hope for the future. And who doesn't love a name like Nino Niederreiter?

Douglas sent some hits, too! Tyler Duffey is in that mix with several other pitchers at AAA trying to make a case for a big league job. He might be there now if the Twins hadn't invested in so many free agent arms this winter.

Max Murphy was a 9th Round selection by the Twins, and was Player of the Year in Low-A Elizabethton. He made yearly promotions, but was injured in late 2016. This spring he signed up with the independent Northern League Saint Paul Saints, staying close to his home of Robbinsdale.

Maxx Williams is another Minnesota native, son of New York Giants' Center Brian Williams (member of the Super Bowl XXV champs). His grandfather was a Quarterback at Notre Dame.

Maxx was also sidelined by injury in 2016, and found himself fighting for a spot on the Ravens' roster in 2017. He will again be in a battle this season, as Baltimore drafted another TE high in the draft.

Thanks for the cards, Douglas!

Out of the Blue

Imagine my surprise to find a small mailer from Canada in my mailbox this week.

Douglas from Sportscards from the Dollarstore, sent a mix of new and recent Twins.

I opened a whole box Gypsy Queen, but I still needed the Dozier and Kepler cards.

Some 2013 Topps Pro Debut - All 6 of these guys have made it to the show - 4 of them are on the Twins roster today.

Big fan of these framed Gypsy Queen cards.

Kennys Vargas! He had a game tying 9th inning pinch hit homer.  The Harmon Killebrew Coin/Card was really heavy - probably bumped up the shipping fees a bit on its own! Thanks very much Douglas.

SuperTrade From "Up North"

Just kidding! This particular part of Ontario is south of the Twin Cities, but it is in Canada! Most of Canada is considered "up North" to Minnesotans. Douglas from Sportscards From the Dollar Store dropped a surprise mailer on me this week.

I don't seek out a lot of Hockey, but this one is a cool card. With the season coming up soon, I might have to get my North Stars and Wild organized.

These guys will hopefully all be contributing next season for the Twins

Nice! Durbin was a top prospect for the Twins for several years - he broke into the big leagues in 2004. I remember hearing his name since he was drafted in 2000, and I think the hype was a little too much.

Trevor is going to be gunning for a starting role in 2017 - he was moved to the bullpen out of necessity in 2015. He pitched very well in late inning relief, then started to have back issues in 2016. Several folks in the org have attributed the back problems to the short rest between appearances out of the bullpen. As a starter, May rarely missed a start.

Thanks Douglas, these are great!

#Supertraders Without Borders

(Corrected and Re-posted)

Douglas from Sportscards From the Dollar Store sent a great package of Twins my way last week:

 A little bling from The Killer

 Danny Santana, a recent Topps Rookie All-Star, is fighting for a regular spot in the lineup, either at short or in Center. Eddie Rosario has Left Field locked down for the foreseeable future.

 A tiny Tony O!

 I am looking forward to the day some of the young arms the Twins drafted the last few years make their MLB debuts. Reed should see some action this year. He's rocking the awesome Chattanooga Lookouts cap here.

 Douglas also shared a box of Hometown heroes with the Supertraders, it's a fun box to open.

Thanks again Douglas for the great cards - and sorry for the earlier snafu, not sure how I managed to get all the names and pictures wrong.

Sportscards from Sportscards From the Dollar Store

Just a quick post here - Douglas from Sportscards From the Dollar Store sent me a little stack that packed a big punch:

Rickey's ready to go!

I like to imagine Rickey is the one reading this copy on the back of the Score card.

Finally showing a little something this year, Hicks has been great defensively since being called back up.

Gibson might be the Twins best pitcher this year - the fact that you can compare more than one Twins pitcher and debate which one is "best" is another big step forward for the team.

Joe has been having a down season - with the bases empty. With Runners on base, Mauer is hitting .392. With Runners in scoring position, he's hitting .420! He's second on the team with 30 runs batted in. The ugly side of the coin is that with no one on base, Mauer is hitting just .189 with 20 strikeouts. Yuck. Well, I'm hoping he figures it out soon!

Thanks, Douglas, for the cards!