Card of the Day: 2008 UD Sweet Spot CC Sabathia
CC is on his way to New York. OK, I know, not exactly breaking news at this point. Then again, this is not one of those blogs that’s going to be the 52,000th one to re-post information reported by a legitimate media source and then pass it off like I did some real reporting. I hate that crap. I’ll at least give you an opinion … and cite my sources.
Anyhow, what I would like to discuss is this 2008 UD Sweet Spot card I pulled Tuesday night, and CC’s fantasy baseball value … sorta.
Don’t know about you, but I’m a fantasy baseball junky. So whenever a free agency move goes down like this, or a monster trade is executed, I’m always curious how the move affects the players involved. If you care to read that kind of stuff, check out this e-mail exchange I had with The Jon over at our fantasy baseball blog, www.thebaseballstars.com.
But the fantasy aspect is not all that is affected by big signings. The baseball card market, as volatile as it is, is greatly affected by these sort of moves. Typically a move to New York means great things for a player’s cards. But in some cases, the move is so cliche that it can actually have an adverse affect on guys. I have a feeling CC might be in such a situation.
I think there were a lot of people at the end of last season who absolutely fell head over heels for CC. Sure, they knew he was a solid ball player before, but what he did for Milwaukee down the stretch to get that squad into the playoffs was down right heroic. In the process, there undoubtably were throngs of casual fans who could not wait for get their hands on a CC Sabathia card picturing the lefty as a Brewer. Their wishes have come true with the update products being released, and of course this 2008 UD Sweet Spot, a pseudo high-end product.
But you see, this hype is short lived. And in this case with CC, the Brewer cards have already become obsolete because now there are people who want one of him donning a Yankee cap.
I’m intrigued by signings like these because I love how they affect the value of baseball cards. I touched on this a bit earlier this season in this post and this post. In this case, I think CC’s move to New York is going to hurt for a few reasons: 1) anything less than a World Series will be a disappointment, 2) many collectors hate the Yankees, and 3) the way this deal transpired — especially with the record contract in bad economic times — is a bit off-puting.
As it pertains to my new, and now obsolete, Sabathia card, I guess I should just enjoy it as it will likely be one of only a few that captured this brief, yet shiny segment of CC’s career. Kind of like this somewhat worthless Mike Piazza MARLIN card.
