Talking Cards with Grand Salami & The Jewce
This is a new podcast focused on baseball card collectors, new and old. We will discuss new products in depth as well as the featured players to get excited about.
Talking Cards with Grand Salami & The Jewce
Opening Week - American League Breakdown
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Baseball is back and we could not be more excited! This is part one where we discuss a player from each team that is poised to have the biggest impact on the card hobby this year.
Hello and welcome to Talking Cards with Grant Salami and the Juice. I am the Juice along here with Bert. Grant Salami as always. Up Juice. Doing good. How are you doing, Bert?
SPEAKER_01I'm doing good. I'm ready to get it some sunshine. I'm going on vacation tomorrow, so making my way from the gray, dark Seattle to Phoenix, Arizona, and then to Puerto Ricardo, Mexico. So you're not even going to be in the U.S. for opening week of baseball. I will be, let's see. Yeah, part of the day I'll be in the U.S. and part of the day I'll be in Mexico, but I'll I'll be making sure that I'm paying attention to the box scores. It's uh exciting times for fantasy baseball. And of course, for my squad.
unknownYes.
SPEAKER_02I am very excited for everything going on this week. Baseball is finally back. It is finally here. The 26th. 26th is my son's birthday. It's my son's birthday. So as much as I would like him to, I don't think he's going to want to sit around and watch the Mets. Although he is a Mets fan. He does say let's go Mets. He's a Mets fan.
SPEAKER_01Okay, you got him. You got him converted. Oh, that's good. Yes.
SPEAKER_02All right. So what we have for you today is this is part one of a two-parter. We are going to look at every team. We are going to start with American League for this episode. Next episode, we will talk with National League. Talk about the National League. We are going to name one player from every team that is the most hobby relevant, why you should be watching them, and just why they should have you excited or maybe have a close eye on them, close eye on their market. Just something that it can affect you in the hobby. This is a great listen if you're someone that likes random team breaks, because yeah, you're going to want to know who for every single team could be a potential target for anything that the hobby throws at you.
SPEAKER_01And it's such an interesting time in general. Going into the regular season from spring training, I think the uh the spring training bump is going to go away very quickly. So when thinking about the singles market, keep that, keep that in mind, right? I think once the game starts and guys start getting at bats or innings, the markets can change very fast and sometimes unreasonably fast one way or the other, depending on if they're performing well or if they're performing bad.
SPEAKER_02Especially at the beginning of the season. You know, everyone is excited. They want to see what this player can do. The overreactions will be crazy. There won't be any underreactions, I don't think, really. People just react to every single at bat, every pitch, every great strikeout game, just everything. It just be careful out there. Take advantage if you can. If you have some cards you're looking to move and you had the chance to move them because of a great day in the first week of the season, do what you gotta do. Yeah. And well said. With that, so we will start with the American League East. Let's go, Baltimore Orioles. The player that I am labeling as a watch for the hobby is we've talked about him already a little bit, Samuel Basayo. What are you thinking about him?
SPEAKER_01Samuel Basayo, the starlet of 2023 Bowman Chrome. That was when he had his first. The other names in there were uh Ethan Salas, Felman, Celeston. But yeah, Basayo's kind of stepped up as being the star of that of that particular checklist. And of course, now he has 2026 tops rookies. Basal is a guy that could, I think, because of the relatively small amount of playing time he has under his belt and the fact that he performed fairly poorly when he did get called up last year. If he comes out the gates hot, you could see a big time explosion with Bisao. You know, a lot of prospectors had Bisayo as maybe the best pure hitter in the minor leagues before his call-up in prospect rankings and things like that. He's a masher, man. He's a masher. He's got real power. And uh, I don't know if he's gonna stick behind the dish or how Baltimore's gonna deploy him with you know, with Adley behind the dish, too. I think you're gonna see him get a lot of DH time as well. But uh yeah, Sammy B. Sammy B could be a guy that that blows up pretty big pretty early.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Fortunately, Baltimore has seemed like a place where the prospects and the guys I'm excited about have kind of faded every time. It's in holiday, at least started off great. Going back to Ryan Moundcastle. My brother and I were pretty heavy in on him. Yeah, so hopefully he can buck that trend and really do something great. It will remain to be seen. That's why opening weeks.
SPEAKER_01If everything comes together for that, for that Royal, I don't know about the pitching staff, but that lineup could could put up some uh serious runs, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_02They're going to need to in this division. And that will bring us to our next team, Boston Red Sox. There's only there can only be one player right now that you're talking about for 2026 in the hobby. That is Roman Anthony.
SPEAKER_01We've touched on the Roman Anthony.
SPEAKER_02The Roman Empire. All right. So what are you looking for out of Roman Anthony?
SPEAKER_01And I don't know how well he's gonna have to perform to maintain his prices because his prices are a little bit out of control. I think you're talking this is like a, you know, he's gonna have to come out and be a top five AL MVP candidate, that kind of performance early in the season just to maintain his prices. What's it gonna take for him to spike? I don't know if he's gonna start out April leading the league in home runs or something like that, something crazy. But the expectations are sky high for Roman. I feel bad for the kid a little bit.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, he is the number one rookie this year that's been released thus far. And from a hobby perspective, that's a lot of pressure. If you had those Roman cards, I would really say sell at the moment for those like rookies, maybe not for like the first moments and stuff that you can certainly hold. But those series one rookies and heritage rookies, that's all there is right now. I would really recommend to try to sell right now and then buy it when Tops Chrome comes out.
SPEAKER_01Unless Roman Anthony is slight to Roman Anthony, right? That's just the nature of the hobby. The rate at which the level at which he would need to perform just to maintain his prices is absurd. Like you it you can't just reasonably expect a guy to come in his second year, as young as he is, to come in and immediately be a top three MVP candidate.
unknownYou know what I mean?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, unless he does like Nick Kurtz things and what he did was absurd. And he has to do it for a full season because he's called up already.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, Ronan in his own right was performing at a near MVP clip when he was healthy after he got through that rough patch that he was in, and when he got called up, it was rough. But after about that that month's stretch, he was performing like at a top five MVP clip. So who's to say he can't come out the gates and continue to perform that way? I think he very well could. I just don't know how much upside there is unless he's putting up stupid numbers.
SPEAKER_02Next up, we have the Red Sox rivals. We have the New York Yankees. There is always a lot of guys that you can focus on for the Yankees, but we are going to talk about this new almost postseason legend, Cam Schlittler. How are you feeling about Cam, their their big rookie this year?
SPEAKER_01Cam Schlittler is um such an interesting prospect, right? Because when you're whenever you think about Yankees prospects, you think they're overhyped. Always overhyped. With Schlitler, it didn't feel like there was all that much hype. And I think one of the reasons why is because he was such a late bloomer. You know, when he was drafted and his his first little um his first little stint in the minor leagues, he was only throwing in the mid-90s, right? But then all of a sudden you put him on the big stage and he's up throwing 98, 99 and kind of dominating in some in some aspects. Like that playoff start that he had was pure dominance. It's yeah, we, you know, you might have missed the peak Cam Schlittler window all time because his stuff card-wise was through the roof after that start and throughout the playoffs.
SPEAKER_02With the Yankees market, you know that's going to stay high. Those Yankee fans can be looking forward after every start. If there's another dominant start and another dominant start, those prices aren't going anywhere. And I I am in on Cam Schlitzer um as much as it pains me as a Mets fan. Yeah, I think um, I think he's legit with the Yankees. A lot of the questions are can they perform on that stage? You know, in the New York market. He did it in the market, he did it in the postseason, and now he's just gonna do it. He had a little swag going. He's just gotta do it for a full season now, and we will see how that goes. Yeah. Next up, we have for the Tampa Bay Rays, let's talk about their rookie Carson Williams.
SPEAKER_01Carson Williams has never had as much hobby love as real life prospect love. You know, this is a guy that was a perennial top 20 prospect in the last couple years, but never really reached that kind of top 20 first Bowman auto value list or anywhere even close, even when he was at his peak as a prospect. I feel like it's it going into 2026, when you look at those 2026 rookies, he's definitely under the radar. He's not one of the first ones that you think of. I think a lot of people would say that Carson Williams is fairly low ceiling, high floor. I think that's probably a fair assessment. You know, in order to really get that hobby notoriety, you're gonna need to have put up some serious power numbers. And I'm not sure if Carson Williams is quite there yet. I think the Rays are gonna give him a chance to play, you know, so he could he could, you know, very quickly solidify himself as an everyday starter, major league kind of player. I just don't know if the ceiling's there to get the hobby look.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. The one thing about the Rays, though, is it seems like their rookies always do come out and perform, they usually live up to their height as long as you know they're staying within the law. But overall, you know, as a market, of course, Tampa, not the best market for cards, but you know, player being elite can overcome that. So Carson Williams, someone that I would not mind getting hitting a nice card out of.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, definitely. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02All right, so you stick with the rookies. This won't all be rookies, by the way, but this is so far a pretty uh good division for the rookies. Toronto Blue Jays. Now they're Cam Slitler, Trey Yesavage. How are we feeling about him this year? Well, he's hurt, and that's scary.
SPEAKER_01I think with Yesavage and his mechanics, he's very over the top. He's got that short stride. It looks from a mechanics perspective like it would be hard on his arm. And I think uh having this early season injury does not bode well for Mr. Yesavage. He is, however, nasty. I think that he's a better pitching prospect than Cam Schlitzer is. He's in a worse market, but Toronto, in their own right, has a pretty strong hobby community. I would say that they they are definitely above average when it comes to their prospects selling well. But yeah, I very, very cautious about Trey Ya Savage right now. I certainly wouldn't be doing any buying right now because he's still, even though he's not as high as he was in the playoffs, he's still pretty high, I think, even for us prospect pedigree.
SPEAKER_02That's fair. Yeah, I'm neither in or out on him. He's someone just wait and see. Hopefully he can get through that injury just for his sake. And yeah, we'll we'll see what he can really become. Let's move on to the AL Central. We will start, we will start with the Chicago White Sox. And I'm not really hearing a lot of people talk about him, but there was a lot of chatter and it just kind of died out, I guess. I guess probably because of the market he's in. Let me know if I'm saying this right. Munitega Markot. I think you got it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, Mooney. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Can we call him Mooney?
SPEAKER_01I don't know what they're calling him.
SPEAKER_02Let's just call him Mooney, yeah. Yeah, I'll go with Mooney.
SPEAKER_01I mean, what a what an interesting case study this is, right? Like back in the 23 WBC, his stock was extremely high. I feel like if he would have came over after the 23 WBC, especially after some of the seasons, the power seasons he was having early in his career in Japan, he would have commanded a lot more on the free agent market than what he ended up getting. He was not as high profile of a signing as I was expecting, maybe back in 2023 when he came over this year. And he's going to the south side of Chicago, too, which isn't the biggest brand in Major League Baseball either. The man has serious, legit, real power. But even his like looking at his K-rate, even in Japan, it's highly concerning. Now going up against Major League pitching, it just feels like a situation where he could like I'm expecting him to hit 190, strike out 33, 34% of the time he steps up to the plate and probably hit 35 bombs in a full season. I just, I don't know. I I don't know if he's gonna be able to handle handle the big league pitching.
SPEAKER_02I'm very excited for him. I'd rat him in fantasy. Late late round flyer, of course, but I'm very excited to see what what he's going to do because I just think that if it does translate, if he is able to bring those power numbers over, he's gonna be a really hot buy. He's gonna be so exciting to watch. And it's a big it, of course. Odds are he won't be able to do it, but I I'm definitely gonna be watching that market to see if that there's a good price to get in on him on because if he really is able to put it together, I think a lot of people are gonna be regretting that they didn't get in when it comes.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and people are willing to pay a premium for big Japanese names. You know, you you see it pretty much with everybody who's come over, even if they don't perform, they still will sell pretty well.
SPEAKER_02And lately all the big Japanese names have all been pitchers, really. Roki, Iamamoto, Sangha. So it's exciting to see a Japanese bat that you can get really excited about, a Japanese power bat.
SPEAKER_01So in Toronto, too, I think is gonna be pretty good. You know, I think another good lineup too. We'll see between him and Murakami how their hobby markets end up.
SPEAKER_02Um next up, we will go to the Cleveland Guardians. This is a guy that I'm personally in on. I have quite a few pieces. For whatever reason, Guardians have always they've always been a hobby magnet for me. I've always been a fan of their organization for whatever reason. I I can't really say what it is. But Travis Bazada, how are we feeling about him? Big prospect. Hopefully, he's due to make his debut this year, right?
SPEAKER_01He's due to make his debut. It doesn't look like he's gonna break camp. Some people thought that he was gonna break camp, but I don't I don't think at this point he's he's going to. He could be a fairly early season call-up, though, especially depending on how things go in Cleveland. Another international guy, right? He came out in the WBC, hit a home run in his first game, obviously first overall pick in the draft out of Oregon State. Really, really, really good player. Could could uh step right in and immediately, you know, take the reins as the everyday starter for Cleveland if he gets called up. Um I kind of like it that you know, a lot of people are like, oh man, my guy didn't get called up. So I feel like I'm scared for my my collection. I actually think it's different with prospects. You want them to stay down there and percolate as long as they can. I think as a Bazanna holder, you want you want him to absolutely tear up the high levels of the minor leagues and get ready for like a lot of hype at call-up time when all eyes are on him, you know, because when he gets called up, it's it's probably not going to be the same time as other prospects on his level. So I think all the all the spotlight will be on him if he gets like a May-June call-up.
SPEAKER_02I have a nice true blue auto first moment of his. Yeah, I don't plan on selling that. I I I think he's legit. So we'll see how that goes. Yeah. Another prospect that will not be breaking camp for the Detroit Tigers. Let's go with a little little Kevin McGonagall. So he is very hyped. Outside of Conor Griffin, he might be the most hyped guy, hype prospect in the hobby right now. Is that fair to say?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and his prices are also through the roof. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, pretty insane hit tool, right? Like, I don't know if we've seen a hit tool like this since Wander got the call up. The dude is gonna hit. Like, it would absolutely shock me if he came up and in his first three months sample size hit below 250. Like he's gonna come out the gates and be able to hit major league pitching. I don't think it's gonna be that big of a challenge for him. I think the question with McGonagall is like, does he have the power to keep hobbyists interested? And some of these, some of these uh exit velocities that we've been seeing in spring training out of McGonagall are very, are very positive. Reason for optimism there that he's gonna be able to develop pop. You always want the guys that have the hit tools, even if they're smaller guys. You want the guys with hit tools and potential for power because as they get older, they'll they'll develop that power. But that hit tool as a mate, you can't, you can't teach that. You can't train that, you can't, you can't unlock that if you don't have it. And he's certainly got it.
SPEAKER_02Definitely someone to be excited about. Next up, we have a rookie, started his debut last year, probably the number two rookie in the top's products as they stand right now for the Kansas City Royals. Jack Caggs. We talked about him on a few episodes so far. How are you feeling about him heading into the season?
SPEAKER_01Well, I'm rooting for him. I'm rooting for him first and foremost. He's uh he's such a such an intriguing profile. I think it's also awesome that he's really into cards. He owns a lot of his his own biggest cards. He's constantly out there on social media, at card shops, taking pictures with hobbyists. Like he definitely wants to be a face for tops baseball, which I think is awesome. Like when guys are engaged like that and it's genuine and not forced like it seems to be with Kegs, it's great. I mean, his exit VLOs and spring training have been absolutely insane. The man just has monster pop. I hope that I hope that he comes out the gates hot because it'll be really good for uh for the hobby, more so than anything, especially with him being one of the top 2026 guys.
SPEAKER_02And I hit his super fractor out of uh out of Bowman's best the top.
SPEAKER_01All of a sudden now you have you have uh vested interests.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and I wanna I try to reach out to him on Instagram, I didn't get an answer, which which makes sense. I understand that. That's fine. But you know, with all our listeners, you know, I'm sure that several of you are best friends with him. No, I wanna you think that he would do a trade, that card for a uh guest spot on the podcast? You think that he would do that trade? I don't know. Maybe I'd take that trade. Is his time worth more money than that? I don't know, but I'm so excited. Um, yeah, I'm so excited to see him. I got a couple nice uh CAGs cards now. And yeah, after what he did before he got called up last year, of course, different breed in the minors, but yeah, I'm very excited to see if he can finally translate that to the majors. I wish they'd let him pitch.
SPEAKER_01Honestly, I wish they let him pitch. That would be another great thing for baseball to see another two-way guy get a chance.
SPEAKER_02Or McLean.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, or let McLean hit.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. All right. Last team out of the AL Central, we have for the Twins, Walker Jenkins. Big prospect. Hasn't really been talked about because I feel like these other guys have overshadowed him a bit, but for the twins, definitely a big deal. How are you feeling about him?
SPEAKER_01Walker Jenkins before he got banged up in spring training was on a very quick ascension in the hobby world. His looking at his uh uh Bowman auto prices, they were on a steady rise. People were ready for Walker Jenkins to pop big time card-wise, but then he gets hurt. And now all of a sudden he's being labeled a chronic injury risk. You know, you're starting to talk about him in the same conversations as a guy like Chase DeLoder, who just he's got the talent, immense talent, and just can't stay healthy. I hope that's not the case. I hope that he uh he's able to rebound quickly and perform because he's a really intriguing player. I like his game a lot. I love his swing. I think that he uh he's got it when it when he's healthy. He's a top five level, you know, top five prospect level type of talent. Yeah. Minnesota's got an interesting farm system because I love E-rod too. I think Erod could do some things, and a lot of people forgot about him since he had his first Bowman way back when in 2021.
SPEAKER_02Seems like forever ago. That's like 15 Bowman products ago, right? So, yeah, or or 12 or so. What the thing about the chronic injury guys, I always think to myself, so many guys can be labeled that just until they're not. Think about Aaron Judge. So the other day I posted our thoughts on Nick Kurtz, whether or not he was heading for a sophomore slump. And we were saying, yeah, like he he could, but a sophomore slump for him is still like a career season for so many other guys. And the numbers he put up with soap syrup. So someone's like, I don't think he's due for sophomore slump. I think he's gonna be the next Aaron Judge. And I'm just saying to the guy, all right, well, Aaron Judge, after his rookie season, he didn't put up those numbers again for five years. He was injured pretty much every year. So I know that I kind of went off there on a bit of a tangent. But yeah, just these guys can be injury risk until they're not. Of course, it's scary with a prospect when they're young and they their bodies should be at the top, top peak physical condition. But just just something to think about. Like if you want a guy to be the next Aaron Judge, Aaron Judge, even though he's he was Aaron Judge right away, it still took him five years to really be that guy, that number two guy in the hobby. A lot of people say number one guy in baseball, uh, just from a hitting tools perspective. But uh, we'll have that debate another day. Yeah. All right, let's get to our last division in the American League. Let's talk about the American League West. We will start with the Houston Astros, a guy that I really like. I have a few of his cards. Bryce Matthews. How are you feeling about him?
SPEAKER_01Bryce Matthews all of a sudden is uh a little bit under the radar, too. You know, looking at that 2026 rookie list, kind of like Carson Williams. Not as much prospect pedigree as Carson Williams. I don't know, man. The Astros seem to just have a have a knack for, you know, getting getting a lot out of their talent. Uh, it scares me as a Mariners fan. I do like the the Mariners Cynic in me thinks, yeah, Cam Smith and Bryce Matthews are both gonna have monster seasons this year.
SPEAKER_02As a Bryce Matthews holder, I'm hoping. All right, now we're getting to our first vet, I think. I don't think we talked about any vets yet, but from the rest of the list on, there are quite a few vets that I want to talk about. The first one's gonna be for the Angels. We are talking about Mike Trout. Obviously, he was the hobby darling of a decade. And then, you know, things, the pendulum shifted. Injuries, injuries, injuries, and then his teammate kind of took over as that guy. But Mike Trout last year, he was finally able to play a lot more games than he has been. This year, I think he got hit by a pitch he was staying. Today or something, but now he's fine. How are you feeling about Mike Trout this year from a hobby perspective?
SPEAKER_01Let me let me turn that one back on you. Like, what do you think happens if Mike Trout comes out and has a better year than he has been having and he stays healthy, but not a troutyan year? Like, what if he comes out, he hits 250, 40 bombs, 20 steals? Does his market go back up? I it also depends market has never been more down, I don't think, than it is has been in the last year.
SPEAKER_02I think not a lot of that. If he doesn't have if he has an all-star season, but not a troutyan season, a trouting season is an MVP season, just because that's what that's what he used to do every year, year in and year out. He finished one or two in the MVP voting all the time. But yeah, unless if he just has like an all-star season, I know that in the past, obviously the success of the Angels did not matter for his card values, but people just aren't paying attention to him or that team anymore. So if he doesn't have a trade in season, unless it's something where he's bringing that team to the playoffs with a really, really decent season, an all-star season. Yeah. Um, yeah, I just I would really like to see his card values go back up because I think it'd just be good for the hobby, just because it's it's so often that we see these guys where they are the hobby guy, and then you know, they're just a couple of injury real seasons and they fall off. So I like to that long ago.
SPEAKER_01It was you know, 2022, just a few years ago when I was pricing out PYP breaks, or um Trout was higher than Otani in terms of price. Um you know, if they have the same set of cards, inserts, and autos in a checklist, Trout was higher than Otani was back in 2021, 2022. How that how the times have changed.
SPEAKER_02So, how are you feeling about Trout this year?
SPEAKER_01I don't know, man. Lukewarm, I'm just a baseball fan in me would love to see him have a monster season. Be one of the things that I want to see happen most. Stay healthy, trout have a monster season. Just see him play like he like he played in his mid-20s again.
SPEAKER_02All right, next up, we will go to the Oakland Athletics, and there is well, there's actually two guys. I was about to say that there is really only one guy to talk about, but no, there's definitely a second that gets an honorable mention. Uh, but first we will talk about Nick Kurtz, you know, biggest guy in the hobby last year as far as rookies go. Big Amish.
SPEAKER_00What are you looking for Nick Kurtz wise this year? Yeah, I'm a big Nick Kurtz guy.
SPEAKER_02I think everybody is. I don't know anyone who's not a not a fan of what he's been doing and is not excited to see a lot more of what he can do across a full season. And yeah, it's gonna be really tough for him to put out those numbers. I would even say top five MVP guy is not even enough.
SPEAKER_00I think he has to be like top three. Like I would and I wanted to give for the uh athletics.
SPEAKER_02I wanted to give I might have said Oakland athletics before, but I'll get used to it eventually. Um, we'll mention to LDV, Leo DeVries. So big prospect. I couldn't not talk about Nick Kurtz because he is the hobby guy that a lot of stuff will he's a top five guy in the hobby right now, where a lot of attention is deserved. But Leo DeVries, he could become one of those guys, and he is set to debut this year.
SPEAKER_00So, what should we be looking for out of him? That A's lineup could end up being a lot of fun to watch. A lot of fun. All right, next.
SPEAKER_02Next up, let's talk about your Seattle Mariners. So, for the past few guys, hobby-wise, it's been all about J Rod, Julio Rodriguez. But last year, someone made that change. Big Dumper. Such a monster season last year. So I think that he is the guy to watch. Julio, I think, could still end up easily being the bigger hobby eye. It's hard for a catcher end up being that guy and to do it year after year. But let's talk about Big Dumper because he he still does not get enough love, I feel like. Let's wrap it up with our last scene for the American League. Let's talk about the Texas Rangers, and this is another guy that I am heavily in on. I am very excited to see. A lot of people are expecting a big year. I even think I still saw Buster only post him as a sleeper MVP candidate. So a lot of eyes have been opened up to him recently that might not have noticed him as much. Wyatt Langford.
SPEAKER_00I love him. How do you feel about him? I'll take that as a stepping stone to his MVP sec season next year, okay?
SPEAKER_02I'll sign up for that. I'm a big fan. So that about does it for our American League preview. Hopefully, everyone is very excited for opening day, opening week. Next episode, we will talk about the National League, what players you can be excited about, why we're excited about them.
SPEAKER_00Any parting words, Bert? Happy opening day, everybody.