Smattering of Pickups

After many botched attempts at trying to make a blogpost with a coherent narrative with some cards to accompany it, here's instead a bunch of pictures of cards with words to accompany them because I bought them sometime this summer.

Starting with the first Luis Torrens card made in 2021 that I added to my collection. This is also my first card of Torrens as a member of the Seattle Mariners org, as well as him as a first baseman. This may be shocking to hear but Torrens showed that he was mortal earlier this season by having a slow start to the season after a promising September in 2020. It was enough that he was sent down to the triple-A affiliate for the M's and after a few weeks he was back up with the big league club and has proceeded to look like Mike Trout. Well okay not really. but he's been good enough that I embarrass myself on Twitter every other day by going apeshit whenever he hits a dinger. The M's also have firmly tried to keep Torrens' bat in the lineup but shifting him to the DH slot as they give catching reps to their catching prospect Cal Raleigh. Which is fine but that's a total waste of an elite talent. With roster management like that it's no wonder the Mariners have never accomplished anything and never will. Anyway, will Torrens finally get a card as a Mariner in this year's update offering? I don't know and I won't care until I notice eBay listings pop up. In the meantime I just hope Torrens dominates in the ALW and gets traded to a real winner by the trade-happy Jerry Dipoto so he doesn't waste his prime in Seattle like every other Mariners superstar who came before him and will come after him.

Also decided to go after Thairo Estrada's first card as a member of the San Francisco Giants organization. The Giants are not a very well run team so they yo-yo Estrada up and down the minors when they should be keeping him at the MLB ranks instead of continuing to go with unrecognizable no-names. I hope they lose the division to the Los Angeles Dodgers just for that.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care.