1996 Topps #4

Tarasco had a 54 OPS+ with Baltimore in 1996.

White had a 100 OPS+ in 1996.

Ryan Zimmerman Redux

Some more Zim cards…

2009 Allen & Ginter's

2009 Bowman

2007 Upper Deck

2009 Upper Deck

1996 Topps #3

Segui had a 114 OPS+ on the juice.

Martinez had a 117 ERA+ in 1996 and made the All Star team for the first time.

Carlos did not pitch in the majors in 1996.

Rojas had 36 saves and a 134 ERA+ in 1996.

Another Helping of Cliff Floyd

Haven’t featured any Cliff Floyd cards in awhile. Here’s a sampling…

1992 Upper Deck Minors Diamond Skills

1992 Upper Deck Minors Hologram

1993 Fleer Final Edition

1993 Pinnacle

1994 Bowman

1993 Classic Best Young Guns

Expos Auto: Shane Andrews

1996 Leaf Certified Signature

So, I was wondering…just how good of a prospect was Shane Andrews? Not that great, honestly. If you look at the average of his years leading up to his ML debut, he had a .239/.360/.426 line. I’m a bit surprised, honestly. I thought the slugging would be higher and the obp way lower. Now, about his strikeout totals, which I remember being the big rap on him….well, on the surface, a legit concern, but when you dig deeper, he averaged about 138 whiffs per season in an average of 514 PAs, or about one K every .27 PAs. I don’t know about you, but with that OBP, that’s an acceptable risk.

So…Shane Andrews…a proto Jack Cust? It would seem that way. Too bad his major league career didn’t quite work out that way.

1987 Kraft Home Run Heroes

These were apparently on the outside of Kraft packages back in 1987. Ahhh, those old airbrushed caps. No idea if this is the complete set.

1996 Topps #2

Fassero had a 130 ERA+ in 1996.

Fletcher had a 91 OPS+ in 1996.

Floyd had a 99 OPS+ in his first full season.

Lansing had a 95 OPS+ in 1996.

Failed Prospect: Josh Labandeira

2004 Absolute Memorabilia Auto

Man, this guy was EVERYWHERE in sets in 2004. It seems to have been based on the strength of a .324/.386/.412 first part of 2003 with High-A Brevard County. But was it meant to be? The guy was a sixth-round pick, after all.

2004 Bazooka

Advanced to AA in 2004, at the age of 25, he went .270/.357/.381 and earned a promotion to the majors.

2004 Bazooka Red

In 14 PAs with Montreal, he had no hits and four strikeouts. He returned to AA in 1995 and hit 273/376/355 between AA and AAA. But no callup.

2004 Bowman

He never came back to the majors, and seems to be out of baseball now, but there is an interesting twist to this: he seems to have pitched in a few games in 2007 and 2008. He was decent in 2007, but blew it in 2008. Now, it was probably just blowout games, but a tantalizing thought: what if he’d pulled a reverse Ankiel?

2004 Cracker Jack

2003 Flair Greats: Andre Dawson & Gary Carter

I loved this set when it was issued; it’s a shame there aren’t more Expos in the set.

I like the design, but they could have gone with a better photo.

Cool shot of the Kid. Love the background as well.

1996 Topps #1

1996 was Alou's last season with the Expos; he had a 107 OPS+.

Barrett hit .238 in Single A in 1996.

Berry moved to Houston in 1996.

Cordero was with Boston in 1996.