A-Rod's Time In Pinstripes Is Ticking Away

The Yankees have decided to go with a youth movement which means that 41-year old Alex Rodriguez is on his way out, which he has made clear that he is at peace with. Some have even suggested that his time with the team may be ending sooner than later though Yankees manager Joe Girardi has stated that he still plans on getting A-Rod in the lineup as often as possible and with him sitting at 696 homeruns he is closing in on what at one point seemed like an unreachable number. He has 9 homeruns in 215 at-bats this season so at a rate at knocking a homer at nearly every 25 at-bats he may hit #700 before September.

Could he follow in the steps of Griffey and sign a short contract with the Mariners and retire where it all started? Possible, probably not likely but possible.

In 2011 I pulled a 2011 Topps Heritage A-Rod Reverse Negative #490 and held on to it. I saw the card sell in the $100 range and heard of versions selling for up to $300 but I was undecided. Last year while cutting down my collection I finally gave in and sold it for $115. I wonder what it would sell for if/when he hits #700? Wondering if I made a bad decision on selling it?

The A-Rod Reverse Negative Card Sold

Back in May I posted up my 2011 Topps Heritage Alex Rodriguez Reverse Negative SSP #490 on eBay for a slightly insane $150 BIN/OBO price. I received a low ball offer of $30 but no other interest outside of a group of watchers so when the 30-day listing ended I dropped it to $125 BIN/OBO and last week I dropped it to $115 and figured that if I had no interest when the second 30-day listing ended I would put it back in to my binder and consider re-listing if/when A-Rod hits his 700^th HR some time next season.

I have to admit I was somewhat surprised that someone bought it for the $115 BIN price last night. Not that I didn’t think that the card was worth it, I just didn’t think I was really going to have much luck especially after I only got one offer in the 50 days it has been listed and that was someone wasting my time.

Figuring Out Realistic Prices

Question:

How do you price a card that is so uncommon that there are very few sales to determine a fair rate?

 

Years ago I pulled a 2011 Topps Heritage Alex Rodriguez SSP reverse negative and I have gone back and forth on selling it because there never seems to be much data to figure a good selling point. Since the 2011 Heritage release I have seen the card posted for as much as $500, though I have never seen one sell for more than around $150. This year there has only been one sold on eBay and that was in February for $50 with just one bid but the seller mistitled it as a 2012 Heritage card and they probably missed out on some potential buyers with the year error so I don’t know if I should consider that as a reasonable price.

Now that A-Rod is back and just took over the #4 position on the All-Time Homerun list yesterday there is a resurgence in his card sales. I considered tossing it up for a $150 BIN/OBO price and go from there but considering that Rodriguez is signed through 2017 and it is reasonable to believe that if he stays healthy he can realistically hit 30 homeruns a year over the next three seasons he can overtake Bonds as the All-Time leader and I am guessing if that happens I can pretty much set any price but that means waiting.

Decisions…Decisions…

 

 

A-Roid

We now know what punishment Rodriguez is facing as well as his continued claim of innocence. If the punishment is upheld and Alex is suspended through 2015 will this affect his cards as much ad a ban would have?

Personally I think there will be a price drop either way but with him requesting an appeal, while everyone in the baseball world knows he is guilty, will only show collectors how much of an ass he is really. Not to mention going 0-4 with 3 strikeouts is not the way to put a positive outlook to collectors.

Juice Me!

So as Major League Baseball considers what punishment is deserving for Alex Rodriguez in the Biogenesis PED scandal word comes from the Rodriguez camp that Alex plans to continue playing and “fight this to the end”.

 

A-Rod’s cards have always carried some value even through his “Pay me!” egotistical, philanderous attitude that has followed him since his time in Seattle. There has always been the belief that he has juiced most of his career and it would seem that his connection to the Biogenesis lab may be the final nail in his coffin.

 

Question #1:

 If Rodriguez were to be banned would his cards take a steep drop in value?

 

My opinion: When you look at how McGwire and Bonds, who were not banned, cards dropped after they left the game it would seem almost certain that Rodriguez’s cards will drop too.

 

 

Question #2: If Alex Rodriguez were to be banned on Monday, the date the MLB has set for the announcement of his punishment, would Topps have to pull his cards from the remaining 10 sets scheduled for the remainder of the year? (Not counting the Allen & Ginters release next week)

 

My opinion: I am not certain. This would cost Topps money to pull all of his cards plus he has been active this season so MLB may allow a one-time inclusion for 2013 sets.

Biogenesis, Does The MLB Investigation Even Matter?

With the MLB doing an investigation in to the Miami based Biogenesis clinic scandal and the connection to PEDs it was only a matter of time before Alex Rodriguez’s name started to appear.

 

Now that the investigation is in full swing it is being reported that A-Rod had not only been a client of Biogenesis, having purchased thousands of dollars’ worth of PEDs, but that he paid at least one employee to ensure that any documents connecting him to the clinic “disappeared”. So now we are not only finding out that he has been possibly using performance enhancing drugs, but he may also be tampering with evidence, a criminal act.

 

The questions now are…

 

Question #1 Does it matter for baseball?

 

For me, the short answer is “Not Really”

 

 

The dipshit (Bud) at the top wouldn’t do anything about it anyway, he sat on his hands while McGwire, Sosa, Bonds and many other big name players played home run derby for years all while the team owners were raking in the money exploiting the leagues lack of an honest drug testing program.

 

Now Selig’s “harsh” words and threats of 50 game suspensions have done little to nothing to stop the marquee players from ‘roiding up outside of a couple of big name bad apples but hey… that was just Manny being Manny.

 

Could you see Selig suspending A-Roid for 50 games? There is no way that he would do that; it would end up being a slap in the face of the league. Right now the league has plausible deniability, they have no physical evidence showing Rodriguez was juicing so just look the other way. The guy is 37 and coming off of hip surgery, Selig figures to just let the Yankees keep paying him ($29 million this year, that is $4 million more than the Astros entire payroll) for a couple of more years and let him retire and the whole thing will just clear itself up.

Question #2 Will it hurt A-Rod’s collectability?

Again, for me, the answer is “Not Really”

 

There has always seemed to have been a cloud over Rodriguez, the guy has been suspected of using steroids for years. His name has been rumored to have shown up on failed test lists and connected to various clinics and doctors who do nothing but jack up athletes.

 

His numbers have been dipping continuously over the last 5 season with the last 2 seasons being dismal for him. He disappears in the playoffs (.150 BA and a 2-1 SO to Hit ratio over the last 3 playoffs).

 

If this has not chased away the collectors than even proof positive would matter. The guy’s rookie cards are still demanding thousands for graded copies and autographs still seem astronomical in comparison to some of the other top players.

Is this investigation really anything that will surprise fans and collectors? Probably not, most people already have their thoughts on the subject and feel that the MLB is just raising the flags so they appear to be supporting rules that they never had any intention to support anyway.