Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.

[eye4talent]

Originally Posted by SleepyWill

Only two stats he lead the Jays with last year are AB & triples.

Other than that, statistically he was the 5th/6th best player on that team last year. This is his third year in and it appears pitching staffs have figured him out for the most part.

#RIP Hype train 2019

So...... Team rankings of a 21-year-old during a pandemic-shortened season, during which said 21-year-old fully admitted to letting his weight balloon and then subsequently committed to getting into pro-athlete shape....... That doesn’t really scream “game over.”

If it did, then you’d probably have to be ready to declare that Yelich, Bellinger, Arenado, Lindor, Scherzer, JD Martinez, Gleyber, Altuve, Correa, Bregman, Meadows, Moncada, Greinke, Flaherty, Javy Baez, Pete Alonso, and Albies are all bums now.


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[JayEvans813]

Originally Posted by anm2231

I’m not analyzing sales for $4-8 cards either way

Well for some of us who may have stacks of these $4-8 cards, a doubling in value might be quite substantial and worth getting excited about. No need to be highfalutin.


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[eye4talent]

Originally Posted by Wrigs37

Just got my 2nd US1 Meijer purple on Facebook today. Pretty stoked!!

You deserve a Gatorade bath!

My rainbow is filled out pretty well, but the purple continues to evade me. I think it’s partially because I don’t quite get why the ‘19 Meijers are so much more than the Meijer/Toys R’ Us purples from previous years, as well as the ‘20 Meijers.

Perhaps someone can explain...


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[rngrdanny22]

Originally Posted by eye4talent

You deserve a Gatorade bath!

My rainbow is filled out pretty well, but the purple continues to evade me. I think it’s partially because I don’t quite get why the ‘19 Meijers are so much more than the Meijer/Toys R’ Us purples from previous years, as well as the ‘20 Meijers.

Perhaps someone can explain...


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The 19 Meijers were extremely limited due to the format. Also, it was speculated that some nefarious activity went on with one person having multiple copies and living close to where the cubes were manufactured.

[rfgilles]

Originally Posted by eye4talent

You deserve a Gatorade bath!

My rainbow is filled out pretty well, but the purple continues to evade me. I think it’s partially because I don’t quite get why the ‘19 Meijers are so much more than the Meijer/Toys R’ Us purples from previous years, as well as the ‘20 Meijers.

Perhaps someone can explain...


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Toys 'R Us going out of business contributed to less '19 Purples.

[Wrigs37]

Originally Posted by eye4talent

You deserve a Gatorade bath!

My rainbow is filled out pretty well, but the purple continues to evade me. I think it’s partially because I don’t quite get why the ‘19 Meijers are so much more than the Meijer/Toys R’ Us purples from previous years, as well as the ‘20 Meijers.

Perhaps someone can explain...


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I bought my first purple from a Ebay seller that lived a few miles from MJ Holdings about a year ago. Paid the same price for the one I bought today. My first copy is clean and sharp, needs grading. I bought the one today because it looked Sharp and centered in the pics. I know TripleB has 2-3 copies. I think the purple is a sleeping giant because of the shenanigans behind it’s release.

Pretty low pop. More like a less than /99 feel to it. Big condition issues also.

[eye4talent]

Originally Posted by rfgilles

Toys 'R Us going out of business contributed to less '19 Purples.

Considering that Meijer is a regional chain, that makes sense.

But why are ‘20 purples selling for so much less? Even before the second wave via Canadian blaster boxes, the Bichette purples were selling for 1/3 of Vlad purples.

Whatever the reason, the Vlad purple is a great-looking card that has a seat at the table with the Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Indy.


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[Wrigs37]

Originally Posted by eye4talent

Considering that Meijer is a regional chain, that makes sense.

But why are ‘20 purples selling for so much less? Even before the second wave via Canadian blaster boxes, the Bichette purples were selling for 1/3 of Vlad purples.

Whatever the reason, the Vlad purple is a great-looking card that has a seat at the table with the Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Indy.


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2020’s are plentiful. 2019’s are not.

[SleepyWill]

Originally Posted by eye4talent

So...... Team rankings of a 21-year-old during a pandemic-shortened season, during which said 21-year-old fully admitted to letting his weight balloon and then subsequently committed to getting into pro-athlete shape....... That doesn’t really scream “game over.”

If it did, then you’d probably have to be ready to declare that Yelich, Bellinger, Arenado, Lindor, Scherzer, JD Martinez, Gleyber, Altuve, Correa, Bregman, Meadows, Moncada, Greinke, Flaherty, Javy Baez, Pete Alonso, and Albies are all bums now.


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Your listing is a bit all over the place with your examples and missing my point. All of the players above have had at least 1 "elite" season while Vlad has yet to deliver on anything. Am I happy that he's dropped some weight, yah sure . . . But as the son of a HoF and declared the next big thing shame on him for not being fully prepared.

I think here, you have three sets of people when viewing Vlad.

1. Die Hard fans that just want to see him succeed and own a few cards.
2. Die Hard collectors that bought into the hype and have invested & held onto his cards.
3. The realists that say it's okay to say he just hasn't panned out to be anything special as of yet. Is it okay to buy a few cards? Sure, but it should come with the asterisk of *buyer beware*.

[SleepyWill]

Up until mid season last year I had a pretty hefty sum invested into Vlad. . .

But, after seeing how he was trending I decided it was best to minimize my risk and sell a majority of what I had and reinvest into BB. I do however still have a few BC autos just in the scenario that he does proof to be something.

[dmanrico]

New Vladdy to the collection . . .

[HarryLime]

Originally Posted by SleepyWill

I think here, you have three sets of people when viewing Vlad.

1. Die Hard fans that just want to see him succeed and own a few cards.
2. Die Hard collectors that bought into the hype and have invested & held onto his cards.
3. The realists that say it's okay to say he just hasn't panned out to be anything special as of yet. Is it okay to buy a few cards? Sure, but it should come with the asterisk of *buyer beware*.

I mean, you can say this about everyone. There are no guarantees in life or the hobby. Everyone comes with their share of risk and people can find different ways to rationalize it for their own reasons.

I didn't own a single Vlad card until the "he dropped 40 lbs" article came out. That made me look at what his card's were selling for and it seemed like an outstanding opportunity. I still think some of his stuff is drastically undervalued.

Dropping 40 lbs (and saying an additional 10 would be gone on top of that) isn't just about losing weight and getting into shape. In order for him to do that he had to undertake large, sweeping lifestyle changes. He had to completely dedicate himself to a singular purpose and the 40 lbs wasn't the purpose, it was a bi-product.

He didn't just wake up every day, do 300 sit ups, run 5 miles, and eat zero carbs. He busted his arse and rededicated himself to the sport of baseball. I have no doubt he spent an enormous amount of time working on his swing, pitch identification, defense, quickness, hitting scenarios, and countless other things. Through this, and his devotion to a healthy diet and strong cardio routine, he lost all of the weight.

But to think that he lost 40-50 lbs and didn't also improve in other areas of the game as well is a little shortsighted, I think.

Arthur

[htn315]

Originally Posted by rngrdanny22

The 19 Meijers were extremely limited due to the format. Also, it was speculated that some nefarious activity went on with one person having multiple copies and living close to where the cubes were manufactured.

The 2019 Meijers update purples were also included in the MJ Holdings 2020 Canadian Baseball Champions repacks, the ones sold at walmart in Canada with all the blue jays stuff on the packaging

[eye4talent]

Originally Posted by SleepyWill

Your listing is a bit all over the place with your examples and missing my point. All of the players above have had at least 1 "elite" season while Vlad has yet to deliver on anything. Am I happy that he's dropped some weight, yah sure . . . But as the son of a HoF and declared the next big thing shame on him for not being fully prepared.

I think here, you have three sets of people when viewing Vlad.

1. Die Hard fans that just want to see him succeed and own a few cards.
2. Die Hard collectors that bought into the hype and have invested & held onto his cards.
3. The realists that say it's okay to say he just hasn't panned out to be anything special as of yet. Is it okay to buy a few cards? Sure, but it should come with the asterisk of *buyer beware*.

The fact that it’s a cross-section of the league helps make the point, actually. It was a 60-game season. There are various reasons why players struggle over parts of a season, and when they only play part of a season (60 opposed to 162 games), we are left with an incomplete picture.

Bellinger’s swing was a mess. Gleyber struggled with injuries. Vlad was significantly overweight. Had it been 162 games, many of these players would have balanced out the couple of bad months with a couple of good months. On the flip side, there are players who looked amazing in 2020 but whose stat lines would’ve suffered from a longer season. (Look at Tatis’ September. He was awful. Does that mean the league figured him out after a month and that he’s done for?)

In Vlad’s case, he was noticeably better as he began losing weight. Plus, we can’t forget that very young players tend to improve—it’s a fundamental reality of sports (and life, really).

If the league had him “figured out,” he would’ve struck out more than once every 5.8 at-bats. He wouldn’t have tallied 24 extra-base hits (approximately 65 over 162 games) and had one of the highest average exit velocities in the league. And the Blue Jays wouldn’t have kept him in the middle of their playoff-bound lineup if they sensed he was overmatched.

Of course, you’re free to believe what you want about Vlad’s future. It’s just premature to be writing off a 21-year-old after he posted a .793 OPS in 60 games.


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[dream34]

Originally Posted by eye4talent

The fact that it’s a cross-section of the league helps make the point, actually. It was a 60-game season. There are various reasons why players struggle over parts of a season, and when they only play part of a season (60 opposed to 162 games), we are left with an incomplete picture.

Bellinger’s swing was a mess. Gleyber struggled with injuries. Vlad was significantly overweight. Had it been 162 games, many of these players would have balanced out the couple of bad months with a couple of good months. In the flip side, there players who looked amazing in 2020 but whose stat lines would’ve suffered from a longer season. (Look at Tatis’ September. He was awful. Does that mean the league figured him out after a month and that he’s done for?)

In Vlad’s case, he was noticeably better as he began losing weight. Plus, we can’t forget that very young players tend to improve—it’s a fundamental reality of sports (and life, really).

If the league had him “figured out,” he would’ve struck out more than once every 5.8 at-bats. He wouldn’t have tallied 24 extra-base hits (approximately 65 over 162 games) and had one of the highest average exit velocities in the league. And the Blue Jays wouldn’t have kept him in the middle of their playoff-bound lineup if they sensed he was overmatched.

Of course, you’re free to believe what you want about Vlad’s future. It’s just premature to be writing off a 21-year-old after he posted a .793 OPS in 60 games.


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All these points are spot on. Add on the fact that they had to play those games away from Toronto (Buffalo).

He's probably the most heralded young hitter in recent memory with a genetically gifted bloodline. Go back and watch what he did at the 2019 HR Derby as a 20 Year Old. His peak (if he ever reaches it) will most likely be higher than anyone else's. I'm betting he gets there.

[SleepyWill]

Originally Posted by dream34

All these points are spot on. Add on the fact that they had to play those games away from Toronto (Buffalo).

He's probably the most heralded young hitter in recent memory with a genetically gifted bloodline. Go back and watch what he did at the 2019 HR Derby as a 20 Year Old. His peak (if he ever reaches it) will most likely be higher than anyone else's. I'm betting he gets there.

He hit BP juiced balls into the stands . . .

/golf clap . . .

[stevenab87]

Originally Posted by SleepyWill

He hit BP juiced balls into the stands . . .

/golf clap . . .

True, but he was hitting the same exact balls as everybody in the competition and his bombs blew everyone else's away.

[zac949]

Originally Posted by dmanrico

New Vladdy to the collection . . .

Very nice pickup. Did you buy it graded or recently get it back from a submission?

[Rage]

Originally Posted by SleepyWill

He hit BP juiced balls into the stands . . .

/golf clap . . .

I didn't see anyone else hit 90+ dongs that night, and they were ROCKETS

[eye4talent]

Originally Posted by dmanrico

New Vladdy to the collection . . .

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[TheTCGenius]

I played with/Against many great hitters. I will say no one compared to Vladdy as far as swing adjustments and squaring balls up besides Pete Alonso. I watched him face a guy throwing 100 mph in the bottom of the 9th down 1 with a man on. He sat fast ball and when a high and away curve was thrown he hit it out for a walk off.

[Archangel1775]

Originally Posted by TheTCGenius

I played with/Against many great hitters. I will say no one compared to Vladdy as far as swing adjustments and squaring balls up besides Pete Alonso. I watched him face a guy throwing 100 mph in the bottom of the 9th down 1 with a man on. He sat fast ball and when a high and away curve was thrown he hit it out for a walk off.

Welcome to the thread. Great first hand take. I'm actually looking forward to what Pete Alonso can do this year. But to stay on topic, Vladdy Jr makes me want to hit the gym. I'm hoping for good things this year.

[stinkus]

Originally Posted by SleepyWill

He hit BP juiced balls into the stands . . .

/golf clap . . .

Why does your signature say you collect Vlad? Do you hate Griffey and Devers too?

[dream34]

Originally Posted by stinkus

Why does your signature say you collect Vlad? Do you hate Griffey and Devers too?

I was thinking about this thread while doing other work today and was just about to come here and say that Vladdy is basically Devers with much better plate discipline.

Minor League Careers:
Devers: 134 BBs, 297 Ks, .297/.354/.838
Vladdy: 151 BBs, 139 Ks(!), .331/.414/.945

Maybe he's trying to temper the prices to still hopefully buy more?

[Triple B]

Originally Posted by stinkus

Why does your signature say you collect Vlad? Do you hate Griffey and Devers too?

Sold too early?