The Trading Post #88: Johnny's Trading Spot

A surprise #Supertraders PWE arrived recently from John at the aptly named Johnny's Trading Spot. John represents the Braves in the group, and I don't believe I've sent anything to him yet. I'll address that soon enough (no pun intended), but for now, let's take a look at this Bowman-heavy envelope.

2016 Bowman Platinum #95 Jon Gray (RC)

Kicking things off is the young hurler Jon Gray, wearing a cap with an alternate logo. After a year off in 2015, Bowman Platinum returned in 2016, offering no Major League statistics but a very brief write-up alluding to Gray's call-up in late 2015. It's good that we have a pitcher with hair like this, since that seems to be working well for the Mets.

This is instantly recognizable as a Bowman Platinum card, and there is good color-coding to signify that this is a Rockies card. It goes particularly well with Gray's jersey. I also like the little white spot in the lower right that punches through the color and displays Gray's position. The only thing I've always had trouble with is that the cursive "P" in the Bowman Platinum logo looks much more like an "L" to me. I keep wanting to call it Bowman Limited.

2009 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BCP58 Wilin Rosario

For as much Bowman as was in this envelope, there were no black borders to be found. I've seen the base version of this card before, but now I have the Chrome version to go with it. Rosario was released by the Rockies after the 2015 season, and played in Korea in 2016. He re-signed with the Hanwha Eagles for 2017, who play in the city of Daejeon.

It's truly become a global game. It's not that big in Europe, but in Eastern Asia and across the Americas, it's a major sport. And with the upcoming World Baseball Classic and the sport's return to the Summer Olympics in 2020, the trend is sure to continue.

2014 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BCP27 Raimel Tapia

Raimel Tapia remains a top prospect in the Rockies' farm system, and even played 22 games in September after rosters expanded. He didn't show much power, but did get 10 hits in 38 at-bats. He's just 22, so he still has plenty of time to develop.

He's "only" 22, but what that really means is that he wasn't even born yet when the Rockies began play.

2014 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BCP23 Kyle Parker

Parker, on the other hand, seems to already have had his turn in the majors. He was a two-sport star at Clemson, but after a couple seasons of sub-.200 batting averages in 64 games, the Rockies cut him. There's not really much else to say, which is sort of how it goes in Bowman-land. For every Stephen Strasburg, there are dozens of players that don't make a significant dent in the Majors, if they make it at all.

Prospecting for Bowman cards (and running a farm system in general) seems a lot like venture capital. You're throwing resources in a lot of areas, hoping that one will pan out big-time and pay for all the rest. At least the 2010 draft didn't look like a giant blunder for the Rockies. Noah Syndergaard did go lower down, but the Rockies had 26th pick. Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Matt Harvey, and Chris Sale were long gone by then.

2004 Fleer Tradition Diamond Tributes #13 Todd Helton

The only non-Bowman card in here was this 2004 insert of Todd Helton. Fleer used a mixture of glossy and matte finishes on the front, along with a touch of gold foil. It was clear by then that Helton was going to put a great career together. He had already amassed 1,000 hits and he did it pretty quickly, too. No mention of his doubles, a statistic where he finished in the all-time top-20.

The purple background on this looks a little like woodgrain, I'd say more like woodgrain than the mirror image black lines on the crossed bats. It's definitely something different than Bowman Chrome, and I hope that one day another player in this post has a good enough career going to warrant a spot in a 20-card insert set.