Miggy, Miggy, Miggy can't you see...

500 career home runs!

Congrats Miggy!

Which active players do you think will one day join the 500 HR club?

A Charmed Hallpass

Each year during the month of October, I show off only pink (and shades of pink like magenta, peach, etc) to help raise awareness of Breast Cancer, a leading cause of death for females in the United States.  For each (meaningful, non spam) comment left by those that follow the blog I donate a dollar to hopefully help at least one woman get a much needed mammogram.  Early detection is key!!!

If you want to make your own private donation please visit the National Breast Cancer Foundation.  There is a donate button on the main page and it only takes a minute of your time.  Every little bit helps.

I have focused primarily on cards that only feature Andrew McCutchen on the card, but in recent years have also featured cards with a cameo appearance (either being seen on the card or as a name cameo on the back of the card).  Last year I created Falco Files which discussed players that replaced (Shane Falco Replacements movie reference) on an active roster, number worn, or trade.  I will continue to utilize these styles of posts as we celebrate the 4th Collecting Cutch Save Second Base event (I am no longer counting my first run on the Pirates Treasure Room I did back in 2014.)

Please be sure to click here for a Babe Ruth relic card I am offering as a contest prize to one lucky person who posts their own pink cards for the month.  I am matching the $1 per comment on YOUR BLOGS too if you show off pink cards. 

You ready to get started?

Alyssa Milano will be the featured subject today.

When I was in my late teens, Alyssa was one of the hottest women on TV.

Appearing first on Who's The Boss and later on Charmed, I seemed to have grown up with Milano being the slightly older hottie on TV I always crushed on.

Alyssa was born in 1972 and has been acting since 1984.  

From her early roots as an actress she has publicly showed her appreciation as a fan by attending many Dodgers games a year.

She has even partnered with MLB to design her own clothing for female sports fans, modeling off the Dodgers above.

A movie I just remembered that she was in was Hallpass

The movie concept is for one week you get a "hallpass" that basically allows you to do whatever you want with no repercussions from your significant other.  Comedy ensues as they begin thinking they can hookup with other women.

Speaking of cheating with no repurcussions, I wonder how Dodgers fans feel about this bunch?

Dodgers fans around the world would like greater punishment to the 2017 Astros.  With the Astros clinching their 4th straight ALCS last night it is very possible that a Dodgers Astros rematch could be in the cards for this year.

Turn over the above 2016 card and you will see that it is an Andrew McCutchen name cameo on the back of this pink checklist highlights card (he is number 20 on the checklist)

Yup, I'm adding checklists to the card portfolio now too so keep your eyes out for any checklists you may have.

On a very serious matter, Alyssa has recently been in the news for battling COVID-19.  Prayers for Alyssa on a speedy and safe recovery.

She has posted about the damages it has caused to her health and appearance since getting symptoms.  

#WearADamnMask

A New YouTube Channel To Watch

I don't have much of a social media presence despite doing nearly a daily blog post here.

I didn't join Twitter until last year.
My Instagram has 1 picture on it.
I sign in to Facebook maybe 3 times a year.
I don't use TikTok.
I don't post on forums.
I don't post content on YouTube.

However I do lurk A LOT.  I read a lot of blogs/forum posts and watch a lot of YouTube videos.

One person who I have recently added to my subscribe list for YouTube is TripleCrown24.

I began following him because he is a fellow Supercollector and I always enjoy learning of other supercollector and how they go about their collections.

If you can't tell by his username, JT is a Miguel Cabrera supercollector.

I have 4 cards featuring Miggy with Cutch.

Please give JT a follow on his YouTube TripleCrown24.  He is documenting his pursuit towards 3,000 unique Miggy cards on his YouTube.

M-V-P Thoughts

Over the year's Topps has produced some manupatches and manurelics and manupins etc.
This year they decided to make miniature MVP awards in their flagship release.

Of course there are various color parallels to chase too.  So far, I only have the base award though.  The black, red, and gold are still out there for me to chase.

With the MVP awards being handed out last night, there seemed no better time to show off my latest piece of Cutch cardboard.

Many thought that the AL race would be very close, but it was actually the NL race that was extremely close, one of the closest of all time in fact.

I have no problems with who won the awards, but the basis of which they won made me do some head scratching.  Let me clarify and say no disrespectful things to Jose Altuve or Giancarlo Stanton, they are both fantastic athletes and superstars in the league.  Personally though, I think voters got it wrong for who is the Most Valuable.

Stanton seemed to have won the award based on the number of homeruns he hit, but Aaron Judge who posted one of the best All-Time Rookie seasons in the history of the game got very little MVP love, amassing only 3 first place votes.

Altuve who exceeds at all aspects of the game got a lot of admiration and received 27 of the 30 1st place votes.  Nolan Arenado who is this generation's best defensive third baseman and is constantly one of the league leaders in homeruns and RBIs continues to get overshadowed because he plays in Colorado got very little 1st place votes.

Here's how the top 5 MVP vote getters played out and how their teams would have done without them according to WAR on Baseball-Reference page.

Jose Altuve, Houston Astros
Altuve had 8.3 WAR and the Astros won 99 games.  With Altuve missing from lineup, the Stros still make the playoffs by winning their division.

Aaron Judge, New York Yankees.
Judge amassed 8.1 WAR and the Yankees won 90 games.  Without Judge, the Yankees don't make the playoffs.

The rest of the AL MVP debate wasn't as close as the NL so I am leaving out the likes of Trout, Ramirez, and Lindor.

Giancarlo Stanton, Miami Marlins
Stanton posted monster power numbers, but he did it for a team celebrating their 9th losing season.  Stanton did lead the league in homeruns, but his 77 win Marlins failed to make the playoffs (obviously) despite his 7.6 WAR.  They would still be a non contender without him.

Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds
The Reds finished with one of the worse records in baseball having lost 92 games.  Votto and his incredible strike zone discipline and above average defense compiled a 7.5 WAR.  He was just one of a handful of qualifying players who had more walks than strikeouts and did it by a +51 rate.  That's mind blowing in today's age where everyone is so prone to the punch out.

Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona Diamondbacks
Goldy might be one of those guys that never wins an MVP award but is always deserving of being in the conversation for one.  Without his 5.8 WAR, the DBacks still make the playoffs.

Nolan Arenado, Colorado Rockies
Arenado had 7.2 WAR for the 87 win Rockies.  Without Arenado, the Rox go from being a playoff team to missing the playoffs.

Charlie Blackmon, Colorado Rockies
Chuck Nazty and his 6.0 WAR make the Rockies miss the playoffs, but they still post a winning record which is something that can't be said without his teammate Arenado.

There's many things that goes into the MVP voting.  I don't think anyone will ever give a definitive answer to what makes a player most valuable.

How did Clayton Kershaw who appeared in 16% of the games and only impacted less than 13% of the innings played for the 2014 Dodgers win an MVP award?  Was he dominant for those 13% of the Dodgers innings?  Yup.  Was the other 87% of the Dodgers season that meaningless in comparison to what Kershaw did?   Probably not.

Why wasn't Carlos Correa or Mike Trout who both missed large amounts of time, but still posted above 6.2 WAR each considered more heavily for what they were able to accomplish in a short period of time?  Are they not Valuable to their teams?

I showed this card off after the Astros won the World Series.  This card officially features four MVP award winners now.

Above is another parallel that I have and below is the back.

What are your thoughts on the MVP?
Did the voters get it right?

Personally I would give the awards to Judge and Arenado.

All My Cutch Cards Featuring the Astros

I didn't have a chance to show these off during October because of the Save The Boobies event I was running (all pink cards while showing off some nice looking chests).w

Because the Astros are no longer a division rival and have been inclining while the Pirates have been declining there haven't been many cards of Cutch with members of the Astros.

That's not to say there aren't any though.

Here are a few of the ones I have.

Up first is my oldest card of Cutch with a member of the current Astros team and the cover athlete to Sports Illustrated bold prediction, George Springer.

Next up is the unsigned insert card.

Now for the (expected) AL MVP, Jose Altuve.
I have two different parallels to this quad relic.

Topps Heritage has been producing ad panels as box toppers in recent years.  The 2016 Pitt Power card is paired with Astros bullpen arm Collin McHugh.

Come with me on the way back machine as I take a look at my Cutch cards with Hunter Pence.  Pence was a long time member of the Astros before being traded to the Phillies in 2011.  The trade package included Jon Singleton, Jarred Cosart, Domingo Santana, and Josh Zeid.  While none of those players contributed to the 2017 Astros in a positive way, Cosart being traded to Miami for Jake Marisnick, Colin Moran, and Francis Martes who all played for the Astros in 2017.

Also pictured on this printing plate is former Astros Colby Rasmus.  Rasmus set a MLB record by recording an extra base hit in his first 6 career postseason games.  He was on the verge of a breakout campaign and likely could have been an All-Star for the Rays in 2017 before deciding he needed to take a step away from major league baseball.

Congratulations to the Houston Astros!

Money and WAR, what is it good for?

This 2017 Immaculate card features 4 guys who are on the verge of having Hall of Fame careers.  All four players were signed to contract extensions within 2 years of one another and all player for smaller market teams.  There's no New York, Chicago, or LA players here.  

An article for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette was recently written about how frugal the Pirates have to be in terms of their market and valuing.

I will take a look at all four players contract extensions and calculate their WAR as provided by Baseball-Reference.  It's understand that 1 WAR is currently valued at roughly $8 million.

Let's begin with the top right corner and work our way around clockwise.

The Tigers extended Miggy in 2014 after restructuring his current contract and extending him an extra 8 years for a 10 year $292 million deal.  So far Miggy has posted WAR totals of 5.0, 5.2, 4.9, and -0.6 giving him 14.9 WAR over the first 4 years of the 10 year deal.  At $8mil per WAR that values his performance at $119.2 mill.  His AYV salary is $29.2 mill which is $116.8 million for the first 4 years.  The Tigers have gotten value, but Miggy's performance is heading in the wrong direction and could lead to tough times ahead for Tigers fans.

Votto was awarded a 12 year contract worth $251 million with a club option for his age 41 season at the start of the 2012 season.  It's not that Votto has been unproductive.  In fact he continues to put up MVP caliber numbers year after year by slashing .300/.400/.500 lines almost every year since signing the contract.  Since signing the contract in 2012 Votto has posted WAR ratings of 5.9, 6.6, 1.9, 7.6, 4.0, and 6.4 equal to 32.4 WAR with 7 seasons remaining on the contract.  32.4 WAR at $8mill per WAR is equal to $259Million.  So far the Reds have gotten their value from the Votto contract.

The absolute steal of the bunch has to be Jose Altuve.  He was given a $12.5 million contract extension with a $750,000 signing bonus.  There are two club options for the 2018 and 2019 seasons at $6 million and $6.5 million respectively.  Over his 4 year contract he has produced 26.5 WAR which when extended by $8mill per WAR would equal $212 million ($200 million over his actual salary).

Cutch signed a contract extension just before the 2012 season for 6 years and $51.5 million.  The Pirates reaped the benefits very early on the contract as Cutch posted monster WAR numbers 7.0, 8.1, and 6.3 for the 2012 to 2014 seasons.  Post dreadlocks era Cutch began with good WAR (4.9 in 2015) but has become more average in the past two years -0.7 and 2.1 (this year).  Depending on if the Pirates pick up the team option for the 2018 season could linger on how he finishes this September.  His 6 year contract has amassed 27.7 WAR which equals $221.6 million in value.

So to recap since signing the contract extensions the teams all received positive returns on their investments so far.

The Tigers seem to be in severe jeopardy of recouping value on Miggy if his numbers continue to decline.

Votto continues to put up outstanding numbers and won't be a free agent until 2023.  His numbers could begin to decline as the contract wears towards the end.

Both Cutch and Altuve contracts have provided the most benefits to the teams this far and both teams have club options to pick up the contracts of the players at season's end.  Altuve is a lock for having his contract picked up and I suspect Cutch will get his option picked up as well since there will be no asset returned to the team if it's not exercised.