Falco Files: Happy Belated Birthday Sergio

During the off-season heading into the 2018 season, the Pirates made a bold move by trading theface of the franchise, Andrew McCutchen, to the San Francisco Giants along with salary for Bryan Reynolds, Kyle Crick, and some international spending money.

While details of every dollar will never be made public for how the Pirates used that international money, there are records of who the Pirates did sign using international spending money available from that off-season.

One such player the Pirates pursuaded was Sergio Campana.  Sergio just celebrated his 18th birthday a few days ago.  He is not ranked as one of the Pirates top 50 prospects heading into the 2020 season.

Campana spent his first year in professional ball last year as a 17 year old.  He plays centerfield and projects to be a toolsy outfielder.

In his first professional season at Gulf Coast League, Campana swiped 24 bags while batting .281/.362/.374.  Again he did that as a 17 year old.

Cutch played in 45 games as an 18 year old in the Gulf Coast League where he batted .297/.411/.430 while swiping 13 bags.

The numbers are comparable, but it is a small sample size for teenage ballplayers.  Cutch went on to finish in the top 5 NL MVP votes four years in a row, collected 4 silver sluggers, won a gold glove, and played in 5 consecutive All-Star Games.  Campana has a long way to go to match that.

Sergio does have autograph and jersey relic cards available in 2018 Elite Extra Edition.  They are extremely cheap at this moment (usually under $10).

Personally the signature isn't very aesthetic looking and the lack of team information makes it unappealing too.

But for $14, I took the chance on this future outfielder.

Details of the Pirates signing the toolsy teenage outfielder can be found here.

At what level do you start paying attention to the prospects in your favorite team's farm system?

A Class Act

I was picking up a pair of minor league releases of Cutch via eBay and got the most welcomed surprise when the cards arrived.

Inside was a not saying "Brian-We had a mistake in listing. 2008 International Top Prospecting listing showed a picture of 2008 International All Star (a common Ebay malfunction).  To avoid a problem, I included both cards."

Upon scanning the cards and getting ready to file them, I realized I actually needed both.  My minor league release cards now appear closer to being complete.  I was amazed at the generosity and will always support JS Sports Cards for any minor league releases I may need in the future.  If you are in search of some cardboard check out JS Sports Cards

Here's my Cutch minor league releases (excluding all the Just Minors cards as I am saving them for a future post).

Starting off with the Low A affiliate, Williamsport Crosscutters

Then High A, Hickory Crawdads

AA Altoona Curve

And a Top Prospect for AAA, Indianapolis Indians

I will show off my Tristar and Just Minors cards in a future post, but I believe my Minor League card collection to be almost complete.
There is a 2006 Hickory Crawdad card available at Stadiums for a team set release that I am still looking to add.  There is currently one listed on eBay for $75, but I am determined to find one under $20.  That card is Cutch's first team issued card.