Trade Deadline: What We Know So Far...

At 4pm today, MLB will have it's official trade deadline.  Unlike prior years where teams had until August 30th to add talent to their playoff push with a waiver deadline, this is the last chance for teams to modify their rosters from other teams.

With so many National League teams looking to make a push for a Wild Card spot there is likely to be some more names traded today.

The trades started a few days ago when the Mets stunned everyone by trading for Marcus Stroman, one of the most coveted pitchers on the market this deadline.

(Josh Harrison can be seen on this card to the right of Stroman. No idea where Cutch was in the celebration.)


Last night while watching the Pirates v Reds game I learned of Yasiel Puig being traded toto the Indians as part of a 3 team trade that involved the Padres getting top prospect Taylor Trammel and the Reds getting Trevor Bauer.

Oddly enough, Puig stayed in the game once traded. Moments after Amir Garrett gave up a 3 run homer to the Pirates, Garrett stormed off the mound heading towards the Pirates dugout.

 Puig naturally had to get involved and will no doubt have to serve a suspension for being involved.

Who could be on the move today?
There's lots of rumors of Felipe Vazquez going to the Dodgers.  If the Pirates don't get Alex Verdugo OR Gavin Lux plus a few other prospects I see no reason to make that trade.

By the way, if you missed yesterday's post about all my Cutch Yankees cards please go check it out.

The Last Giants Hat Worn By Cutch?

Chris aka "The Collector" mentioned a few weeks back about me showing off my non card collection of Cutch.  I have a bunch of stuff waiting to be shown off.

With the July 31st Traded Deadline happening this week I thought it would be cool to show off some items relating to Cutch being traded.

Pirates fans were heart broken when they heard the news of Cutch being traded on January 15, 2018 for a pair of prospects.  The return package of a middle inning reliever (Kyle Crick) and outfielder Bryan Reynolds didn't impress Pirates fans, myself included.  The trade also brought over about a half million dollars in international spending money.  At the time of the trade they ranked 4th (Reynolds) and 16th (Crick) on the Giants weak farm system.

Cutch went on to play in 130 games for the Giants who found themselves on the brink of playoff contention in late July.  No team offered the Giants a package they felt was good enough to move Cutch so he stayed on the team's roster throughout the month.

When the Giants playoff hopes began to fall apart in July and they no longer were in contention for a Wild Card spot they sought to move him at the August waiver trade deadline.  The Yankees, who had been without defending Rookie of the Year and looking for a spark plug to keep the team contending with the Red Sox, looked to acquire the veteran outfielder.

Cutch would be traded again in the same calendar year. On August 31st the Giants moved McCutchen to the Yankees for a pair of prospects.

I came across this hat via a Giants charity auction, but lost out on it.
It was later reposted for sale from a Giants collector and Willie Mays collector.

It is a Giants practice hat.  The Giants often wear these orange caps for Spring Training and during batting practice.

As you can see by the Authentication sticker JD185487 this hat was issued by the Giants to McCutchen and verified on August 31st, 2018.

McCutchen's last game with the Giants occurred on August 29th against the Diamondbacks.  The Giants were off on August 30th and news broke that McCutchen had been traded to the Yankevery late on August 30th (11pm) and the deal was official the next morning.

It is my understanding that a "team issued" authentication item means that it could be game used or event used, but it wasn't verified on the day the item was used and is thus just considered team issued since the specific date it was used can not be authenticated on that day.

Most likely when Cutch's locker was being cleared out this on field practice hat was discovered and authenticated by the team as being player worn for their charity auctions.

Judging the wear of the hat it is obvious that it has been worn and sweated in on more than one occasion.

The interior of the hat features Cutch's jersey number.

These practice hats can be seen on Topps Now Road to Opening Day cards.

Here are a few other images of Cutch wearing this style hat from Google images.

Trade Deadline Day: MVPs ON THE MOVE?

This afternoon marks the end of the nonwaiver trade deadline and we could see some big names get traded today.

Last night news broke that the Nationals are indeed willing to trade Bryce Harper.  Could one of the faces of the game be traded in the coming hours?

Harper is a 5 tool talent that is a true game changer when on the field.

We have seen some of the best 5 Tool talents in the game get traded before so it shouldn't come as a surprise if one of them gets moved.

The green swatch from the Harper in the above 2 Hits Memorabilia cards is actually from a St. Patrick's Day Spring Training game cap.

I have a few Harper relics ranging from single jersey swatches to hat swatches to patches.  One of my favorites though is this extremely tough to find triple jersey featuring All-Stars Andrew McCutchen, Joc Pederson, and of course Bryce.

I also like when I know when I can pinpoint where a jersey relic is from.  The red and black swatches were from the workout jerseys.


One name we likely won't see get traded is Adam Jones who already has used his 10-5 rights to veto a trade to Philadelphia.  I respect Adam's decision to want to stay in Baltimore because of his family and the amount of charity work he does in the city.  That shows that he is a greater person than ballplayer.

Adam Jones is a very consistent player that usually puts up an average in the .270 to .280 range with 25 HR and 80-90runs/RBI.

This octopatch booklet is just ridiculous.  It had 8 of the top outfielders at the time of the card's production (minus Mike Trout).

Injuries derailed Tulo from a HOF career.

This dual button is still one of my top 10 cards in my collection.

There he is!!!! Mike Trout!!!!  He likely won't be traded.

What former All-Stars will be traded today?

Former All-Star Zach Duke was traded yesterday to the Mariners as they hope to solidify the diversity in their bullpen.

Oh you didn't know that Zach Duke who has been a lefty reliever was at one time an All-Star? Well he was in 2009 when Phillies Manager Charlie Manuel added him as a late addition to the roster.  He was also a 2xRookie of the Month in 2005 (July and August).

There are reports that the Indians and Phillies are very interested in Cutch, while it also seems possible that the Yankees would look to acquire the former NL MVP

I can see Cutch going to the Indians as that would be a great fit and he will be available to play daily.

Philly and NY look to be a platoon position if they were to acquire him as their outfields are already pretty crowded.