Beckett Rookie Rolodex

[rsmath]

I got my second to last issue of my subscription to Beckett Baseball bi-monthly (or whatever it's called nowdays) and it was the annual Rookie Rolodex issue.

I am curious how you feel about the Beckett Rookie Rolodex - still a great resource or a waste of trees?

 

[Huffamaniac]

Tough question. I would not say a GREAT source, but certainly not a waste either.

I would say it is a decent source

 

[cgilmo]

it is definitely entertaining.

Sometimes they go overboard with their comparisons, but they do a reasonably good job of letting the novice know what may or may not be up.

 

[Jaypers]

My vote would be somewhere between a great resource and a waste of trees.

 

[muchuckwagon]

It is a great advertisement for the prospector that did his/her homework when the '08 products were released. You will see some nice bumps in price for the handful of prospects with very favorable comparisons.

 

[hofmichael]

I don't like that they left the comparisons out this year.
Mike

 

[koal]

chris marerro = albert pujols :lol:

 

[Greg Cleveland]

I missed last year's, and haven't seen this year's yet, but I kept them from 1999-2006. Tore them out of the mags, and put them into sheet protectors and a binder. (so I could look anybody from that time frame up.) I think the heyday of it is gone, since there are so few sleepers anymore. The prospectors have evolved over the years since it began, so making it for the novice gives it a different function. Ideally, it's a nice checklist to see how many rookies a player has. Maybe it's time to play a little "Wayback Machine" and go back five years and see how things turned out.

 

[Mudcatsfan]

Is that out already?

Who are the most favorable comps?

Who's on the cover?

 

[All The Hype]

I think it's a decent resource just because it acts as a nice overview of a lot of prospects and the cards they have in a little amount of time and space. If I haven't heard of a guy before and I want to just get a basic look at him to decide whether or not he's even worth the time to look further into online, I can simply read his little blurb in the rolodex to get an opinion. BA's prospect guide is a much better resource though.

At the same time, I feel that everything said in there must be taken with a grain of salt. Mostly because they made the absurd claim that Chris Marrero is comparable to Albert Pujols in last year's edition (I feel like that alone is enough to devastate any credibility the magazine had previously).

But overall, a nice little resource.

 

[ThoseBackPages]

I don't like that they left the comparisons out this year.
Mike

if this is true, then the mag serves even less purpose

 

[sportscardtheory]

It's not the same as it used to be... seeing that their is about twenty true RC players a year now.

 

[HPC]

I have always thought that was the one issue a year they did excellent on, albeit, a few comparisons were overexaggerated

 

[jmc280zx]

I like the fact that you can track how many rookies a player has. But for the most part they are way off. It is not a complete waste as it does have a little bit of good info.

 

[Moonlight Graham]

I always enjoyed it for its entertainment value... when it listed every card for players it was a good resource to locate players with few card issues (2004: Nate Schierholtz-only in Bowman Sterling; Anthony Wittington-only in Bowman Sterling)

Naturally, I stocked up on Anthony Wittington...

 

[blanning71]

Its funny to find an old mag and read some of the comparisons that were made years ago. Some made me laugh!

 

[brouthercard]

I loved those comps. I know a guy who started to stock up on Marrero right after he found out he was going to be the next albert pujols.

Didn't you guys see a serious increase in price of his cards last year after the rolodex came out?

It really does have a profound effect on sales of prospect cards, particularly right before spring training.

I think you guys underestimate the crediblity of beckett for the general public- MANY people take that thing REALLY SERIOUSLY. Seriously.

 

[rsmath]

Is that out already?

Who are the most favorable comps?

Who's on the cover?

I got it in my mailbox earlier this week, so it should at least be out at dealers and to some subscribers.

No comps, just a brief sentence of analysis. Randomly, i see "more seasoning in minors in 2009", "solid contributor from bullpen", "Reserve OF in 2009", "back to the minors with this stacked bullpen", "should contend for starting job in 2009". The only comp that I quickly found was "second coming of Koufax..."

Evan Longoria is on the cover in Rays home white, sitting on top of a Rays bag full of baseballs at what appears to be a spring training field, with third base near the bag of baseballs.

4 pages of rookies, 16 pages of prospects.

 

[justwar]

I loved those comps. I know a guy who started to stock up on Marrero right after he found out he was going to be the next albert pujols.

Didn't you guys see a serious increase in price of his cards last year after the rolodex came out?

It really does have a profound effect on sales of prospect cards, particularly right before spring training.

I think you guys underestimate the crediblity of beckett for the general public- MANY people take that thing REALLY SERIOUSLY. Seriously.

Couldn't agree more with the bolded statement. Any show Ive ever been to has had a dealer who wont budge from BV like it's the gospel and true judge of value, eventhough there is something called 'the market' and what someone is willing to pay. And hell, when I got back into cards about 3 years ago where was the first website I went to? Beckett.com, it was the name i remembered from my youth.

oh, but nowadays it's closer to a waste of trees.