[uvaspina]

So, I'm arriving at a bit of a collecting dilemma- the three main guys I collect- Verlander, Cabrera, and Stanton- are becoming a bit out of my range to collect at the level I want to be at. Like most, my resources are limited and it's becoming clear that these 3 aren't going to become any easier to collect in the near future. My question is this, if you had to "cut bait" on one, which would it be?

By "cut bait" I mean let one guy go and focus on the other two. Obviously, various scenarios could play out, and could end up being counterproductive. (Dropping one to focus on two others that may continue being increasingly expensive). -Also, I'm not necessarily looking to drop anyone. If anything, I may just let one of my PCs go dormant for a while. (Maybe that's stupid too though).

In July, I started trying to collect a new Tigers prospect (Avisail Garcia), but since his call-up, his stuff has been hard to come by and the prices are wildly inflated. Likewise with Nick Castellanos. Such is the nature of the beast, I suppose. I'm not a bandwagon guy, per se, but I'm not looking to start super collecting Quintin Berry or Jamie Caroll either. I'm a huge baseball fan and I like collecting guys I follow, and look forward to following for years to come. Also, by way of background, I don't collect to make money. In fact, I've never sold a card before. So, I'm not looking at any of this from a true profit/loss standpoint. More from a "collecting value" perspective.

So, I'd be curious to hear your thoughts if you've been in a similar dilemma and what you decided to do. Ever give up on a PC (too soon/perfect time)?

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-Also, as you can see by my sig, I collect Cameron Maybin too. He's not really in this conversation though because Topps doesn't produce a lot of Maybin cards these days.

For what it's worth, I have about 450 Verlander cards (BV $5500); 550 Cabrera cards (BV $2500); 221 Stanton cards ($1900). Also, I have 80 Trout cards (BV $2800).

[tntmclmm]

I wouldn't drop anyone. I'm still picking up Cabrera stuff but since he racked up the triple crown his stuff is through the roof. Alot of his cards that you could do a "buy it now" on has gone Pujols on me so I look at and watch more auctions. It's made me look at building the rest of my pc. I did drop a couple of pc guys in August but that's more because I have alot of players in my pc and had to thin the heard a bit. I guess the key would be to juggle around when a player is being hyped. I have thought about offering up some of my pc for high end Miggy stuff but can't seem to get myself to follow through. Of your 3 main pc guys I'd think that now would be the time to work on your Stanton pc. I bet you could get some deals on him right now.

[ajcdj1012]

I definitely would NOT drop Verlander. For the most part, his prices will remain the same, and there's a lot out there to collect. If you wait it out, Cabrera's stuff will cool off as well, and be more affordable. So, by process of elimination, Stanton and Trout go. They're not even Tigers, and you could get decent money for the Trouts, for more Verlander/Cabrera purchases.

[uvaspina]

Thanks for the input, guys. -I started following Stanton in 2009 after reading an articlein one of the baseball magazines. The nice thing about collecting an out-of-market guy is you can sometimes find deals at shows and whatnot. Another thing is that I was able to start collecting him basically from the beginning of his career. For whatever reason, it annoys me that he changed his name (back) to Giancarlo. I liked the look of "Mike Stanton." -Solid baseball name. Giancarlo? Not as much. (I know, I know, totally irrelevant.)

I'm going to try to trade some of my Trout for my PC wants/needs. I figure it's a fair time to trade, where both Trout and the guys I want are selling/trading at a premium.

[phreakyq]

if i were you, i'd drop stanton. here's why:

1. from a PC standpoint, you'll be collection Detroits two best players, one hitter and one pitcher.
2. Detroit is constantly in the playoff race year in and year out.
3. both V and Miggy are already proven winners. Cy Young (s?), MVP's and most likely future HOF. Stanton is a good hitter, but he still needs a couple more years in my opinon before he's proven.

[mgruber2]

I would not stop or cut JV. That being said, you know who to look to if you want to sell/trade any that I don't have

[uvaspina]

Good points, guys. I think I should've kept it to just Verlander and Cabrera (and Maybin) all along. Now I'm attached to my Stantons though! -I've pretty much stopped buying boxes so that's helped me reach my collecting goals a little easier. The cool thing about collecting Cabrera was that he has a ton of cards out there and they were all pretty affordable until recently. Now his prices have shot up in the past month or two. I'm sure they'll level out (and even drop a bit), but it won't be the same as before. Which is ok, too, since I've got a decent little collection.

Stanton's got a long way to go to establish himself as a legitimate superstar, but I think he'll get there if he stays healthy. (Something that's hard to predict for a 22 y.o. who's already had some knee problems.) I'll probably put him on the backburner for now though.

A while back I posted a thread asking which players (for better or worse) you went "all in" on. Lots of cautionary tales out there! And some cool success stories too. Also, in the last week or two, I searched the term "next big thing" on the baseball forum to see who people were talking about a few years ago and came across this gem about Michael Taylor (who?):

http://www.beckett.com/forums/thread-181...+big+thing

Ouch!

[chasescardcave]

Do whatever your heart tells u. If you like stanton. Keep him. I personally would drop cabrera. I've seen how many auto's and patches u have. Keep them. Stick with stanton and verlander. 2 is nice and simple.

[tntmclmm]

I wouldn't drop Stanton. I think he's a modern day Dave Winfield with the potential to hit for a little higher average. I think you always want a few up and comers in your pc. And if your talking only 5 pc players I wouldn't drop anyone. I cut a few because I pc 22 players and it was getting a bit much.

[uvaspina]

I wouldn't drop Stanton. I think he's a modern day Dave Winfield with the potential to hit for a little higher average. I think you always want a few up and comers in your pc. And if your talking only 5 pc players I wouldn't drop anyone. I cut a few because I pc 22 players and it was getting a bit much.

22! That's crazy! It's hard enough for me to stay on top of a few. -There are guys I collect on the periphery- mostly ones to round out a trade (Posey, Jeter, Kemp, Matt Moore, etc.) but I'm usually just looking for bait to get what I need.