By Chris Olds | Beckett Baseball Editor

Topps is hoping its latest autograph acquisition leads to some moneyball for collectors.

The company announced on Friday that it has signed Oakland A’s outfielder Yoenis Cespedes to an autograph deal, meaning the promising Cuban star will appear in products beginning with 2012 Bowman.

In that set, Cespedes will have an standard card, but he also will appear in packs via a Bowman Lucky autograph redemption — he’s card No. 1 with two other big names to be announced at a later time.

Meanwhile, Cespedes also will have signed cards in Allen & Ginter, Bowman Platinum, Tier One, Finest and Topps Chrome, according to the company.

Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball magazine. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.

By Andrew Tolentino | Football Editor

While Topps gave the hobby a certain Five Star product in 2010, the trading card icon just released information on another superlatively named set. Packed out in protective mini boxes, 2011 Topps Finest Football promises a high-quality rip for turf-loving collectors in mid-August.

The base cards set is comprised of 35 rookies from the forthcoming NFL draft and 90 proven veterans. Collectors can expect to land five cards per pack in two-per-box-six-pack mini-boxes. Was that as confusing as it was to type it?

Behold the breakdown and a seven-card gallery after the jump.

Here’s the — hopefully clarified — skinny on 2011 Topps Finest master boxes:

• Each pack contains five cards
• There are six packs per mini-box
• There are two mini-boxes per master box
• That’s 60 cards per master box

Inside each master box, collectors can expect to land one numbered Rookie Autograph Patch Card, one numbered autograph Jumbo Relic card, two Atomic Die-Cut Refractor Rookie Cards, and two Finest Moments inserts.

Parallels featuring 125 veterans and rookies from the base set fall in the following forms:

• Super-Fractor (1/1)
• Printing Plates (1/1)
• Mosaic Refractor (numbered to 10)
• Red Refractor (numbered to 25)
• Gold Refractor (numbered to 50)
• Black (numbered to 99)
• X-Fractor (numbered to 399)
• Refractor

Finest also offers an array of other limited hits, including dual and triple autograph Relics, on-card rookie autograph Refractor variations and Finest Moments autographs.

2011 Finest football is scheduled to hit shelves on (or around) Aug. 15. Stay tuned to Beckett.com for more information on this brand and others as this season’s saga continues.