[zeprock]

Today I am going to mix it up just a bit and feature nine cards from my collection featuring nine current players that I am considering starting collections of in hopes that they wind up on a Hall of Fame path. There is so much young talent today that it is difficult to determine who exactly is the "cream of the crop" and will rise above all others. Players I've considered but left off this list are Pete Alonso, Nolan Arenado, Cody Bellinger, Luis Robert and Mike Yastrzemski although I do save their cards if I happen to come across any. A few of these scans are a bit cruddy as I used a different scanner for those.

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2017 Topps Gypsy Queen Purple #121 Jacob deGrom (The only pitcher I am considering. It's difficult for me to go all in on a pitcher. The last one I decided to collect was Scherzer who joins Kershaw and Verlander as the only current pitchers I am collecting. I have 77 of his cards.)
2018 Bowman #49 Shohei Ohtani RC (I guess Ohtani would be considered a pitcher too and I've already jumped in and started my collection of Shohei. Currently 85 cards.)
2018 Topps Fire #109 Ronald Acuna Jr. RC (Acuna is the only other player that I've already begun a collection of and he hurt himself immediately after. I will continue to collect him for now as the talent is there. 79 cards.)

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2018 Topps Fire Gold #181 Juan Soto (I'm not completely sold on Soto yet. Maybe if he puts up some gaudy numbers in the near future. 25 cards.)
2018 Topps Gallery Impressionists #I22 Rafael Devers (I feel like I need to collect a Red Sox player and Devers kinda excites me. He's still a kid but seems to be working on his defense and I love to watch him hit. 74 cards.)
2019 Certified Green #35 Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (I collect his dad and the season Jr. is having this year is swaying me into thinking I should get my collection going on him, especially if he can consistently put up these type of numbers. 38 cards.)

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2019 Finest Green Refractors #68 Xander Bogaerts (Another Sox player that I"m considering. I first met him in August of 2009 when he was playing in the Senior League World Series which we hosted in Bangor, Maine. He was on the Aruba team and was about 16 years old at the time. I was working for ESPN doing slow motion replay in the back of their production truck. 115 cards.)
2019 Topps Heritage #517 Fernando Tatis Jr. RC (Tatis may be Mike Trout's successor as the game's most exciting player and I'm almost ready to jump all in on him but I'm not sure he can stay healthy for the long run. We'll see. 34 cards.)
2020 Panini Prizm Prizms Red White and Blue #71 Bo Bichette (There seem to be several sons of ballplayers on this list and Bo is another one. I'm saving his cards for now but have not "officially" started a Bo collection yet. 33 cards.)