Amed Rosario Rookie Card Primer and Prospect Card Highlights
2017 wasn’t the greatest of seasons for the New York Mets. But looking forward, some things are looking a little brighter. This is especially true when it comes with Amed Rosario, who is widely considered on the baseball’s top hitting prospects. And while the first Amed Rosario Rookie Card won’t come out until 2018, collectors still have lots of cards of his that they can chase.
Rosario was signed by the Mets as an international free agent back in 2012. His first cards didn’t arrive until the following year when Panini included him in both 2013 Panini Prizm Perennial Draft Picks and 2013 Elite Extra Edition.
Ensuing years saw lots more Amed Rosario cards released by Topps, Panini, Leaf and others as the shortstop worked his way through the minors.
When Does the First Amed Rosario Rookie Card Arrive?
With his August debut, it was too late to get an Amed Rosario Rookie Card into 2017 sets. Instead, the RC hunt begins with 2018 Topps Series 1. From there, plenty of Amed Rosario Rookie Cards will be released throughout the year in a full slate of products from both Topps and Panini.
That said, there’s no shortage of Amed Rosario cards from before. Most of these follow under the prospect or minor league category. And if they are MLB cards, they’re usually inserts.
The hobby has evolved a lot over the years and many of these prospect cards are treated similarly to traditional Rookie Cards, particularly Rosario’s 2015 Bowman Chrome autograph.
Amed Rosario Pre-Rookie Card and Prospect Card Highlights
Please note, this is not a complete list of Amed Rosario prospect and minor league cards. Rather, it highlights several early issues that carry significance for varying reasons. The focus is mainly on his earliest cards.
2013 Elite Extra Edition Franchise Futures Signatures Amed Rosario #59 /250
The only Amed Rosario cards from 2013 were released by Panini. 2013 Elite Extra Edition has him in both their main set along with the Franchise Futures Signatures parallel. Numbered to 250, the card uses a sticker signature. Both of these signifiers are important as in-person autographs, which don’t carry the same value or type of collectibility, are out there as well.
Parallels: Signature Aspirations (/100), Status Blue (/50), Red Ink (/25), Status Emerald (/25), Green Ink (/10), Status Orange (/10), Status Gold (/5), Status Black (1/1)
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2013 Panini Prizm Perennial Draft Picks Prospect Signatures Amed Rosario #66
Rosario’s other 2013 autograph is in 2013 Panini Prizm Perennial Draft Picks. Although the main version doesn’t have a serial number, it does come with an on-card signature. This is a key component for many collectors. The overall design is somewhat minimal, which helps add some pop to the chromium design.
Although it has a handful of color-based parallels, it’s not nearly as many as later Prizm products in both baseball and other sports.
Parallels: Prizms, Green Prizms, Red Prizms (/100), Blue Prizms (/75), Gold Prizms (/10), Black Finite Prizms (1/1)
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2014 NY Penn League Prospects Choice Amed Rosario #23
The draw of this Amed Rosario card is its relative rarity. He’s in both of Topps’ minor league products from 2014, Pro Debut and Heritage Minors. But those came with national distribution. This card from Choice comes from primarily a local level as part of a team set. Not much is fancy about it, but it’s also not the easiest card to find.
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2015 Bowman Chrome Prospects Autographs Amed Rosario #BCAPAMR
The 2015 Bowman Chrome Amed Rosario autograph is his key card available in any sort of quantity. Included in packs of 2015 Bowman Baseball, it’s a similar story as virtually all players over the past decade or so. Although this isn’t an Amed Rosario Rookie Card in the traditional sense, a player’s first Bowman Chrome autograph often trades as such. It’s the card many look to from both an investment and collecting perspective.
On top of the base version, Refractors come in many colors and varying quantities.
Parallels: Refractors (/499), Purple Refractors (/250), Blue Refractors (/150), Green Refractors (/99), Gold Refractors (/50), Orange Refractors (/25), Red Refractors (/5), Blue Twitter Refractors (/3), Printing Plates Black (1/1), Printing Plates Cyan (1/1), Printing Plates Magenta (1/1), Printing Plates Yellow (1/1), Superfractors (1/1)
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2015 Bowman Chrome Prospects Amed Rosario #BCP231
Although the autograph came in 2015 Bowman, Rosario’s regular Prospect card released a few months later in 2015 Bowman Chrome Baseball. Understandably, it’s cheaper than the similar signed version. For those looking for a challenge, there’s the Refractor rainbow that goes along with it.
Parallels: Blue Wave Refractors, Orange Wave Refractors, Refractors (/499), Purple Refractors (/250), Blue Refractors (/150), Green Refractors (/99), Gold Refractors (/50), Orange Refractors (/25), Blue Twitter Refractors (/10), Red Refractors (/5), Printing Plates Black (1/1), Printing Plates Cyan (1/1), Printing Plates Magenta (1/1), Printing Plates Yellow (1/1), Superfractors (1/1)
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2017 Topps Now Amed Rosario
The first Amed Rosario cards released following his MLB debut came in the print-on-demand 2017 Topps Now Baseball. He’s has multiple cards in the set starting with one honoring his first game in the majors (#428). Each card is available for just 24 hours through the Topps website with production limited to the number of cards that’s ordered.
Parallels: Golden Ticket (1/1)
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• eBay
2017 Topps Now Players Weekend Jersey Relic Amed Rosario #PWR-2A
Not only did the Topps Now program deliver Rosario’s first card after his debut, but his first game-used memorabilia card as well. Available online, this card has swatches from an “El Nino” jersey he wore during the special weekend of games.
In addition to the base versions, there are five levels of parallels. When purchased, collectors did not know what version they’d get. Usually, Topps Now relics and their parallels are sold separately. Here, the mystery approach was taken. Purple, Red and Gold versions come with patch pieces.
Parallels: Full Color (/99), Blue (/49), Purple (/25), Red (/10), Gold (1/1)
