Topps Cards That Should Have Been: 2011 Rays

 

10 years ago, the Tampa Bay Rays were finishing second in the division and squeezing into the wild card race with a lot of homegrown talent. Nowadays they're doing the same thing but finishing first and chasing world series'. 

There were a lot of interesting pieces of the 2011 team that either came too late or were too obscure for Topps to really do anything about. For instance, because he came up in September, Topps couldn't make a card of Matt Moore until 2012, a lot like Shane Baz this year. Moore is very similar to Baz, actually, with some scorching late-season starts, a very low ERA, and even some postseason numbers worthy of onlookers, like, oh I dunno, STARTING GAME ONE OF THE ALDS. Matt Moore, with 3 regular season appearances to his name, goes 7 innings with the win in Game 1 of the doomed 2011 ALDS. He's basically exactly Shane Baz. I hope Baz's career goes a little better. 

After the departure of Dioner Navarro, the Rays tried a lot of things in replacing him at catcher, aside from John Jaso and Kelly Shoppach. They also tried some younger players, including Robinson Chirinos. In his first 20 games, Chirinos would hit .218 with some decent defensive numbers, but he basically was on as a backup to a backup. After being sent down, he'd gestate before being traded to Texas, where he'd eventually become the starter.

They also tried Jose Lobaton, who the Padres had tried as a rookie a few years prior. In his first of three seasons as an alternate catching option for the Rays, Lobi did well defensively but hit .118 in 15 games. Over time he'd become a great defensive option for the Rays and, eventually, the Nationals. 

One of the most maddening omissions here, at least to me, was Casey Kotchman, because Topps COULD HAVE done a card of him in Flagship, as they made cards of him in other sets, like Allen and Ginter. Despite being the starting 1st baseman for the Rays, in the season after Carlos Pena's departure, he gets no flagship card, even if they throw a Rays one his way in 2012 [by the time he's already left for Cleveland]. Kotchman, believe it or not, hands in his second-best seasonal numbers of his career, even including his Angels tenure that got him the acclaim prior to the Teixeira trade. In 146 games, he hits .306 with 153 hits and an .800 OPS, pretty strong stuff overall. He'd actually have more RBIs the following year with Cleveland. 

Felipe Lopez, from 2008 til 2011, would sign with a team during the offseason, do well, then get traded to a completely different team midseason, and then repeat. Every year. Lopez played for 8 teams in 4 years. Not cause he was bad, because he was a cheap upgrade. To start his last MLB season, he played 32 games as a backup for Evan Longoria, hit .216 with 21 hits, before promptly being put on waivers and claimed by the playoff-bound Brewers.

Tomorrow, we tackle some stories from the 2012 Red Sox. 

Topps Cards That Should Have Been: 2008 Midyear Deals

 The 2008 Trade Deadline was relatively well-documented in 2008 Updates and Highlights. The big guns received cards, like Manny Ramirez in LA, Ivan Rodriguez in New York, Ken Griffey Jr. in Chicago and, of course, Bartolo Colon in Boston. Also, some smaller deals were made into Topps cards, even questionable ones like Chris Snelling and Tadahito Iguchi landing in Philly, or Yamid Haad getting called up right before the print deadline before being called back down again. It would be the last time the Update set would be so needlessly comprehensive while also leaving out obvious choices. 

Some were just oversights because of deals made right after the print deadline, like Felipe Lopez being released by Washington only to sign with the Cardinals a week later. The veteran utility infielder would hit .335 in 43 games with the Cards, with 21 RBIs and 60 hits, becoming a trusted asset for a team that would fail to make a playoff run that year. 

Similarly, after a down year in Philadelphia, former Mariners All-Star fireballer Freddy Garcia was a midyear sign for the Detroit Tigers, a team the sportswriters expected to win the World Series but wound up in last. The signing happened, again, after the print date. And to be honest, it's not a TON to write home about. Garcia started 3 games, posted a 1-1 record, a 4.20 ERA and 12 strikeouts. Topps has given cards to Philippe Aumont in 2015 before, but I can see why they thought that wasn't worth it. 

2008 also counts as a crossroads for Garcia, sort of like Colon's 2009. After this year, the White Sox pick him back up, and Garcia becomes a trusted low-velocity trickster for the White Sox, Yankees and Orioles for the next 4 years. The 2008 season is Garcia looking at his poor 2007 and moving on, which is the best thing to do.

For me, this is the biggest omission.

Topps does give Matt Stairs a Phillies card in 2009, a commemoration of sorts, but...come on. Matt Stairs' career year with Philly is 2008, and he deserves a card for it.

Stairs began 2008 as a DH in Toronto, close to his home, and in August he's packed in a waiver deal to Philly to be used as a bench bat [you try starting a 40-year-old in the outfield]. In 16 regular season games, Stairs hits .294, with 5 RBIs and 2 home runs. Not bad at all. But then he makes the postseason roster, has that magical game-winning home run in the NLCS against the Dodgers, and is proclaimed the hero, even if he doesn't make much of an impact in the actual World Series. It's still a fantastic moment, which Stairs is still riding high on even 12 years later. 

And I wish Topps could have known it was coming in August.