It is a new week at Mint Condition, and while I do have a nice steady backlog of Spring Training customs ready to go, I'm prioritizing these Final Edition posts on Mondays and Fridays because I really wanna churn these out. I worked like hell on these, and I'm still on the last 100 or so cards of the set, and I wanna make sure people see them. There's a lot of good ones in this post, too.
So here's the next 9 cards.
In the absence of Buster Posey, the Giants brought up two of their catching prospects this year. One of them was Joey Bart, the heir apparent who'd been touted by prospects for years. The other was a career minor leaguer from Aruba who'd bounced from the Reds organization to SF named Chadwick Tromp. Tromp was brought up first and arguably fell hardest, with a .213 average with 13 hits in 20 games. While he's still in the organization, it's looking like he'll be spending 2021 in the minors again.
The latest and greatest former Yankee reliever to shift boroughs, Chasen Shreve left the Yanks in the trade that brought Giovanny Gallegos to St. Louis and Luke Voit to the Bronx. Yet Shreve couldn't find his own place in St. Louis, hence the move to the Mets. Shreve did fairly well in 17 games, with a 3.96 ERA and 34 Ks. Shreve was one of the better bullpen pieces of the year in Queens, and definitely outdid his fellow Yankee teammate Dellin Betances. In 2021 he's made camp with Pittsburgh, and hopes to shine up their nonexistent bullpen.
Card #075- Nick Madrigal, Chicago White Sox
While Luis Robert was the big prospect debut for the White Sox in 2020, their other big all-MLB prospect came a few weeks into the season. Nick Madrigal was brought in to cover for Leury Garcia due to injury, only to wind up on the IL himself for a bit. He still got 29 games out of the deal, hitting .340 with 35 hits. He's already come off as a contact aficionado with great speed and defensive abilities, though his power numbers have yet to come forward. With Garcia back, Madrigal may be looking at a smaller role in Chicago, at least for a little bit.
2020 had a lot of former MLB relievers come back after finding success in international leagues, most notably with Pierce Johnson in San Diego, but Rafael Dolis may have been the most successful return. After Ken Giles sunk with injuries, Dolis was handed the Blue Jays' closing gig. As someone who had notched 37 saves with the Hanshin Tigers contemporarily, Dolis was ready and able to dominate in 24 appearances, with 5 saves and a 3.28 ERA. Dolis was finally valued by an MLB team for the first time since the dire pre-2015 era of Cubs baseball. Hopefully the Jays will continue to get a lot out of Dolis in the ninth.
One of the most intimidating relievers in the Orioles bullpen for the past few years, Miguel Castro had a 4.02 ERA over the course of the first half of the season. However, seeing as, in Richard Bleier's absence, he was one of the senior-most relievers still in Baltimore, he was promptly traded at the deadline to the Mets, who needed bullpen help [see: Betances, Dellin]. Castro improved his ERA to 4.00 in 10 games, being a slightly impressive addition to a team who, once again, couldn't be bothered to make the playoffs.
Enough has been said about the Dodgers' pristine farm system throughout their entire history by this point. Even contemporary, getting flashes of Joc Pederson, Corey Seager and Julio Urias right before they become team heroes has been part of the appeal. So last season, a guy who could potentially be the next great rookie smash in LA played a few games late in the season. Zach McKinstry popped in for 4 games during a Championship season for the Dodgers, so the stakes were off, but he still hit .286 with 2 hits, which wasn't a bad preview of his contact talents.
After Andrew Chafin was dealt to Chicago and Archie Bradley was dealt to Cincinnati, the next-greatest relief option the Diamondbacks had to rely on was Stefan Crichton, one of two team heroes who was absolutely stolen from the Baltimore farm system. Crichton had a 2.42 ERA in 26 appearances, including 5 saves and 23 strikeouts, ending with a 1.0 WAR, the highest in the bullpen. Crichton is looking at a prime role in the D-Backs' 2021 endeavors, and is a favorite to close.
After 3 and a half seasons of being a strong, power-friendly hitter in Boston, Mitch Moreland's achievements outdid the team's, and was dealt to the burgeoning San Diego Padres in August. Because the Padres still had Eric Hosmer at 1st, Moreland was mostly used as either a bench bat or a DH, and he did what he could. 20 games worth of a .203 average and 8 RBIs wasn't a great deal. This being said, he still bat .500 with 4 hits and an RBI during the postseason, so hopefully that's more of a preview of what's to come from him in Oakland this year.
Last year had several opportunities for the Baltimore Orioles to preview their youth movement in short spurts. It happened first with Ryan Mountcastle, and then for 10 games it happened with infield prospect Ramon Urias. Urias smoked the ball in his come-up, hitting .360 with 9 hits, 3 RBIs and a home run. Though Freddy Galvis may be blocking him at short, Urias may still leap into the O's lineup at some point in 2021 and surprise people.
Next 9 come on Friday. Lots of big rookies in that post.
