My suggestion to you is to add Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Drew Smyly immediately. I took a little heat when I ranked Smyly higher than almost everyone else on my Top 100 Prospects list, but I have faith he can make it in the bigs. I have so much faith in him in fact, that I also projected him as the AL Rookie of the Year for 2012.

Smyly is owned in 0.5% of ESPN fantasy leagues. That number could increase dramatically after tomorrows start if he performs even close to what how I think he will. If your league gives points for Wins then Smyly is an easy pickup due to the fact that he might have the best offense in years behind him. The Tigers should be able to give him a comfortable lead early, which will allow him to pitch without any restrictions or worries.

Smyly might walk a few batters but he definitely has the stuff to strike out a few batters as well. At Double-A last year, he averaged 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings and registered a sterling 1.18 ERA. He has excellent control and even better command of his pitches. The Tigers have never been afraid of throwing young pitchers out there so I don’t expect his rotation spot to be in jeopardy very quickly.

Pick up Smyly as a spot starter this week and be prepared to make him a stable part of your rotation going forward.

I have dabbled in most of these collecting methods but currently, I am on a mission to collect every Ryan Roberts card ever produced. According to Beckett, there are 46 Ryan Roberts cards out there from companies like Upper Deck and Topps. I chose to start collecting Roberts cards because he has so few cards and I thought it would be a great place to start. Roberts is also my favorite player because I thoroughly enjoy his hustle on the field and the emotion he shows during all nine innings. So far, I have collected 13 of his 47 (I found a minor league card of his NOT listed on Beckett) cards, or 28%. I could probably own more than this but I haven’t pulled the trigger on the recent Topps card parallels from Wal-Mart, Target, and Toys R Us yet. That would easily add another 6 cards to my collection but they are easy to come by so I’m not worried. The hardest part of this collection is finding the low serial numbered cards. Roberts was first seen in 2006 Upper Deck (which I have) and he also has a 2006 Upper Deck Gold #ed/99 (which I also have). In 2006 Roberts also had a rookie card in the Topps 52 set that was designed to look like the old Topps 1952 set. In this set he has a base card (have), a chrome card #ed/1952 (have), a chrome gold refractor #ed/52 (don’t have), and a chrome refractor #ed/552 (have). I just missed out on the chrome gold refractor on eBay the other night. I believe it went for north of $7 and the auction ended while I was sleeping (dang it). The hardest cards that I am attempting to acquire are the 2011 and 2012 Topps Printing Plates. They were randomly inserted in packs and they are numbered 1/1. ONE OF ONE!?!? How the heck am I supposed to get these? What if the pack holding this 1/1 card is never even opened?!?! Anyway, I figure these will be the hardest to come by and will probably cost a pretty penny when I do find them. Over the last two years Roberts has averaged about 20 cards a year spread out over different sets. That said, if you have any Roberts cards, please contact me because I want them! Thanks.

I first started collecting cards by putting together entire sets. My dad gave me a partial Topps 1970 set that I absolutely love. It has some very obscure players in it but also has a great looking Roberto Clemente card and a few good roookies. I intended to put together two sets and give one to my little brother and keep one for myself. You can buy the whole completed set for between $900 and $1100 on eBay but I figured it would be much more fun to build it myself. I will be truthful and tell you that I soon gave up. There are so many cards in the set and putting it together piece by piece soon became very expensive and time consuming. Putting together more recent sets is easier and I was able to collect the whole 2012 Topps Series 1 set with a hobby box and a few blasters. If you are a set collector, I applaud you. I understand how hard it can be and I respect you for having the passion and patience to do it.

Now let’s talk about a much easier and fun collection that is quickly catching on. This set it called The Trifecta. The idea is to collect 3 cards of a certain player; a rookie card, an on card autograph, and a memorabilia card. Some people want the cards to all be signed, some people want them to all be graded, but that is what’s great about this way of collecting, it’s easy and customizable! Collecting a Trifecta will allow you collect cards from lots of different players and are easy to “complete”. Some players do not have game-used memorabilia cards (like Roberts) but most have at least and autographed card and a rookie card. This is a fun and easy way to collect some of your favorite players and allows for you to show off your collection very easily.

If you want to talk cards and collecting tweet me @Jared_Thatcher or leave a comment below. I’m always looking for Ryan Roberts cards and the rookie cards from Hall of Famers for my collection.

AL East Winner – Tampa Bay Rays – They have a great pitching staff and should put up enough runs in the AL East to win it again this year.
AL Central Winner – Detroit Tigers – The lineup is downright ridiculous in Detroit. They should score a ton of runs and the pitching will be stellar as well.
AL West Winner – Texas Rangers – A powerful lineup in addition to a solid rotation should help them hold off the Angels.
NL East Winner – Washington Nationals – My darkhorse pick this year. They have a great pitching rotation and a lockdown bullpen. Now they just need runs…
NL Central Winner – St. Louis Cardinals – Albert who? They still have power and production in the lineup with a great rotation. Bullpen might be shaky…
NL West Winner – Arizona Diamondbacks – Repeat performance. Pitching staff may not be as good but some prospect might come up to fix that. Should score a lot of runs.
AL Wild Cards – Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees – The powerhouses will still win over 90 games and easily fill the wildcards.
NL Wild Cards – Philadelphia Phillies, Cinncinati Reds – The Phillies will make the postseason on pitching alone and ride it all the way through.
World Series: Tigers over Phillies in game 7 – The Tigers pitching will be too much and if anyone can hit against the Phillies, it’s the Tigers lineup.

AL MVP – Miguel Cabrera – Should drive in a ton runs with protection from Fielder. A monster year is expected if he can stay healthy.
NL MVP – Joey Votto – A mediocre lineup shouldn’t hinder him in hitting over .320 and 100 RBIs.
AL Cy Young – Dan Haren – It’s time. He pitches a ton of innings and with a great defense behind him, he should have a very sub-3.00 ERA
NL Cy Young – Adam Wainwright – He has something prove after TJ surgery. Was brilliant in Spring Training and should be himself once again. Lookup “Ace”  to see his pic
AL Rookie of the Year – Drew Smyly – Locked down the #5 spot with the Tigers. He should pitch lots of innings and be very effective even getting over 150 Ks.
NL Rookie of the Year – Bryce Harper – Time for the prodigy to make his debut. He will help out the Nats with his power starting early in the season.

What are your picks? Tweet them to @Jared_Thatcher and @FullspectrumBB

I joined the league in the middle of the 2011 season by taking over the Atlanta Braves. I know what some of you are thinking… great, young, talented team to take over. You couldn’t be farther from the truth. The GM before me had completely wiped out the minor league system (we can keep up to 75 minor leaguers), and he had already traded away Freddie Freeman, Tommy Hanson, Jair Jurrjens, Tim Hudson, Dan Uggla, and Jason Heyward. Basically I was left with Derek Lowe and Chipper Jones. He had traded most of the guys to Rockies and Astros for a bunch of their aging stars like Todd Helton and Carlos Lee. My team had been destroyed, raped, and pillaged by the other teams during the prior GMs reign. But I was OK with that. I took over the team as a challenge. I wanted to rebuild and make a competitive team out of scraps.

So far I have managed to trade away some of the more expensive and aging players for draft picks (we do a 6 round amateur draft and 6 round minor league draft) and prospects (I have almost all of the Diamondbacks pitching prospects in my system now). My system is becoming better and better by the day but I am still a long way from winning.

Anyway, in this post I will list the transactions that happened in my league this week. Hopefully, they will help you determine the value of certain players or at least get an idea of where to start if you are trying to trade in your dynasty league.

First off is the 1975 Topps #616 RC of Jim Rice. The card has probably one of my favorite designs because it clearly represents the 70′s by being colorful and a bit strange. The card stock is nice and thick, and for some reason, my card still smells a bit like bubble gum. The top half of the card is pink while the lower half is a bright yellow. I have no clue why Topps chose those colors but it’s still pretty cool. The card features three other players also including Dave Augustine, Pete Mangual, and John Scott. Scott sports and awesome pair of chops in his picture and Augustine has a classic 1970′s mustache as well. For some reason Rice is wearing a polo type shirt under his jersey and the color is sticking out, making him look like a ballplayer from a much earlier era. My card came in a penny sleeve and top loader, and cost me $7.42 shipped. I probably could have gotten the card at a lower price but my card has great corners and really good edges. It almost looks like it came right out of a pack. I love this card and I am glad it was added to my collection.

The next card that arrived in the mail is a 1933 Goudey Gum Edgar (Sam) Rice card. Let me start out by saying this card is in rough shape, but I  really don’t care. I have gone back and forth with a few people over whether or not this is really Sam Rice’s rookie card or not. Some people think that his previous cards from various card companies are his true rookies. There are a few “cards” from around 1919-1921 that make this case, but I came to the conclusion that the 1933 Goudey Gum card would work for me as his rookie. To me, the card is his first actual card ever intentionally made as a card, of him. Anyway, this card is in rough shape. There are a couple holes near his name where it looks like someone had pinned it to a wall or something, and there is some paper loss on the sides of the card and a couple small stains. But, for the shipped price of $22.50, I thought this was a decent deal for the card. There are other selling for double that price and a few graded ones that sell for even more. Mine is not graded but I am positive it is authentic and adds a very nice vintage touch to my collection
.

Pettitte is clearly one of the best postseason pitchers to ever play the game but why come back now after a year in retirement? Does Pettitte really have anything left to prove? Is Roger Clemens also coming back? Maybe the Yankees are trying to get the band back together for one last hurrah!  Pettitte will no doubt start out the season in the minor leagues but I fully expect him to join the rotation somewhere around mid-year if not sooner. He may fill a hole as the 5th starter or even take the #4 spot if he is even close to his old self.

So what does this mean for your fantasy team? I would absolutely NOT draft Pettitte in any of your leagues unless you want to take a big chance on him with your very last pick. He will most likely sit on your bench for a while and waste space until he is ready to join the Yankees rotation. During that time you could have a much more productive player filling that bench spot. Even if Pettitte joins the rotation there is no guarantee that he will be the productive pitcher he was in seasons past. Keep an eye on this situation but let someone else take the chance on draft day.

Sam West was an outfielder for the Washington Senators, St. Louis Browns, and the Chicago White Sox from 1927-1942. He was regarded as one of the best defensive outfielders of his time and hit over .300 eight times in his career with a high of .333 in 1931. His career is very interesting and it is relatively hard to find information about him. However, there are a couple writers who have put together a biography of him that is a good read if you have the time.

There are a couple things that really drew me to Sam West when I started collecting cards. First of all, I love the 1933 Goudey card set. The art is absolutely stunning and the card just looks classy. The colors are light pastels for the most part and the card is more square shaped than retangular. Sam West wore the number “6″ for most of his playing career (which happens to be my favorite number) and he was a gritty player who proved to be a difficult out.

West was a doubles machine in his time and averaged 32 doubles per 162 games throughout his career. He made the All-Star team four times in career and was the starting center-fielder in the very first All-Star game ever in 1933 (which is another reason I like his 1933 Goudey card). He was in the MVP talks a few times during his career but was over-shadowed by a couple big sluggers (Jimmie Foxx and Lou Gehrig). A couple more of his accomplishments are 6 hits in one game, four years of 400 or more putouts, and one entire season with only one (1) error.

West got his professional baseball career break basically by sheer luck early in life. He was playing baseball for his high school team when for some reason, his coach decided to sit him one game. Records show that he was the best player on his high school team so his benching did not go over well with West. Instead of sit on the bench and watch his team, West decided to head into his small town and watch a Rule, Texas semipro game. To his luck, the Rule team was missing its right fielder that day and West volunteered to fill the position. After that he began his minor league career and excelled wherever he played. He was injured a couple times before he finally made his major league debut, but still managed to be a great asset to the Washington Senators. In 1932 the Senators traded him to the St. Louis Browns in a deal that included Goose Goslin. When Babe Ruth heard about the trade he was quoted saying “They gave away a dozen ball games when they traded Sammie West to St. Louis. I remember four or five games myself that he saved for them last year.”

In his later years, West would frequently criticize modern players for not hustling and for taking singles for granted. He liked to see a player take wide, aggressive turn at first base when he hit a single instead of just trotting to first. When he played he was known for stretching singles into doubles by flustering outfielders into making hurried and bad throws to second base.

Sam West was the definition of hustle in his time and reminds us what the game of baseball used to be. I agree with West and would love to see more hustle and aggresive play in baseball these days. His card is in my office and is a constant reminder of what made me fall in love with the game of baseball and the hobby of collecting cards.

DO find solace in the many young arms in the bullpen this year. Addison Reed, Matt Thornton, and Jesse Crain should all be lock down out of the bullpen no matter what order you put them in. They probably won’t have a ton of save opportunities, but should provide innings and strikeouts.

DONT even think about drafting most of their starting rotation this year. Gavin Floyd is injury prone and doesn’t put up great numbers. Jake Peavy is an absolute mystery, even to himself. He has lost velocity and doctors say his arm is as good as it’s going to get.

DO consider drafting John Danks as your number 3-5 starting pitcher. He has had a rough couple of years but I’m confident he can pitch 200 innings this year with an ERA under 4.00. The 150 strikeouts from him will be nice also toward the back of your rotation.

DO not overlook a couple of the other young arms on the team, Philip Humber and Nestor Molina. Molina came over in a trade from the Blue Jays and is a decent prospect. Humber provided over 200 innings of 4.00 ERA ball last year while striking out 150 batters. He should once again be a workhorse in 2012.

DONT take the chance on any of their outfielders unless you are absolutely desperate. Alex Rios had a terrible year in 2011 and there is no reason why he should be any better this year. Alejandro De Aza had a nice line over 54 games in 2011 but he is unproven. Dayan Viciedo was a good prospect in his day and still has some potential, but I would stay away until he proves himself.

DO DO DO pick up Paul Konerko as at least your DH this year. He is an RBI machine and has a great batting average to go along with it. He should be the same productive player he has always been, even considering his age.

DONT draft young infielders Brent Morel or Gordon Beckham. They were touted as future superstars and have shined at times, but the shine tarnished quickly and they were revealed to be below-average players. Don’t take the chance on these two guys until they can prove they can be productive week in and week out.

DO not expect Adam Dunn to hit under .200 again. Although the batting average is never very high for Dunn (he strikes out a ton), he should regain his swing and once again hit at least 30 home runs. Let Dunn slide as far as you can in the draft but don’t be afraid to take him as your DH in 2012.

My first real collecting inspiration came when my dad gave me an old US Postal Service box filled with cards he had from his childhood. The cards had been kept in a dusty old attic for almost 20 years and had a wonderful musty, damp smell to them. The majority of the collection are cards from the Topps 1970-71 sets and included a worn Roberto Clemente card. There are a couple duplicates in the box but no one worth mentioning. The centering of most of the cards are quite good although the edges are all worn pretty badly. Even so, the fact that I had in my hand cards from almost 30 years ago was an exhilarating feeling. I have since started to complete the Topps 1970 set and I have found that it is much easier than I first thought. There are a few harder and more expensive cards to get but nothing like I was afraid they might be.

During high school and college I gave up collecting cards all together. I didn’t buy any and most of the card shops that had been in my local vicinity had already closed down (eBay was responsible for this). My cards sat in  my parents attic for a few years as I traveled with the U.S. Navy and attempted to figure out who I was as a man. I never lost the childish adrenaline rush of ripping open a pack of cards, but I had bigger things to worry about at the time.

After arriving back home in AZ after a few years, I decided to dig out those old card albums and search for that exquisite orange Nike box. Days later, after tearing apart my parents house, I finally located all the pieces of my little collection (I still haven’t found my Chipper Jones RC or my Terry Bradshaw RC, Dad…). When I opened the boxes, to my dismay, I realized that I really didn’t have much of a collection at all. I had a few neat cards like a Magic Johnson RC and a ton of Michael Jordan cards, but that was about it. For some reason I must have loved David Robinson because I had pages and pages of his cards along with a book full of A.J. Green cards (random). My collection I had assembled as a child just wasn’t a collection at all.

Due to this revelation I began to get serious about collecting (*sarcasm*) and I went to Wal-Mart and Target to buy every pack of cards I could possibly get my hands on. I now had even a larger collection of junk cards besides a really cool Rocky Bleier signed card I pulled out of a hanging rack pack (this card is also now lost, or my brother took it). This revelation depressed me and I put my cards away for another few years so that I could get married and start a family.

 I was able to accomplish both of these feats and upon moving into my own house, my parents took my “junk” out of the attic and gave it all back to me. For about 2 years my cards sat in a box in my garage untouched and unsorted. Finally I began to dig through the box and take inventory. To my surprise, many of the “junk” cards of players from the 80′s and 90′s had actually become superstars and might still one day make it into the Hall of Fame. I began to organize and sort the cards by player and sometimes team. This was a terrible idea on my part and I actually started getting more confused and unorganized than I had started out.

One of my friends suggested that I start by just putting the cards in order in their respective sets. This is easier said than done, but I put my mind to it and finally began to get a bit more organized. I realized that I had a large percentage of many different set but none were complete. The closest set I had complete was the Topps 40th Anniversary set, and it was about 70% complete. I still am not as organized as I should be but I believe I am getting better.

My biggest issue with collecting cards has always been what to collect. For a while I was interested in basketball cards, then I went to football cards, all the while also collecting baseball cards. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to complete sets of cards or if I wanted to focus on a few specific players. Should I gather old cards or try to open packs of new cards to get today’s up and coming stars? The answer finally came to me one day last year when I was sorting my Topps 2011 Series 1 cards… I wanted to collect any and every baseball card I could get my hands on. There was no reason why I couldn’t collect today’s stars and the stars of the past. I wanted to collect vintage cards from the early 1900′s as well as the brand new Topps 2012 Series 1 set! The epiphany was that I didn’t have to limit myself to only one era or player.

Recently I have started a quest to gather the rookie card of every Hall of Famer in baseball history. I know other people have done the same thing and have this collection and I applaud them for having completed it. What I have figured out is that if I purchase brand new cards (i.e. Topps 2011, Topps 2012), I can then sell these on ebay and use the proceeds to buy older vintage rookie cards that I want, while still being able to keep some of the new cards I just opened. It is a win-win for me. So far I have only gathered 3 of the 297 Hall of Fame members rookie cards (not all in the Hall of Fame are players so they won’t have rookie cards). I try to get these cards at the cheapest I possibly can. I don’t care about the condition of the card very much because I just want to be able to say I own all the cards. The condition of the card is something important when collecting, but for this collection I am putting together, I don’t care.

The three cards so far that I have purchased are a 1987 Topps Barry Larkin (I love this card design, probably my favorite), a 1988 Score Traded Roberto Alomar (inducted in 2011, this is the rarest of his rookie cards), and a 1957 Topps Whitey Herzog. The Larkin card cost me $2.30 total, the Alomar card was $3.54 total, and the Herzog was $4.89 total. Not too bad if I don’t say so myself. The Alomar and Larkin are in great condition and the Herzog is a pretty decent also. The next cards I am targeting are the 1961 Ron Santo and the 1971 Bert Blyleven. The Santo card is selling for around $13-$15 but I want to try to get one under $10. The Blyleven should be easier and should only cost around $7.

I want you to know what you can expect from me during these Cardboard Hunter articles. First of all I will write up a new article every time I acquire a new Hall of Fame rookie card and provide you with the details including price and condition. Other posts will be about any number of different cards I buy or trade for that I are interesting and have a history to them. I frequent many thrift shops in search of cards and sometimes I find some great loot that people are basically giving away. These thrift store adventures are possibly my favorite way to collect cards so expect me to detail these adventures when they happen. Thanks for reading and I look forward to your comments about the cards themselves and what you are currently collecting. Don’t ever lose sight of why you started collecting in the first place.

Don’t expect anything less than an MVP season from staff ace Justin Verlander in 2012. He has all the makings of a future HOFer and is the reining AL MVP. Expect tons of strikeouts and over 20 wins this season for a powerful looking Tigers team. In most leagues he should not slip out of the first two rounds of your draft.

Do take Brennan Boesch as one of your everyday outfielders. He is young and really coming into his own with the bat. He has very big power potential as well as the ability to steal a few bases. Boesch should really come into his own this year and be an asset to your fantasy team.

Don’t take Austin Jackson before the 12th round of your draft. He might not be the lead-off man this year Detroit and but if your league offers points for steals, he may be a steal somewhere deep in the draft. The Tigers don’t really have any other choice in center field but be cautious how high you draft him.

Don’t forget to pick up Max Scherzer as your number 3 or 4 starter this year. He has a ridiculous 2-seam fastball and should strikeout a ton of batters this year. Control can sometimes be an issue but he should provide you with close to 200 innings and decent production. Scherzer’s win totals may jump up this year with a powerful offense behind him.

DO DO DO take Miguel Cabrera as your number 1 overall pick in 2012. He has third base eligibility and can flat out rake. With Prince Fielder hitting behind him he could contend for a triple crown sort of season this year. Don’t pass him up.

Don’t miss out on Prince Fielder in the first round of the draft. He should have lots of guys on base this year to drive in and the power will not be diminished in Detroit. Make him your number one target as a first baseman this year and enjoy the ride to the playoffs.

Do try to lay off the middle infielders for the Tigers this year. They won’t provide much production to your fantasy team.

Don’t forget about the Tigers young catcher, Alex Avila. He had a big year in 2011 and is looking to expand on that. He should be able to weather another long season at catcher and will provide your fantasy team with some nice offensive number for the catcher position.

Don’t take Victor Martinez in any of your leagues! In case you didn’t look at the headlines this past off season he is hurt and will not be back this season most likely. Instead try to talk the new guy into drafting him in the first round.

Don’t be afraid to get Jose Valverde as your closer. He closes out games and should have plenty of leads to protect this year.

Do pay attention to some of the young pitchers in the Tigers system. Rick Porcello is looking to have a solid, rebound year and should be fighting to stay in the lineup everyday. Jacob Turner might break camp with the Major League squad but he will probably be seasoned a bit more in the minors. Either way he should make an impact at the Major League level this year and he has lightning stuff.

Don’t forget about my favorite sleeper on the Tigers, Drew Smyly. In my opinion he is better than Jacob Turner and might even reach The Show before Turner. He has electric stuff but more importantly he has great control. He may be your very first waiver pickup if he breaks camp on the 25-man roster but if he doesn’t, put him on your watch list and wait for the call-up.