This being Baseball America and all, we’re going to focus mostly on the baseball-centric aspects of the event. But Fanatics Fest will also feature appearances, merchandise and activations of all major leagues, including the NFL, NBA, NHL, WWE, FIFA and more.

Perhaps not surprisingly, athletes with strong New York ties will dominate the roster of baseball players who will be signing autographs and available for photo ops at the event, including Derek Jeter, Dwight Gooden, Reggie Jackson, Mike Piazza and 2025 Hall of Fame inductees CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner.

Other legends such as Albert Pujols, Manny Ramirez and Mike Schmidt will also be making appearances, as will current Yankees including Max Fried and Jazz Chisholm Jr.

The list of non-baseball athletes at the event is also a who’s who: Lebron James, Tom Brady, Kevin Durant, Peyton Manning, John Cena, Henrik Lundqvist and more. And among the non-sports celebrities appearing are Travis Scott, Kevin Hart and Kevin Costner.

The event will be a collectors’ paradise. Fanatics will not only spotlight their own merchandise (including Topps products), but there will be an entire “merch village” featuring dozens of card and collectible vendors.

Topps will also be offering three exclusive baseball card releases available only at the event:

• Boxes of high-end “Cactus Jack” cards will be available on Friday. Each box will sell for $500 and contain two packs with four cards each.
• Hobby and value boxes of the new Topps Series 2 (featuring exclusive NYC-based parallels) will be available on Saturday and Sunday. Hobby boxes will sell for $300 and value boxes for $50.

The on-site “Museum of Greatness” will feature more than $200 million worth of the most exclusive cards, game-used items and other memorabilia in the hobby, including items from Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and Shohei Ohtani.

Among the items on display will be more than 50 Topps Rookie Debut Patches, including the coveted Paul Skenes patch that sold for over a million dollars back in March. Remember, there are only 347 Rookie Debut patches in existence, and many still haven’t even been pulled, so displaying more than 50 in one place is unprecedented.

Fanatics is also introducing a new feature this year called Fanatics Games, which will allow fans to test their athleticism against top athletes to win cash prizes. Among the challenges is a Pitching Accuracy contest.

There will be panels, live podcasts and more throughout the weekend.

Last year’s inaugural Fanatics Fest drew 70,000 fans, and organizers expect this year’s event to draw an even bigger crowd.

For more information on Fanatics Fest tickets, schedules and more, go to FanaticsFest.com.

The post Fanatics Fest 2025 Returns To NYC With Exclusive Baseball Cards, Celebrity Athletes & More appeared first on College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball America.

That being said, the Rookie Debut Patch chase which will be featured in that set has rapidly become the chase in the hobby, especially on the heels of last year’s search for Paul Skenes (and don’t forget, the Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Jackson Merrill patches are still out there).

So, with that being the case, we here at Baseball America thought we’d start our research for the 2025 MLB Debut Patch series a little early.

The patches in last year’s set came from the 251 players who had made their MLB debuts between June 1, 2023, and May 31, 2024. Assuming that means that this year’s set will include players who debuted between June 1, 2024, and May 31, 2025—we won’t know for sure until Topps releases the preliminary checklist this fall—that would mean that 2025 Chrome Update would include a whopping 276 debut patches.

The biggest patch chases would seem to be Roki Sasaki for the Dodgers, Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer of the Red Sox, Dylan Crews and James Wood for the Nationals and Jacob Wilson and Nick Kurtz of the Athletics.

Note that, If Topps holds to those dates, that would mean that Jac Caglianone’s debut patch (likely to be worn on June 3, 2025) wouldn’t appear until the 2026 Topps Chrome Update release next fall.

The team that would project to have the most patches is the Rockies, with 17 (including Chase Dollander and Adael Amador). The Athletics and Marlins would have 15, while the White Sox and Angels would each have 14 patches. The Red Sox and Nationals would have 11, and the Dodgers would have 10 total patches.

Five teams are tied for fewest patches each, with five: the Diamondbacks, Yankees, Mets, Phillies and Rays. But you can count players such as Ben Rice, Luisangel Acuña and Mick Abel among the chases for those franchises.

Here’s a look at all 276 projected players broken down by team along with the dates of their debuts.

Arizona Diamondbacks

5 players

Athletics

15 players

Atlanta Braves

6 players

Baltimore Orioles

10 players

Boston Red Sox

11 players

Chicago Cubs

7 players

Chicago White Sox

14 players

Cincinnati Reds

11 players

Cleveland Guardians

11 players

Colorado Rockies

17 players

Detroit Tigers

10 players

Houston Astros

11 players

Kansas City Royals

8 players

Los Angeles Angels

14 players

Los Angeles Dodgers

10 players

Miami Marlins

15 players

Milwaukee Brewers

9 players

Minnesota Twins

8 players

New York Mets

5 players

New York Yankees

5 players

Philadelphia Phillies

5 players

Pittsburgh Pirates

8 players

San Diego Padres

8 players

San Francisco Giants

6 players

Seattle Mariners

8 players

St. Louis Cardinals

6 players

Tampa Bay Rays

5 players

Texas Rangers

7 players

Toronto Blue Jays

10 players

Washington Nationals

11 players

The post 2025 Topps Chrome Update: 276 Rookie Debut Patches That Could Make This Year’s Checklist appeared first on College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball America.

Series 2 of Topps’ 2025 flagship set drops June 11, and the checklist indicates that the popular “Fanatics Blasters,” which features redemption cards that can be used to get autographed balls, jerseys and more, will be returning.

Fanatics Blasters will not only feature some really big names, but will also be easier than ever to find. Previously, the odds of finding a redemption card were one in every 251 blaster boxes. This time, Topps’ odds indicate that the cards will be in one out of every 75 boxes.

That will be music to collectors’ ears, as Paul Skenes, Shohei Ohtani, Ken Griffey Jr. and soon-to-be Hall-of-Famer Ichiro Suzuki are among the players who will have signed merchandise redemption cards in the boxes.

The redemptions are available only in Fanatics Blasters, which are now available for preorder on Fanatics.com. Other formats for Series 2 will be available at Topps.com on June 11.

The full list of players with signed merchandise is below. Topps picks one player per team for the checklist.

• Angels: Shohei Ohtani
• Astros: Jeremy Pena
• Athletics: Luis Severino
• Blue Jays: Max Scherzer
• Braves: Ronald Acuna Jr.
• Brewers: Christian Yelich
• Cardinals: Ozzie Smith
• Cubs: Pete Crow-Armstrong
• Diamondbacks: Corbin Carroll
• Dodgers: Mike Piazza
• Giants: Mike Yastrzemski
• Guardians: Tanner Bibee
• Mariners: Ken Griffey Jr.
• Marlins: Ichiro Suzuki
• Mets: Juan Soto
• Nationals: Dylan Crews
• Orioles: Cal Ripken Jr.
• Padres: Fernando Tatis Jr.
• Phillis: Trea Turner
• Pirates: Paul Skenes
• Rangers: Wyatt Langford
• Rays: Wade Boggs
• Red Sox: Jarred Duran
• Reds: Hunter Greene
• Rockies: Todd Helton
• Royals: Bobby Witt Jr.
• Tigers: Tarik Skubal
• Twins: Brooks Lee
• White Sox: Frank Thomas
• Yankees: Aaron Judge

In addition to the Fanatics redemption cards, the main Series 2 checklist includes a number of big chases, including the flagship rookie card of Roki Sasaki and the first flagship Mets card of Juan Soto.

The post Topps’ Popular ‘Fanatics Blaster’ Returns For 2025 Series 2 With Paul Skenes, Shohei Ohtani Signed Merch appeared first on College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball America.

Presale is live now on Topps.com. With hobby boxes and jumbos already out of stock for the moment, so you know the community is buzzing around this release.

While top draft picks Travis Bazzana, Jac Caglianone, and Konnor Griffin headlined 2024 Bowman Draft, it’s Charlie Condon, the third overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, who was held back to be a marquee player for the 2025 Bowman set. While Condon had less than a stellar debut last summer and is temporarily on the shelf to begin the 2025 season, he is sure to be a chase for many.

Looking to purchase a box or two of Bowman 2025? We have you covered:

• 2025 Bowman Baseball Mega Box
• 2025 Bowman Baseball Value Box
• 2025 Bowman Baseball Hobby
• 2025 Bowman Baseball Jumbo

Ok, there’s plenty more to get into with this checklist, so let’s dive right in.

Top Players In The Set

Below is the list of players either featured in Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospects and/or were a top 40 pick in the 2024 MLB Draft and have a Bowman First—or, in the case of the first name on the list, a highly sought-after rookie card—in this set:

• Roki Sasaki [RC] (Dodgers, BA No. 1)
• Jesus Made (Brewers, BA No. 16)
• Kevin McGonigle (Tigers, BA No. 17)
• JJ Wetherholt (Cardinals, BA No. 24)
• Thomas White (Marlins, BA No. 32)
• Zyhir Hope [first Bowman autograph] (Dodgers, BA No. 47)
• Franklin Arias (Red Sox, BA No. 74)
• PJ Morlando (Marlins, Pick 16, 2024 MLB Draft)
• Walker Janek (Astros, Pick 28, 2024 MLB Draft)
• Slade Caldwell (Diamondbacks, Pick 29, 2024 MLB Draft)
• Malcolm Moore (Rangers, Pick 30, 2024 MLB Draft)
• Kyle DeBarge (Twins, Pick 33, 2024 MLB Draft)
• Caleb Lomavita (Nationals, Pick 39, 2024 MLB Draft)

Inserts To Target: More Anime, Etched In Glass & Retrofractors

Collectors of the NBA and NFL know that some of the most sought-after case hits in the most sought-after product of the year in those respective sports are manga-style inserts. You can go on eBay right now and find Panini Prizm manga inserts of the top rookies and stars for thousands of dollars at auction.

While the Bowman Anime series hasn’t quite reached that level, popularity is growing, and the cards from past years are holding their value. Paul Skenes‘ Anime rookie insert from 2024 Bowman’s Best is trending upwards of $300 ungraded on the secondary marketplace, but even beyond that, variations of young stars Corbin Carroll and Gunnar Henderson are trending around $100 raw. 

The people love the unique, bright cartoon-y designs of their favorite players, and that very much leads to anticipation from the baseball crowd when a new Bowman checklist drops. As we previewed last month, for 2025 Bowman, Juan Soto gets his first look in the popular Japanese-inspired art form.

While Soto may be the preview-headliner, the checklist for the Anime insert set for 2025 Bowman is a banger. Be on the look out for big-time names like Witt, Judge, Harper, Betts, Ohtani, Jeter, Pujols, Tatis, Ichiro, Trout and even George Brett. Beyond the Hall of Fame and superstar layer, hot prospects like Travis Bazzana, JJ Wetherholt, Leo De Vries, Konnor Griffin and Max Clark get the action hero/cartoon treatment, as well. Look for the rookie card stamp on Coby Mayo, James Wood, Roki Sasaki and Dylan Crews.

Beyond that 30-card checklist, look for Kanji variations of Ichiro, Roki Sasaki, Hideki Matsui and Shohei Ohtani, presumably featuring Japanese characters as the type-font.

The Etched in Glass variation returns with a 20-card set this year, and a number of these cards will surely be highly sought after. James Wood and Roki Sasaki will both have stained-glass style rookie cards in this set.

The Bowman Firsts getting the mosaic, color-splashed treatment include Jesus Made, Slade Caldwell, JJ Wetherholt, Kevin McGonigle and Franklin Arias.

Retrofractors are back for 2025 Bowman, and while they don’t carry the weight of past inclusions like Tom Brady, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig or, most recently, John Elway (2024 Bowman Draft), two Hall of Famers are set to get their Bowman Firsts: Steve Carlton and Brooks Robinson.

Beyond the Anime, Etched in Glass and Retrofractors, 2025 Bowman will feature the return of inserts including: Scouts Top 100, Spotlights and Rookie of the Year Favorites. Replacing the AI, Rising Infernos, Prospect Power-Up, Origin of Greatness and Gladiators of the Diamond sets are Crystalized, Greatness Loading, Hobby Stars, Rockstar Rookies and Very Important Prospects. While we’ve seen the Rockstar Rookies design, not much is known on these other new sets. So, for all the insert-heads out there, keep your eyes peeled as they begin to surface in the coming weeks.

Who I’m Hunting

Jesus Made. We talk about him a lot because he looks like he’s going to be that good. He’s the top name in the set. Milwaukee has done a tremendous job at identifying international talent and Made may be the prize of all prizes when all is said and done.

I’m a big fan of Slade Caldwell. While he is smaller in stature, he plays above his size thanks to his plus speed and physical frame. He was one of the more polished ball players in last year’s high school crop, and he’s got some fun tools to match. With his combination of athleticism, hit tool and makeup, I could see him being an above-average big leaguer for a long time.

These days, the Red Sox seem to have an endless supply of toolsy positional prospects—Franklin Arias is no exception. He performed capably at the plate in his first taste of A-ball as an 18-year-old last summer in a tough hitters’ environment in Salem, and he’s also got a real shot to stick at shortstop. He may never reach 20 home runs, but he hits, runs, defends and walks plenty. That’s a lot of exciting boxes to check for a teenager who has made it off the complex already.

Earlier this spring, I called out Sammy Stafura as an up-arrow prospect for collectors. Needless to say, I was thrilled at his inclusion in this checklist. The Reds’ system is chock-full of talented, young position players, and Stafura has a chance to be as good as any of them.

Breaker Value & Teams To Target

I did a quick analysis on which teams may be most desirable for breakers. Here, I’m looking primarily at volume (of inserts, autographs, etc.) and quality of position players in the marquee sets. Bowman First autos, Anime, Retrofractors, Etched in Glass, and Rookie autographs are driving the bus here. I have teams broken into tiers with value score in brackets below.

Tier 1: Dodgers [493]

The Dodgers have the highest volume of names in the sets of value with 22. Beyond that, I have a whopping 12 chases in Dodger blue in these sets. Roki Sasaki has an Anime, Anime Kanji variation, and a rookie auto in the set. Ohtani, Betts and Hyeseong Kim have Anime cards in the set. Sasaki and Kim are in the Etched in Glass set. On the autograph front, but this will be Zyhir Hope’s first Bowman autographed card. Eduardo Quintero will also have a first prospect autograph in here. The Dodgers are loaded, and if you hit on the Ohtani Kanji, you can put a down payment on a house.

Tier 2: Yankees [220], Cardinals [200], Nationals [192]

The Yankees pack volume here with 13 total names in the sets of value. The prospect value is light, but a Judge, Jeter or Matsui Anime card is what pushes them way up my list. Matsui having the Kanji variation helps, as well.

Shocked to see the Cardinals here? Don’t be. JJ Wetherholt is the top prospect in their system, and he gets looks in all of the sets of value. Albert Pujols found his way into the Anime set, and Steve Carlton has the Retrofractor with an auto variation. Sneaky inclusion: Their top pitching prospect, Quinn Mathews, gets his first Bowman and autograph for any collectors of pitchers out there.

With the Nationals, you’re riding the James Wood and Dylan Crews train. There’s huge value to be had in grabbing the Nationals in pursuit of autographs, Anime and Etched in Glass variations of both Wood and Crews. I personally favor Wood as the top rookie to collect for 2025. 

Tier 3: Tigers [153], Mariners [149], Royals [125], Red Sox [112]

The Tigers are really fun at the big league level, and they suddenly have one of the most exciting farm systems in the game, too. You won’t want to miss Max Clark on the Anime or Jackson Jobe on the rookie auto and Etched in Glass rookie variation. Plus, there’s a steady diet of Kevin McGonigle firsts and Josue Briceno’s first Bowman auto. There’s depth here, and this may be the best value in the lot without big league superstars driving the value score on the Anime checklist.

If you’re going Seattle here, it’s because you’re putting all your chips on Ichiro. Beyond him in the Anime set, this is a thin team. But if you land the Ichiro Kanji variation, there are few cards in the entire product that can top that.

Three Anime inclusions anchor the top for the Royals with Bobby Witt Jr., George Brett and Jac Caglianone. Caglianone also has an auto and a dual with Bobby Witt Jr. in the set. This isn’t too dissimilar from the Seattle approach—you’re fishing at the high end on small odds.

The Red Sox represent a more balanced approach in their accumulation of value. Rafael Devers has an Anime inclusion, while Franklin Arias anchors the Bowman first charge and has an auto and an Etched in Glass variation. Conrad Cason and Jhostynxon Garcia provide some intriguing prospect depth with their first Bowman autographs, as well.

Avoid: Chicago White Sox [19], Chicago Cubs [18], San Francisco Giants [14]

At a glance, the most exciting card to chase if you land the White Sox is a Braden Montgomery prospect autograph. He already had his first autograph in 2024 Bowman Draft with Boston, so this particular card likely won’t carry much value moving forward.

If you have the Cubs, you can find a Kevin Alcantara rookie auto, but he isn’t an A-list rookie. If there’s a rookie auto of Alcantara to own, it’ll be his future inclusion in Topps Chrome. Jonathon Long is the lone prospect auto, and he’s an older and undersized bat-first first base prospect.

The Giants are really thin in this set. Jacob Bresnahan has good stuff and gets a prospect auto, but he’s an arm, so, it’ll take a spectacular jump in prospect status to get him out of the value boxes at card shows. Jhonny Level crushed the DSL last summer, and he gets his first prospect auto, but you’re likely better off hitting the secondary market and grabbing a few for $10 in a couple months.

Here is the full list of my rankings for teams in breaks:

rank	team	player count	high-Value Count	Total score
1	Dodgers	22	12	493
2	Yankees	13	4	220
3	Cardinals	14	7	200
4	Nationals	10	7	192
5	Tigers	15	8	153
6	Mariners	7	2	149
7	Royals	12	4	125
8	Red Sox	11	6	112
9	Guardians	19	3	103
10	Twins	16	5	101
11	Mets	7	5	101
12	Brewers	11	4	99
13	Orioles	8	4	98
14	Angels	14	3	96
15	Rangers	21	4	90
16	Pirates	7	3	82
17	Padres	10	3	79
18	Reds	12	4	69
19	Diamondbacks	11	3	69
20	Rockies	7	3	58
21	Marlins	8	3	56
22	Athletics	11	2	55
23	Phillies	7	1	54
24	Astros	8	3	53
25	Blue Jays	5	1	52
26	Rays	13	2	47
27	Braves	7	1	35
28	White Sox	6	1	19
29	Cubs	5	1	18
30	Giants	6	0	14

New For 2025: Bowman Red Rookie Redemption Program

It appears Fanatics is piggy-backing on the success of the Topps Chrome MVP Buyback program with a similar, but more intricate, Bowman Red Rookie Redemption program debuting in 2025 Bowman.

There are 30 rookie cards in the 2025 Bowman base set and each of the 30 will feature a refractor variation with a “red-colored” rookie card logo instead of the usual red, white and navy styling.

These variations will be randomly inserted across all buying formats of Bowman. So, what does it mean if you pull one?

There will be a tiered-rewards system tied to Fanatics Fancash associated with featured players hitting certain career milestones. Here’s an example: If you have a player’s red rookie variation and he wins Rookie of the Year, you’ll have a limited amount of time to be able to redeem it for $100 in Fanatics Fancash. Or, you can decide to hold it, and if he goes on to win an MVP or Cy Young, another redemption window will open up, this time for $300 in Fanatics Fancash.

Early Favorites For AL, NL Rookie Of The Year

A month into the season, here who is leading the race for Rookie of the Year honors in 2025.

READ MORE

It escalates further from there if you continue to hold the card and the player continues to rack up major awards: $500 if the player wins a second MVP or Cy Young; $700 for three MVPs or Cy Youngs and $1,000 if they become a Hall of Famer. Now, it all starts with the player in question winning Rookie of the Year. It sounds like if you have the red rookie variation of a player who doesn’t win Rookie of the Year and then racks up multiple MVPs or Cy Youngs or even makes the Hall of Fame, the redemption isn’t valid—the player has to hit that first Rookie of the Year milestone.

INTRODUCING: The Bowman Red Rookie Redemption Program pic.twitter.com/kr8L63PFdz

— Topps (@Topps) April 29, 2025

Fanatics Fancash can be used to purchase more unopened boxes of cards, singles, auctions and fan gear. Topps also says it can be used for live breaks, but as of now, their sister breaking platform, Fanatics Live, does not accept Fancash.

This is a fun new wrinkle for the flagship Bowman set and certainly raises the collectability of the rookie cards in the base set that are often overlooked in favor of the eventual Topps Chrome release later in any given calendar year. 

At this time, we don’t know the odds of pulling a red rookie variation, however, they are being marketed as “limited.”

Formats & Pricing

The prerelease featured three formats:

• Value boxes (blasters) cost $29.99 and feature six packs with 12 cards each.
• Jumbo boxes cost $499.99 and include three guaranteed autographs, plus 12 packs with 28 cards each.
• Hobby boxes cost $239.99 and include one guaranteed autographs, plus 24 packs with eight cards each.

The post Bowman 2025: MLB Prospects, Inserts To Target & Teams We Like For Breaks appeared first on College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball America.

But if you’re looking for an autograph-and-relic-loaded release featuring players who haven’t been drafted yet, then this Friday’s release of Panini “USA Baseball Stars & Stripes” is a good one to target.

According to Panini, the release will feature young players “starting with the Collegiate National Team down to the 13U/14U Athlete Development Program and all the way to the U16 Team Australia National Junior Squad, Canadian Junior National Team, and Chinese Taipei National Team programs.”

Hobby boxes will contain just eight cards—but seven of those will be either autographs or relic cards. Panini has not yet announced a price point, but major retailers are pricing hobby boxes at about $100.

Though the full checklist has also not yet been released, based on early product images released by Panini, it looks to be absolutely loaded with top prospects.

The top names from Baseball America’s 2025 draft rankings are all represented. Top talent such as Jamie Arnold and Ethan Holliday have autographs in the release, including a quadruple auto chase card featuring the two of them with other top names Gavin Grahovac and Caden Bodine.

Other names also confirmed for the release include Drew Burress, Tyler Bremner, Devin Taylor and Jorvorskie Lane Jr.

Panini is the exclusive trading-card partner of USA Baseball. Players wear a Panini patch on their uniforms, which are then taken and put into relic cards in this set.

Other relic cards will include batting gloves and flags.

The release will also feature Panini’s popular Kaboom chase cards, which look like they will be a walk down USA Baseball memory lane. One early image released by the company features Bobby Witt Jr.

“USA Stars & Stripes” Baseball will be officially released on the Panini website this Friday, April 18 at 1 p.m. ET, and is already available for preorder at most major retailers.

The post Panini ‘USA Baseball Stars & Stripes’ Cards Release Friday With Loads Of MLB Draft Prospects appeared first on College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball America.

The 2025 baseball season is upon us, and with that will come the 2025 Topps flagship set. But for Baseball America readers, perhaps the even more anticipated flagship release is 2025 Bowman, which will highlight some of the biggest prospects in the game.

Preorders for 2025 Bowman began on Wednesday, April 9, on Topps.com in advance of the May 7 release date, and within just a few hours, prerelease quantities for all formats except for value boxes (blasters) had already sold out (but don’t worry: more should be available on May 7!).

On prerelease day, Topps also released the full checklist. So here’s a bit of what we know about 2025 Bowman so far.

The Design

As in past years, Bowman 2025 will feature a very clean, simple design, with a centered frame and the player name, team and position at the bottom. It appears numbering will be at the bottom left corner.

Here are a few examples released by Topps:

The Checklist

We know for sure that the set will feature the 1st Bowman cards of last year’s No. 3 and No. 7 draft picks, Charlie Condon and JJ Wetherholt, plus Jac Caglianone, Kevin McGonigle, Jesus Made and Slade Caldwell. (Note that Bowman will often hold back initial cards of a few draft picks in their Draft release to make those 1sts available in the following year’s flagship Bowman set.)

We also know that the release will feature the first official rookie card of Roki Sasaki (not including the daily Topps Now releases).

The Inserts

Topps has confirmed that the popular Anime inserts will be back for 2025. They gave a sneak peek at the Juan Soto card on social media already.

As in past years, Bowman will be packed full of autographs, including the “My 1st Bowman auto” inscription (introduced last year) for the first of each of the print runs to 150.

Another new insert will be called “Rockstar Rookies.” An early image released by Bowman shows Jackson Jobe as part of that checklist.

Other popular inserts such as Bowman Spotlights and Rookie of the Year Favorites will also be back this year, as will new inserts called Greatness Loading and Very Important Prospects.

The checklist also indicates chase cards of Steve Carlton and Brooks Robinson, including an autographed version of the Carlton card, plus a dual autograph chase featuring Bobby Witt Jr. and Jac Caglianone, and buyback autographed cards including Ichiro, Mike Schmidt and others.

Release Date, Formats & Prices

The prerelease featured three formats:

• Jumbo boxes cost $499.99 and include three guaranteed autographs, plus 12 packs with 28 cards each.
• Hobby boxes cost $239.99 and include one guaranteed autographs, plus 24 packs with eight cards each.
• Value boxes (blasters) cost $29.99 and feature six packs with 12 cards each.

Check back to BaseballAmerica.com as we approach the May 7 release date for much more on 2025 Bowman!

The post Bowman 2025: MLB Prospects, Release Date & Everything We Know So Far appeared first on College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball America.

It’s official: Paul Skenes’ Rookie Debut Patch card from 2024 Topps Chrome Update is a million-dollar card.

$1,110,000, to be exact.

The lucky buyer won with what was the 64th bid on the 14-day auction, which closed at shortly before 1 a.m. early Friday morning.

On Friday afternoon, Dick’s Sporting Goods announced that they had been the ones to place the winning bid, and that they planned to display the card at their Ross Park location in Pittsburgh (Dick’s headquarters is also in Pittsburgh).

The $1.11 million total includes the $925,000 “hammer price” and an extra $185,000 representing the added 20% Fanatics Collect auction fee.

Because of how Fanatics Collect’s payout structure works, the seller of any card whose “hammer price” is between $250,000 and $999,999 receives a bonus 12.5% of that hammer price (taken out of the Fanatics Collect auction fee), as well. Assuming that holds true for this auction, the lucky 11-year-old in Los Angeles who pulled the card from a hobby box on Christmas Day would receive $1,040,625 from the sale, and Fanatics Collect would receive the remaining $69,375, which they have said they will donate to help wildfire victims in the L.A. area.

(Fanatics Collect is a sister company of Topps.)

The 1/1 Skenes patch was the chase in the 2024 Topps Chrome Update release when it came out on Nov. 13. The card was pulled on Christmas Day, though the find was not made public until weeks later. The collector and his family chose to sell the card—which was graded a Gem Mint 10 by PSA at the Fanatics Collect auction— rather than take one of multiple other offers, including the massive one offered by the Pirates which included 30 years of season tickets, a meet-and-greet with Skenes himself and many other goodies.

The Pirates have said they will still arrange a meet-and-greet between Skenes and the lucky collector when the Pirates are in Los Angeles this season.

The $1.1 million the card went for makes it the priciest Topps Debut patch sold in the two years since the program was introduced. As it was, the No. 2 was also crowned last night, as the Jackson Holliday debut patch sold for $198,000 in the same auction.

Since Fanatics Collect launched last July, its highest-selling card to date is a 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth card (graded a PSA 8.5), which sold for just over $1.6 million this past November.

Topps introduced the Rookie Debut Patch program in 2023, including the 1/1 autographed mementos in their Chrome Update product, which comes out about a month after the season ends.

Anthony Volpe’s patch was the big hunt in 2023, and earned its lucky collector a $150,000 bounty from retailer Dave & Adam’s. The patch program exploded last fall, with patches for Skenes, Holliday, Jackson Chourio, Jackson Merrill, Elly De La Cruz, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and more.

So far, just over 200 of the 251 patches have surfaced publicly. Among the patches unaccounted for are those of Merrill, Yamamoto and Evan Carter.

The 2025 Topps Chrome Update release later this fall will include players who made their debuts in late 2024 and early 2025, including Dylan Crews and James Wood. Just this past Tuesday, Matt Shaw made his Cubs debut on Opening Day wearing a patch. The hot chase this year is expected to be the patch worn by Roki Sasaki when he made his MLB debut on Wednesday.

Editor’s note: The author of the story owns a Debut Patch that is also part of a Fanatics Collect auction this moth, albeit in a weekly auction rather than the Premier auction.

The post Paul Skenes’ Topps Rookie MLB Debut Patch Card Sells For $1.11M At Auction appeared first on College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball America.

Every year there are players that are on my mind that I think will outperform where they sit on prospect lists. As everyone knows, prospect rankings are fluid.

Last year, I was tipped off on Kristian Campbell right around this time. I will admit that I was unwilling to pay the $74 for a Bowman First autograph gold numbered to 50, as I didn’t have the budget for it at the time. But if I could get in a time machine and take that bid to $76, I absolutely would.

Anyway, this article is dedicated to calling out some up-arrow names in different tiers of prospect status. If you’re a collector, it may be a wise play to get in now before the season gets going and the cats out of the bag. My small win last year was a Jarren Duran Bowman First auto for $15 off the scrap heap at a card show.

Bellow, you’ll find some tips on players that I like to improve their prospect status in some capacity during the 2025 season. Again, no promises here that you’re going to make a swimming pool of cash, buy a yacht and retire. Here we go.

The post 12 Up-Arrow MLB Prospects With Baseball Cards Worth Hunting In 2025 appeared first on College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball America.

The card is now officially up for auction at the Fanatics Collect auction site as part of their Premier auction.

The starting price is $1,000, but will likely jump to six figures—possibly even seven—before the auction closes on March 20.

“The auction of this card will be one of the most watched and talked about auctions for a modern day baseball card,” said Thomas Fish, co-owner of Blowout Cards.

And the Skenes patch—which graded a perfect PSA 10—isn’t the only one up for grabs in the Premier auction: The Jackson Holliday debut patch is also up for bidding. The Holliday patch was originally pulled at a card shop in Texas back in December, then sold for an unknown price to a private collector, who will now be listing the card for sale once again.

If recent sales are any indication, bidding for both patches will be strong:

• The Anthony Volpe debut patch earned the collector a $150,000 bounty from card retailer Dave & Adam’s in early 2024. That card was part of 2023 Topps Chrome Update, the year that Topps introduced the patches.
• The Junior Caminero patch sold on Fanatics Collect in December for $66,000.
• Later that month, the Jackson Chourio patch sold for $105,000 in a private sale.
• Just last week, the Andy Pages patch sold on eBay for just over $10,000.
• It is unsold (as of now), but the Masyn Winn debut patch can be had on Fanatics Live for a “Buy It Now” price of $150,000.

Whatever the sales price, Fanatics Collect has announced that it will donate the commission–which is a 20 percent charge to the buyer on top of whatever the sales price winds up being–to help with Los Angeles wildfire relief.

Key Paul Skenes Debut Patch Dates

May 11, 2024: Wearing the debut patch on his left sleeve, Skenes makes his MLB debut, striking out seven Cubs and breaking 100 mph on 17 occasions.

Nov. 13, 2024: Topps Chrome Update is released, featuring 251 rookie debut patches as part of the chase, including such top talent as Skenes, Holliday, Chourio and Caminero (To date, approximately 200 of the patches have surfaced, but a number have yet to be accounted for, at least publicly, including Jackson Merrill, Yoshinubu Yamamoto and Evan Carter.)

Nov. 15, 2024: The Pirates announce a massive bounty for the Debut Patch including 30 years of season tickets, a meet-and-greet with Skenes and much more. Skenes’ girlfriend, Livvy Dunne, adds to the bounty by inviting the lucky collector to sit in her suite at a Pirates game.

Nov. 18, 2024: Skenes is named National League Rookie of the Year, intensifying the hunt for the card.

Dec. 25, 2024: An 11-year-old opening a single hobby box as part of his Christmas gift finds the redemption for the Skenes debut patch in just the fifth pack he opens from a hobby box. (Hobby boxes were originally priced at $200, and his parents had bought this box from a reseller on Black Friday for $320; by Christmastime and early 2025, those same hobby boxes were selling upwards of $600 and $700, with jumbo boxes and Breaker’s Delight boxes routinely selling in the $1,000 range as the hunt continued.)

Jan. 21, 2025: Topps announces publicly that the patch has been found, and shortly thereafter mentions that the patch will be headed to auction.

March 6, 2025: The auction begins …

Editor’s note: The author of the story owns a Debut Patch that will also be a part of a Fanatics Collect auction later this moth, albeit in a weekly auction rather than the Premier auction.

The post Paul Skenes Debut Patch Auction: Everything You Need to Know appeared first on College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball America.

Now, you may say, “Let me just track down all of their Bowman Firsts.” But what if they don’t all have Bowman Firsts? (Spoiler alert: Some of them don’t!)

This article is going to go beyond the staples and give you an idea as to what a “holy grail” may look like for each player, some cards to anticipate (maybe later this year) and, for the budget collector, make some suggestions on where you might be able to find a cool card without breaking the bank.

1. Roki Sasaki, RHP, Dodgers

Sasaki is going to get the “baptism by fire” treatment in Topps flagship products in 2025. Expect a very similar hobby path to Yoshinobu Yamamoto a year ago. Sasaki is a big name and will toe the rubber immediately for the defending World Series champions. His debut may be the most anticipated debut from a Japanese player since his teammate Shohei Ohtani.

The Card To Have: 2024 Topps NPB Chrome

What A “Holy Grail” Find Might Look Like: Right now, it’s something low-numbered from a Topps product. Sasaki signed a handful of cards for 2024 Topps NPB Chrome.

Cards To Anticipate: Sasaki will be the talk of Topps Series 2 and Topps Chrome, and he may be the headliner of the Rookie Debut Patches in Chrome Update this fall.

Collecting On A Budget: Sasaki has already had two Topps Now cards—one when he first signed, one after his introductory press conference—that can be found on eBay for just a few bucks each, and he’s likely to have at least a few more Topps Now releases once the season starts (especially after the Japan Series next month). If you’re looking for a Sasaki card from a wider release, in 2023, Topps put out a World Baseball Classic product in limited quantities. You can get some good-looking cards of Sasaki pitching for the WBC champs in the $10-$50 range.

2. Roman Anthony, OF, Red Sox

With a different organization, Anthony may break camp with the big league club. If he scorches the ball in spring training, he may do that anyway with Boston. He’s 20 years old, and he torched Triple-A pitching over 35 games to finish his 2024 season. This is going to be a fun player for a long time, and when he does finally arrive, he’ll be injected into a revived Fenway Park in the midst of what is shaping to be the most competitive baseball the Red Sox have played in years. Buckle up for a hobby explosion.

The Card To Have: 2023 Bowman Chrome First Autograph

What A “Holy Grail” Find Might Look Like: A low-numbered variation of the card above is currently the grail for Anthony. If you can find a red parallel numbered to 5, you can check the low-numbered and color match boxes.

Cards To Anticipate: I would think we’ll see Anthony in a Topps flagship this year, but he may be the headliner for Update Series and Chrome Update like Paul Skenes was last year.

Collecting On A Budget: You can find a 2024 Bowman’s Best “Best Of” auto for around $40-$50. It’s a clean looking card and the autograph is on-card.

3. Jackson Jobe, RHP, Tigers

The Tigers were the big surprise of the second half, and they aren’t going away anytime soon. Jobe is armed with big stuff, and he’ll make a devastating righthanded complement to Tarik Skubal for many years to come in Detroit. There are exciting times to be a Tigers fan.

The Card To Have: 2021 Bowman Draft Chrome First Autograph

What A “Holy Grail” Find Might Look Like: Obviously, low-numbered, color-variations of the Bowman Draft card will be grail-level finds for certain Tigers collectors. Jobe was also a featured player in 2023 Panini Immaculate, and that product is loaded with fun “player-worn” patches that could qualify as a “budget grail.”

Cards To Anticipate: Despite his late-season debut, Jobe was not included in 2025 Topps Series 1, so, Topps Series 2 it is!

Collecting On A Budget: Jobe has sticker autos in 2024 Bowman that you can into for $20-$30. Even though it’s unlicensed, 2021 Prizm Draft also had plenty of Jobe. If you’re looking for low-numbered color, that’s a solid option.

4. Kristian Campbell, 2B, Red Sox

Campbell wasn’t always a highly-touted prospect. In fact, his meteoric rise in 2024 is one of the more impressive full-season debuts we’ve seen. A light-hitting fourth-rounder out of Georgia Tech, Campbell hit just four home runs in his draft spring before exploding for 20 across High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A in 2024. When Campbell got promoted to Double-A in early June last year, his 2023 Bowman First autos were selling for a small fraction of the recent $150 to $175 range for an ungraded base variation.

The Card To Have: 2023 Bowman Draft Chrome First Autograph

What A “Holy Grail” Find Might Look Like: You’re looking for some 1/1 variation of a Bowman First. There are a handful of options, like this padparadscha out of Bowman Draft Sapphire.

Cards To Anticipate: If Campbell makes the Opening Day roster, expect 2025 Topps Series 2 to feature his rookie card. And, of course, Topps Chrome.

Collecting On A Budget: 2024 Topps Pro Debut. He doesn’t have autos in this set, but you can find some low-numbered color at a better price point than 2023 Bowman Draft. Plus, Campbell had such a good year in the minors that the minor league uniform adds a nice touch to this particular card, in my opinion.

5. Walker Jenkins, OF, Twins

Jenkins is the heir-apparent to the throne for No. 1 prospect for when the top four here graduate. A lot can change, but he is the young guy who is the furthest from an MLB debut. Jenkins is tooled-up and showing an advanced hit tool early in his pro career. The Twins have a high-ceiling prospect on their hands.

The Card To Have: 2024 Bowman Chrome First Autograph

What A “Holy Grail” Find Might Look Like: A low-numbered, color-variation of the 2024 Bowman Chrome First Autograph.

Cards To Anticipate: None in the near future.

Collecting On A Budget: 2024 Topps Pro Debut is probably the only place you’re going to get into Jenkins auto for under $100 right now. Lucky for you, it’s a good-looking card.

6. Dylan Crews, OF, Nationals

Crews’ quick ascent to the big leagues was overshadowed by that of Skenes and Wyatt Langford. But don’t be fooled—this is a top-five pick who torched college baseball for three years and then got to Washington after just 135 minor league games. Crews and James Wood have a chance to carry the torch for a young and exciting core in D.C. for years to come.

The Card To Have: 2024 Bowman Chrome First Autograph

What A “Holy Grail” Find Might Look Like: After securing a National Championship at LSU, Crews and his college teammate, Skenes, went first and second overall in the 2023 MLB Draft. Both rapidly ascended to the major leagues. As you can imagine, there are plenty of dual autographs floating around that scratch the itch for LSU fans and prospectors alike.

Cards To Anticipate: Crews is an early candidate for top Rookie Debut Patch to chase in Topps Chrome Update this fall.

Collecting On A Budget: Crews has been a headliner for a lot of Panini product, and he’s got some good looking cards in their Boys of Summer release. Also, unlike a lot of Panini product, any time you see Crews pictured in a USA Baseball uniform, the swatches in the card are actually game-worn.

7. Bubba Chandler, RHP, Pirates

Have the Pirates become a pitching factory? Chandler is looking to follow the early success of Paul Skenes and Jared Jones to become yet another dominant options for the Buccos. After being selected in the third round of the 2021 draft and passing on his commitment to play quarterback at Clemson, the two-way prospect quickly dialed in on his future on the bump when all involved in his development realized the potential of his fastball with exceptional shape.

The Card To Have: 2021 Bowman Draft Chrome First Autograph

What A “Holy Grail” Find Might Look Like: A low-numbered, color-variation of his 2021 Bowman Draft First.

Cards to Anticipate: Depending on how quickly the Pirates move, Chandler could be in a flagship product as soon as Topps Series 2 this year. More realistically, expect to see him in the fall for Update Series and Chrome Update.

Balling on a Budget: 2022 Topps Pro Debut features sticker autos with Chandler swinging the bat—if you’re into that sort of thing—for around $20. You can also get into an on-card, 2022 Bowman Inception auto for around $50.

8. Chase Dollander, RHP, Rockies

Jacob deGrom comps followed Dollander around ahead of his 2023 spring season at Tennessee. Lacking the same dominance he showed in 2022, Dollander fell to the Rockies with the ninth pick in the first round of the 2023 MLB Draft. In 2024, something clicked in his pro debut, and he is very back and very dominant.

The Card To Have: Bowman has now had four chances at a first for Dollander and still nothing; heading into year three of his time as a pro, Dollander still doesn’t have a licensed autographed card. If you’re serious about Chase Dollander, the 2023 Panini Prizm Prospect Signatures card is probably the one to go for at this moment in time.

What A “Holy Grail” Find Might Look Like: Dollander has some fun 1/1 inscription cards with unlicensed brand Onyx that you don’t see for many other prospects. As silly as it sounds, as of today, this may be considered a grail for Dollander.

Cards To Anticipate: Will Dollander appear on the 2025 Bowman checklist? Expect an early 2025 debut and anticipate some Topps flagship love. Unless there’s something we don’t know, expect a rush of licensed Dollander cards in 2025.

Collecting On A Budget: The fact that he’s a pitching prospect for the Rockies and everything he currently has on the market is unlicensed means that you can get Dollander cards in the dollar bin at your local hobby shop. Seriously, if you’re a fan, stock-up on sub-$10 Dollander Panini autos.

9. Andrew Painter, RHP, Phillies

With the 2025 season knocking, the return of Painter is imminent. In 2022, he soared up the Baseball America Top 100 Prospects list after a rapid ascension to Double-A that saw him pitch like a front-end starter at the age of 19. After a successful Tommy John surgery in 2023, Painter returned to the mound in the Arizona Fall League last year and showed that he didn’t miss a beat. If the Phillies are going to get past the Dodgers this year, Painter is going to be a big part of that.

The Card To Have: 2021 Bowman Draft Chrome First. He did not have an autograph in the set.

What A “Holy Grail” Find Might Look Like: If you’re a Phillies fan, try and hunt down the 2021 Bowman Draft Chrome First red parallel numbered to 5. The red-on-red color match is elite.

Cards To Anticipate: Topps flagship in the back half of 2025.

Collecting On A Budget: You can find a 2022 Bowman Platinum Auto for around $50. Painter is a pitching prospect who has already gone under the knife, so for a motivated collector, you can probably build a pretty solid collection without breaking the bank.

10. Noah Schultz, LHP, White Sox

The White Sox have had quite a bit of success with lefthanded pitching prospects in recent memory, notably with Chris Sale and Garrett Crochet. Schultz is fixing to be next in line. He still has some proving to do as his average start in 2024 was less than four innings, but when he hopped on the mound, he was dominant. Expect Schultz to be one of the faces in the next wave of competitive baseball coming to the Southside in the next few years.

The Card To Have: 2022 Bowman Draft Chrome First Autograph

What A “Holy Grail” Find Might Look Like: The team and the fact that he’s a pitching prospect should make a Schultz grail one of the more accessible cards in the Top 10. Low-numbered Bowman is hard to find, but that’s what you’re looking for here.

Cards To Anticipate: Considering his age and relatively-small exposure to Double-A, I don’t expect a debut in 2025 for Schultz, but never say never. If you are looking ahead, you can reasonably anticipate his inclusion in 2026 Topps flagship products.

Collecting On A Budget: You can get into an ungraded, base-variation of Schultz’s 2022 Bowman Draft First auto for around $40-$50 right now.

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