Aged, or not, the Phillies roster is checkered with notable names from the team's history – guys who we would wait in line to meet, or pay to sign a ball for us. With postseason heroics, guys like Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Cole Hamels have established themselves as "collectible" players in the mold of Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton, before them.
Last week, MLB.com released its annual list of the 100 Top Prospects in Major League Baseball – which included two Phillies farmhands: Maikel Franco (#26) and Jesse Biddle (#53). With prospect card inclusions, and local signing appearances made over the past year, both have a growing presence in the hobby. While it's still hard to judge long-term value, initial fan interest is enough to make them, as well as current Phillies Dom Brown and Cody Asche candidates to be "the next collectible Phillie."
Maikel Franco
Franco was a popular addition to prospect card sets in 2013 with insert cards peppering several releases. Still relatively new to Phillies collector's you can find base autograph cards in the $15-20 range and base cards for under $5.
Domonic Brown
Dom was a big deal in the prospect market – back in 2010. There was a minor resurgence in interest during his power outburst last summer, but he remains very affordable on eBay. Nothing a good 2014 couldn't solve…
Jesse Biddle
A sub-par 2013 season signficantly impacted the prices Biddle cards. His base, 2013 Bowman Chrome auto cards which were trading in the $20 range are now less than $10. I say: Buy low!
Cody Asche
Already up and showing signs of being a fan favorite, Asche is probably the most likely (of this group) to be the guy we're talking about 10 years from now. I'm expecting him to be very popular on the signing circuit next summer.
I'm not ready to predict any of them to blossom into an MVP, but using Ruben Amaro's logic of "if guys do what they're supposed to do", then these top prospects should become stars…right?
