Stephen Strasburg GU items

[Mattingly85MVP]

Hate to bring up the subject with the unfortunate news today, but I was curious what you all thought about this - with Strasburg looking at potential Tommy John surgery, being out of the game for 12-18 months, and his career in some doubt- how much does the price of his memorabilia come down if at all?

[Mattingly85MVP]

I wish the kid well and was hoping to see him pitch this season in person, really too bad...hope he returns to form after all is said and done

[spartakid]

Odds are the stuff will stop climbing in price, like tens of thousands for a ball from his first start! I bet the stuff will drop a bit, but until something difinitive is said, I doubt his stuff will take a huge hit. I wish him good luck and hope he is able to come back and play like he is/was capable of playing.

[OaklandAsFan]

career in doubt???

please Tommy John surgery is gonna make his arm even better than before. Its almost a basic surgery these days.

[AWA85]

Basic surgery maybe.... but being away from the game for 12-18 months, and then time to regain control and feel. You will not see a sharp Strasburg until 2013 at the soonest.

I would guess prices just took a huge hit, but nobody should be selling now. If you were worried about profit, a person would just have to suck it up and hang on to the items till he is back to form (if this is regained).

[dirtyla2000]

Hate to bring up the subject with the unfortunate news today, but I was curious what you all thought about this - with Strasburg looking at potential Tommy John surgery, being out of the game for 12-18 months, and his career in some doubt- how much does the price of his memorabilia come down if at all?
People who spend large amounts for current stars or in Strasburgs case,wannabe stars, deserve the hit they take.Pay big bucks for vintage,thats all!

[Lokee]

career in doubt???

please Tommy John surgery is gonna make his arm even better than before. Its almost a basic surgery these days.

In some cases baseball pitchers throw harder after the procedure than they did beforehand. As a result, orthopedic surgeons have reported that increasing numbers of parents are coming to them and asking them to perform the procedure on their un-injured sons in the hope that this will increase their performance.

[legaleagle92481]

It is an unfair question. The prices will drop as time goes on while he is out especially when next season starts and he is out of the news. By the all star break next year his stuff will be worth a tiny fraction of what it went for in July. Out of sight out of mind. Is his career over? Of course not he will be back at age 23-24 which is still before most pitchers even come up. But imo don't expect much until 2013. If the Nats were smart theyd let him start back in 2012 in the minors until the all star break.

[bigtime59]

It is an unfair question. The prices will drop as time goes on while he is out especially when next season starts and he is out of the news. By the all star break next year his stuff will be worth a tiny fraction of what it went for in July. Out of sight out of mind. Is his career over? Of course not he will be back at age 23-24 which is still before most pitchers even come up. But imo don't expect much until 2013. If the Nats were smart theyd let him start back in 2012 in the minors until the all star break.

His service clock is already ticking. If he returns to form, why waste any of his pre-Yankee$ time in the minors? The pricing on his stuff was always going to go down, either because of greater availability over a long career or because of a career-ending injury. Most of us are hoping for the former (at least until he switches to pinstripes).

[legaleagle92481]

His service clock is already ticking. If he returns to form, why waste any of his pre-Yankee$ time in the minors? The pricing on his stuff was always going to go down, either because of greater availability over a long career or because of a career-ending injury. Most of us are hoping for the former (at least until he switches to pinstripes).

Did you see Deadspin this week? Alot of low revenue teams are making a fortune in revenue sharing and putting it in the owner's pocket. In Washington Strats is the franchise. They lose him might as well disband the team. Adam Dunn is gone this off season, Ryan Zimmerman is a very good player but not someone people flock to the ballpark to see or to the gift shop to buy his jersey. Harper is years away if he ever arrives. Plus it is harder for a hitter to make the kind of immediate impact Strats did. Most great players even Willie Mays were dreadful when they first came up because when the two parties have not faced each other before the pitcher has the advantage over the hitter. Which is why pitchers who later turn out to be mediocre come in and are world beaters then when batters see them a few times they are getting shelled. If the Twins in a much smaller market could lock up Mauer a guy the Yanks would have given 200 million to in a heartbeat then the nats can lock up Strats. The Yanks also may not even pursue him who knows. If he were a free agent today I don't know how quick they would be to give him a record setting deal with his injury hanging over him.

[OaklandAsFan]

Of course none of us are Stras and know what goes on in his head but IMHO whether he chooses to sign long term with the Nats will depend on how hard they work at putting together a good supporting staff that will give Stras a legitimate shot at winning.

Money aside, players go to the Yankees because they know that the Yanks will stop at nothing to put a winning team on the field.

[legaleagle92481]

Of course none of us are Stras and know what goes on in his head but IMHO whether he chooses to sign long term with the Nats will depend on how hard they work at putting together a good supporting staff that will give Stras a legitimate shot at winning.

Money aside, players go to the Yankees because they know that the Yanks will stop at nothing to put a winning team on the field.

People go the Yanks for the money. For example, CC Sabathia last year practically begged the Giants or the Angels to give him a comparable deal so he could go there instead. Damon last winter left the Yanks because they wouldn't pony up. Until last year the Yanks had not won a title since 2000 and the way the after a World Series. With the way they are pitching they very well might not make it this year to even round 2 of the playoffs so they are far from a slam dunk every year. If the Nats said to Stratsburg here is a $190 million dollar contract the year before he becomes a free agent he would sign it no matter who is on the team and he would be a moron if he did not. Players care about money over winning no matter what they say and let's face it any of us would also. Look at Darrelle Revis the guy is the best player on a team expected by many to win the Superbowl and he refuses to come to camp with three years left on his deal and is willing to miss the whole year if that is what it takes all to be the highest paid player at his position. Even Lebron took "less money" to go to Miami on the surface but the fact that there is no State income tax in Florida more than made up the difference between what he got and cleveland could have given him.

[Neal]

I don't think that Strasburgs career is in jeopardy, and I am not sure there will be a drop in his GU items - mainly because they will not be available at a low price. Collector are either gonna stash em away or offer them to the public with a price reflective of "nothing is wrong with the guy" ....

[David]

I would have guessed beforehand that his prices would have gone down if he didn't get injured. Unless he won 25-30 games a year, I assumed his prices would not stay so high.

[spartakid]

His prices were never going to stay that high, no matter what. I mean the prices people were paying, his stuff would only maintain its value if he beat Cy's record and became the best pitcher of all-time. Seems like a bit of a gamble to me:rolleyes: So as an investment, I would say it was a bad idea, whether he got innjured or not. But, if people were just wanting to get his stuff because they like him, then good for them. That's what collecting items should be about, doing whatever makes you happy.

[Fnazxc0114]

The nats will have him for five more years. Losing next year that will give them four years worth of playing time from stras. I think i read somewhere where the team has already made their money from what they paid him. Id rather see him go down with tommy john than rotator. Now days its a lot easier to come back from tommy john.

[GrndSlm]

I agree with some of the members....Strasburg is a unique talent. If you were lucky enough to obtain GU from this year then ,at the end of the day, those will be the most popular-rare items of his career. See how many All Star pitcher recovered from Tommy John this year. The list is impressive and Stephen will be fine. Collectors did not make a mistake obtaining GU from this particular player.

Juan Iglesias
GrndSlm@aol.com

[legaleagle92481]

I agree with some of the members....Strasburg is a unique talent. If you were lucky enough to obtain GU from this year then ,at the end of the day, those will be the most popular-rare items of his career. See how many All Star pitcher recovered from Tommy John this year. The list is impressive and Stephen will be fine. Collectors did not make a mistake obtaining GU from this particular player.

Juan Iglesias
GrndSlm@aol.com

Keep in mind that the only items on the market are GU baseballs, misc. stuff i.e. rosin bags and specialty jerseys from games he did not appear in. Stuff that traditionally does not hold its value well regardless of player.

[bigtime59]

Strasburg is a Boras client and isn't from the DC area. The only way he doesn't decamp for the Yankee$ when he hits free agency is if MLB has an actual, modern, equitable revenue-sharing plan in place by then...and we all know that ain't gonna happen, even with George III departed from this earth.

[bigtime59]

Damn the no-edit feature!
He also doesn't de-camp for the Yankee$ if he doesn't come back from this surgery, or comes back as a junkballer.

[SaintsGeaux]

this guys young and will be back strong. i of course would be interested in anything from strasburg and was offered thru a dealer a strasburg knit jersey. i went thru pages of photos and there are tons of photos of him pitching. in all the photos are the vents on the side underneath the arm which means Coolbase. i saw that strasburg knit jersey posted in the august pickups and i don't get it. it was the same jersey i was offered for 5,000. what a joke. show me 1 photo of him wearing any knit jerseys. to me that calls in question any item form that seller.

[SaintsGeaux]

Keep in mind that the only items on the market are GU baseballs, misc. stuff i.e. rosin bags and specialty jerseys from games he did not appear in. Stuff that traditionally does not hold its value well regardless of player.

a strikeout ball of his sold on mlb.com for 20,000 in a auction. his real stuff will do well. i am hoping to find some quality items at discount prices. i don't even collect this guy as i just do Texas teams and the Saints. this guy was fun to watch and i travel to washington for business all the time and got lucky to see him. Glad his surgery went good. i am sure we will see some great items of his on auctions.

[Mattingly85MVP]

here's some proof of the drop in price
game worn jersey from his 1st start in AAA- auction just ended
http://www.milbauctions.com/auctiondisplay.cfm?auctionnbr=3256

game worn jersey from his start on May 29- auction ended Aug 23
http://syracusechiefs.milbauctions.com/auctiondisplay.cfm?auctionnbr=3026

$705, down from $3000

I was in on the bidding for the jersey that just ended, but no way I was going over 500 for it, too many question marks as to what kind of player he becomes after recovering for 1-2 years and being out of the game

[OaklandAsFan]

this guys young and will be back strong. i of course would be interested in anything from strasburg and was offered thru a dealer a strasburg knit jersey. i went thru pages of photos and there are tons of photos of him pitching. in all the photos are the vents on the side underneath the arm which means Coolbase. i saw that strasburg knit jersey posted in the august pickups and i don't get it. it was the same jersey i was offered for 5,000. what a joke. show me 1 photo of him wearing any knit jerseys. to me that calls in question any item form that seller.

I have about 50 pics of him during Arizona Fall League (all taken by me) that show home and away knit jerseys, not cool base.

[allstarsplus]

I have about 50 pics of him during Arizona Fall League (all taken by me) that show home and away knit jerseys, not cool base.

With Arizona Fall League, Spring Training, Minor Leagues, team appearances, each jersey has a different valuation to collectors versus actual use in a regular season MLB game.

It is good news that he wore a knit in the AFL but again disclosure and valuation is the key.

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