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With the end of the MLB regular season fast approaching and the postseason not far away, now is a great time to assess some potential baseball card bargains before market value changes dramatically for certain players. The end of year award vote results can be a great barometer for future card value and the playoffs are where many stars are born and many legends are made. Baseball card collectors need to pay attention at this time of year to know which cards they should sell high on and which cards they should buy before their value starts to move.
This year is a bit special for baseball fans and collectors alike as  there are three players with an outside chance of winning the National League Triple Crown (leading the league in batting average, home runs,and RBI). Carlos Gonzalez of the Colorado Rockies has perhaps the best shot at the moment. Since he has pretty much come out of nowhere to immediately become a hitting statistical stud, if he does win the Triple Crown, the value of his cards (like his 2005 Topps Update rookie card, right) will no doubt rise dramatically....but their value will be volatile for a bit. He would need to put together a few more great season and perhaps do something in the postseason someday to really solidify the value of his baseball cards.
On the contrary, Albert Pujols cards are probably not going to lose value anytime in the next century. However, he also has an outside chance at the Triple Crown. If he were to get it, collectors will be able to count on his cards, like his 2001 Topps Traded rookie card, being among the most expensive cards on the market for years. However, they would probably not get too much of a short term bump as Pujols cards are currently among the top cards on the trading card market regardless of sport. You can already compare Pujols cards to Ken Griffey Jr. cards from the late 1980s and Nolan Ryan cards of the late 1960s and that probably wont change.
Joey Votto, another Triple Crown contender, would be more in the  Gonzalez camp as far as card market value and potential. However, one thing Votto has working for him is that it looks like he will be going to the postseason with the Cincinnati Reds this year. If he can star in the playoffs after the regular season he has had, he would be well on his way to being a Reds legend. A few more great years would put him among the superstars of his time, and star value is one of the most important aspects of card collecting. His cards (like his Bowman rookie, pictured) would no doubt get the immediate bump that Carlos Gonzalez cards would get, but at this time it looks like Votto cards may have a bit more potential for lasting value.
While Gonzalez, Votto, and Pujols are the clear MVP contenders in the National League, the American League MVP race looks like its  going to be a two horse race between Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers and Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers (though Paul Konerko of the Chicago White Sox and Robinson Cano of the New York Yankees might also have a shot). Hamilton is no doubt a star in the league, but his career has been a bit too rocky for his cards to have any realistic long term value. If he wins the award this year, his cards (like the pictured 1999 Topps Traded rookie card) may see an immediate modest bump in value, but eventually the value of his cards would probably go the way of past MVP Winners like Jose Canseco, Kevin Mitchell, and Steve Garvey.
 Cabrera has had a little more success in his career than Hamilton as he is year in year out one of the top statistical stars in the league. He also is a former postseason hero with a World Series ring to his credit. However, he lacks the star power of players like Pujols and Derek Jeter. If he wins the MVP this year and maintains his status quo for a few years, look for the long term value of his cards to reflect the value of cards of players like Frank Thomas and Jeff Bagwell as opposed to players like Cal Ripken Jr. and Barry Bonds. If he fades...think Fred McGriff. Collectors will have to decide what they think will happen before they invest in cards like Cabrera's 2000 Topps Traded rookie card (pictured).
Though there are many contenders for both the American League and National League Rookie of the Year Award, the two that baseball card collectors are going to watch closely are Jason Heyward of the Atlanta Braves and Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants. Rookie cards of both players are very popular right now and being named the ROY normally has no bearing on card value. Nevertheless, they should be mentioned here as new rookie cards are always the hottest cards on the market. its a shame what happened to Stephen Strasburg or he would be in the conversation as well.
In the National League, it looks like there is a three horse race for the Cy Young Award between Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies, Ubaldo Jimenez of the Colorado Rockies, and Adam Wainwright of the St. Louis Cardinals. Of them, Halladay is the most established star and another Cy Young award would push his cards, like his Bowman rookie (right), to the popularity of cards of past stars like Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz. Halladay cards would not get quite the immediate bump in value the Jimenez cards would get if the Rockies fireballer were to win the Cy Young Award. If Jimenez wins it, you could probably almost compare his cards to the cards of a star like two time Cy Young Winner Tim Lincecum. The long term potential value of Jimenez's cards would remain up in the air. The market movement of Wainwright cards would be somewhere between Halladay and Jimenez, with less  potential for long term value than cards of Halladay and less potential for the short term value increase that Jimenez cards would see. The American League Cy Young race is too wide open for card collectors to really speculate, but since card collectors do nothing BUT speculate they may want to invest in younger contenders such as Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester of the Boston Red Sox, David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays (pictured), Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners, and even Trevor Cahill of the Oakland A's.
The postseason is a great place for young stars to really get on the baseball card collecting radar. It is also a great place for veterans to seal their fate as trading card legends. It will be interesting to see if a strong postseason from Alex Rodriguez will wipe away some of the stigma that his steroid issues caused with card collectors. It will also be interesting to see if some postseason heroics from Joe Mauer will bring him card collecting respect beyond his years. Will Derek Jeter or Mariano Rivera cards get any bump in value at all if they win yet another Championship with the Yankees? Will Ryan Howard cards finally get some much deserved respect if he stars with the Phillies again this postseason? Here are some players that card collectors may want to bet on before the postseason starts as the value of their cards may move with some postseason heroics this year:
Creating legacies: A-Rod - Yankees, Halladay - Phillies, Howard - Phillies, CC Sabathia - Yankees, Vlad Guerrero - Rangers
Solidifying stardom: Price - Rays, Lincecum - Giants, Evan Longoria - Rays, Mauer - Twins, Hamilton - Rangers, Troy Tulowitzki - Rockies, Mark Teixeira - Yankees
Young players everyone will be watching: Pablo Sandoval - Giants, Posey - Giants, Heyward - Braves, Votto - Reds, Gonzalez - Rockies, Jimenez - Rockies, Matt Cain - Giants, Phil Hughes - Yankees
Sleepers: Mat Latos - Padres, Francisco Liriano - Twins, Delmon Young - Twins, Drew Stubbs - Reds
[Click the pictures for full sized image and description]
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