TTM Success - Andrew Sopko

I was able to get some cards out of my prospects box with this TTM success from Andrew Sopko.  I especially was happy to get this 2017 Topps Heritage Minors card signed, as I have done a good job in getting rid of most of the extras I had, so getting anything else signed is good.

Also moving any 2017 Bowman card is a good thing, too.  I have a bunch of them, still, and I really liked getting those signed, but that has slowed down (even before COVID).

Sopko (b. 1994) was a 7th round pick by the Dodgers in the 2015 June Amateur Draft out of Gonzaga.  So far, he has 5 minor league seasons for the Dodger and Blue Jay organizations.  He has reached as high as AAA, but has yet to crack the majors.

He has a minor league record of 30-25 with 434 strike outs and a 3.89 ERA.

I mailed to Sopko on January 8, 2019, and got the cards back on October 16, 2020, for a 647-day TAT.

An Instagram Trade With Al

Believe it or not, I actually hate trading.  Usually, it is a long, drawn out process where you have to haggle with folks and/or meet their demands to pull something decent off.  I prefer the arrangements I have with friend such as Max or Gerard where we just send each other stuff we think the other would like, and in the end, things kind of wash out.

That's not to be said,though, that I won't pull off a trade here and there.  Recently, a guy on Instagram named Al approached me about trading our extra prospect autos from IP graphing.  I keep a box of extra autos just for this reason, and with the cards that I had built up, I made a pretty sweet deal.

Al was super generous with his cards, and I didn't know he would be at the start.  I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention to the deal until he sent me some photos of cards he was making available.  The 2017 Topps Heritage Minors Gavin Lux is the card that got my attention, and ultimately what persuaded me to strike a deal.

I had a couple unsigned versions of the card, but I had no way of seeing Lux in person in order to get one signed.  I know he is a really well thought of prospect, so I was hoping I would have a chance to get him at some point.

Al and I basically did a card-for-card trade, but the autograph he was most focused on was Nick Madrigal.  I had one left, and was able to include it in the deal.  I think including that card set the wheels in motion on Al's end, and I think the both of us are very excited about each person's returns.  I was able to get: Lux, Jeff Brigham, Dilson Herrera, Lewis Brinson, Tyler Alexander, Helmis Rodriguez, Daniel Robertson, Chris Ellis, Ryan McMahon, Austin Beck...

 Justus Sheffield, AJ Reed, Forrest Wall, Rosell Herrera, Kyle Freeland, Alex Verdugo, Jamie Westbrook, Cody Reed, Sam Selman...

Jairo!, Tyler Danish, Andrew Sopko x 3, and Pat Neshek.  Al also included autos of Josh Morgan and Collin Wiles, but I already had them, so those will either be included in a future trade with someone else, or they'll make it into a gift or something.

I was very happy with my deal with Al.  He and I agreed to do some 50/50s together, if the season can ever get going.