prospecthype

I’ve been working on a larger project which talks a lot about baseball cards and prospecting, and I wanted to post an excerpt from that. Hype is a very important part of the prospecting process, so here is some information about that:

Hype- The best thing that can happen to you once you have already invested in a prospect is for that prospect to receive a ton of hype and recognition (even if he does not necessarily deserve it). This bolsters prices because people now have the name in their head and specifically search for cards of your player. But if you do not yet own any cards, you generally want to select a player who has received minimal hype. That way, prices are lower right now when you are the buyer, which will allow you to make more money in the future if and when the player’s prices do go up. But how can you be sure about a player’s hype? All you need to do is check a few card message boards like the one that can be found at freedomcardboard.com and a baseball prospect site such as baseballamerica.com. If the player’s name is all over the place, his hype is obviously at a high. EBay.com is another great place to look, because you can simply check the prices of cards. There are always exceptions; and it is possible to turn a profit on a player that is already well-hyped. For example, David Price cards could be bought before the 2008 playoffs for relatively high prices compared to other prospects, but when he saved game 7 of the ALCS to send the Rays to the World Series, his cards hit all-time highs. So clearly, this can happen, but generally speaking, it is easier to make money on a guy when you’re buying before they receive much attention.

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