Aaron Heilman (2,500 @ $6.50)

eTopps is releasing what a lot of us want here and that is a card of a prospect that is making a name for himself in MLB this year. The only problem is Heilman is making a bad name for himself as he is 1-1 with a 10.12 ERA in his last 8 IP. He is not on pace to meet his performance bonus and he plays for the Mets. This is not a very good mix for an IPO release. This card will be far below IPO. It might not be a bad idea to pick one up on eBay as long as it is well under the $6.50 price tag. The guy is 24 so he has lots of time to mature and get more comfortable.

Brad Radke (2,000 @ $4.00)

This card will be among the lowest of the low in eTopps price guide. Even at $4 this card is not worth the paper it is printed on. This guy is a mediocre pitcher at best and he is a Twin for crying out loud. He may be able to just barely make his PB (he is on pace for all categories except for wins in which he needs to bump it up by one and ERA which he needs to lower a bit). It is not even worth buying for the 1 point. He currently has a 5.01 ERA, which is not very good, and I don't see him getting better since this is his 8th major league season. I will leave this card on eBay to sit there for eternity because it will not make its way into my port.

Ken Griffey, Jr. (2,000 @ $6.50)

Griffey is getting a real bad rap for being injury-prone and is losing some of his mystique. I, for one, will be a Griffey fan until I die. This man could have been the best to ever play the game if he would have stayed in Seattle or just plain stayed healthy. He is 19 home runs short of 500 and will certainly make that before he retires. I really think all he needs is a change of scenery. He would look very nice in Cubby blue. A career .294 hitter, he is far from just being a power hitter. Personally, I believe the last thing we need in eTopps is a third Griffey card but if they want to release one I'll just add another one to my collection for under IPO. Don't buy this card if you're looking for any kind of gain this year.

Miguel Cabrera (3,000 @ $6.50)

Cabrera emerged from AA this year to join the Marlins and immediately homered in his first major league game. He has been pretty decent thus far although his .242 batting average leaves much to be desired. At only 20 years of age he has plenty of time to become more patient at the plate and raise that batting average. I saw him play numerous times in 2001 when he was with the Kane County Cougars and he can definetely be a force on the field although he has never really hit for average. If you like to take a chance on young kids who could turn out to be something special then Cabrera is your guy. His performance bonus is very attainable. He is on pace to meet all of them except for the stolen bases (he needs 2 and has none). Whether he will get a chance to make the PB is unknown but he did steal 10 bases last year. All in all this isn't a bad card but it will probably be attainable under IPO on eBay.

Morgan Ensberg (3,000 @ $6.50)

This guy is among the best young third basemen in the National league. He has definetely come on strong this year and is making a name for himself. He is on pace for all of his performance bonus goals except RBI. He is short on RBI by two but I'm not worried as I think he has a good shot at making it. The Astros have a good ball club and as long as he is a part of this team they have a bright future. eTopps was very optimistic in setting the print run on this card at 3,000 because it doesn't have a prayer of making it above 2,000. Ensberg doesn't have the fan following that someone like Griffey does or even others half as popular so I don't see this card being worth much. It could gain some profit before the PB's are handed out since he is so close to making them but I see it falling straight off the pier after that.

Pat Burrell (1,500 @ $6.50)

Man -- has this guy stunk it up this year or what? Batting a mere .204, he probably has the lowest batting average of any player with an eTopps card this year. The only thing he is on pace for, as far as performance bonus is concerned, is stolen bases (but then again that is set at zero and he has zero). I don't know who eTopps got their info from when they said "there are scouts who maintain that the only player they've ever seen with as much power and strength as Mark McGwire is Pat Burrell." This guy cant even hit his PB mark of .220 and 25 home runs! Those scouts should lose their jobs. He has begun to warm up, going .455 with 2 HR in his last 11 AB. This is Burrell's second card and it is a card that should have never been released this year. Way to keep the crap coming eTopps!

Rodrigo Lopez (1,500 @ $4.00)

Rodrigo was the 2002 AL pitcher of the year. I will give him that but this year he has been considerably less than stellar. He has a 5.30 ERA and is nowhere near coming close to his performance bonus goals. When eTopps gave this card a 1,500 print run and $4 IPO price it was a last ditch effort to make money on this card (something that the rest of us will have a very hard time doing as well). This card will be lucky if it ever sees a price above $4.50. He may have been good last year and he may be good in the future but I'm not holding my breath for this card.

The bottom line:
Buy at IPO: None
Buy on eBay: Cabrera, Ensberg, Heilman
Buy if you're a fan or not at all: Burrell, Griffey, Lopez, Radke