Trout prices are going through the roof......

[PAC]

Point is, big money being spent on Trout is similar to the mania seen in the past. Prime example is Josh Hamilton. Many are feeling the sting if they were making an "investment".

Josh Hamilton was a goldmine...if you invested in him while he was facedown in that mountain of cocaine he bought with his Devil Rays money.

[danesei@yahoo.com]

We judge players now on hitting the 100 RBI platform? Haha. Can't be serious. 70 homers, 82 doubles, 21 triples, 91 steals, 200+ walks, .309 career average, 446 hits, and 287 runs all at the age of 22. 4 years younger than Hamilton when he took his first MLB swing. People investing in Trout are going after longevity, the counting stats adding up and his chance at being a 3k+ hit/500+ HR player. Of anybody in the game today, Trout is the one who has the best chance at not only being a HOFer, but a legend.

This actually bothers me. Let's assume Trout becomes Mantle. What do Mays gamers sell for? $6500, according to PSA. If Trout gamers sell for $3000 today, basically you're expecting to double your money by the time Trout retires (37?). So, 15 years to maybe get a 100% return on your "investment."

Let's say we pick Mantle instead of Mays as the baseline. Aug 2013, a Mantle gamer sold for $18.5k in a Heritage Auction. Assuming 0 percent consignment fee (due to a Mantle bat having positive value on marketing the auction; 15 per cent is the cap), the consignor made $15.5k on the transaction. That would be a 400%+ gain on the transaction.

Now we must deal with the issue of economics.

Starting in 2013, MT27 model codes are bats he used in Spring Training. MT27* are bats he used in the regular season. He gets a set # of bats per year to use, the majority of which are made before the season (in 2013, they were made in January). If he gets low or thinks he may need more, he will get an extra dozen or two later in the year. Mike uses LESS than 6 dozen bats per year in the regular season.

So, Trout uses less than 72 bats during the regular season, which would be 40 per cent less than the average number of bats ordered by a player, according to the Louisville Slugger website FAQ (http://www.sluggermuseum.com/faq/). I have no reason to doubt your numbers, but since you're privy to the number of bats Trout uses in a season, do you also know how many actually enter MLB play, how many are practice bats, and how many are ordered by Trout but never used? I would guess the answer is yes, and since you're trying to make information public knowledge, maybe you could share those numbers, as well, to give a better estimate of how many "game issued" bats might potentially hit the market.

At the peak of his playing days ordering, Mays is recorded as ordering 188 bats in a season (1971). By contrast, Mantle saw a playing days peak of 75 bats (1964). I'd guess that a 10 per cent survival rate for gamers from Mays or Mantle might be high, but for argument's sake, I'm going to use that number. Let's assume 10 per cent of Mantle (759 total ordered) and Mays (2048 total ordered) gamers have survived time and are available to the market. That would mean there are 76 Mantle and 205 Mays bats available to the marketplace. That would also mean there are currently more Trout gamers in the market than Mantle gamers for his career, and by the All-Star break this year, there should be more Trout gamers than Mays gamers, as well. I think it's pretty easy to see that the supply of Trout gamers (and any other player for that matter) will dwarf the combined supply of these two Hall of Fame players by the time Trout "retires a legend."

The speculation on Trout's items right now will only make sense if someone assumes the market for modern gamers will also dwarf the market for items of established legends. I don't see that happening.

[Roady]

We judge players now on hitting the 100 RBI platform? Haha. Can't be serious. 70 homers, 82 doubles, 21 triples, 91 steals, 200+ walks, .309 career average, 446 hits, and 287 runs all at the age of 22. 4 years younger than Hamilton when he took his first MLB swing. People investing in Trout are going after longevity, the counting stats adding up and his chance at being a 3k+ hit/500+ HR player. Of anybody in the game today, Trout is the one who has the best chance at not only being a HOFer, but a legend.

Wow! He may want to hit above .270 this year first.

Trout has all the talent in the world. He is very good.

I remember Gregg Jefferies.

[Roady]

And as his official dealer of game used items AndersonAuthentics is not exactly unbiased in this matter.
Legend? That is a big word.

But the bigger the buzz the bigger the prices realized.

[R. C. Walker]

We judge players now on hitting the 100 RBI platform? Haha. Can't be serious. 70 homers, 82 doubles, 21 triples, 91 steals, 200+ walks, .309 career average, 446 hits, and 287 runs all at the age of 22. 4 years younger than Hamilton when he took his first MLB swing. People investing in Trout are going after longevity, the counting stats adding up and his chance at being a 3k+ hit/500+ HR player. Of anybody in the game today, Trout is the one who has the best chance at not only being a HOFer, but a legend.

Sorry. Thought 100 RBI's was one of the platforms which we judged a player's productivity.

I'll consider your .302 lifetime AVG. Just as good as Magglio Ordonez.

Name Batting Average Rank
Ty Cobb .366 (.36636) 1
Rogers Hornsby .358 (.35850) 2
Joe Jackson .356 (.35575) 3
Ed Delahanty .346 (.34590) 4
Tris Speaker .345 (.34468) 5
Ted Williams .344 (.34441) 6
Billy Hamilton .344 (.34429) 7
Babe Ruth .342 (.34206) 8
Harry Heilmann .342 (.34159) 9
Pete Browning .341 (.34149) 10
Willie Keeler .341 (.34129) 11
Bill Terry .341 (.34116) 12
George Sisler .340 (.34015) 13
Lou Gehrig .340 (.34008) 14
Nap Lajoie .339 (.33914) 15
Jesse Burkett .338 (.33844) 16
Tony Gwynn .338 (.33818) 17
Riggs Stephenson .336 (.33607) 18
Dan Brouthers .335 (.33509) 19
Al Simmons .334 (.33417) 20
John McGraw .334 (.33359) 21
Paul Waner .333 (.33323) 22
Eddie Collins .333 (.33320) 23
Mike Donlin .333 (.33264) 24
Cap Anson .331 (.33084) 25
Stan Musial .331 (.33084)
Heinie Manush .330 (.32976) 27
Wade Boggs .328 (.32789) 28
Rod Carew .328 (.32775) 29
Honus Wagner .327 (.32742) 30
Sam Thompson .327 (.32712) 31
Tip O'Neill .326 (.32573) 32
Bob Fothergill .325 (.32548) 33
Jimmie Foxx .325 (.32530) 34
Earle Combs .325 (.32475) 35
Joe DiMaggio .325 (.32459) 36
Babe Herman .324 (.32447) 37
Hugh Duffy .324 (.32406) 38
Joe Medwick .324 (.32364) 39
Edd Roush .323 (.32269) 40
Sam Rice .322 (.32226) 41
Ross Youngs .322 (.32224) 42
Joe Mauer .322 (.32163) 43
Kiki Cuyler .321 (.32104) 44
Miguel Cabrera .321 (.32097) 45
Charlie Gehringer .320 (.32043) 46
Chuck Klein .320 (.32007) 47
Albert Pujols .320 (.31986) 48
Pie Traynor .320 (.31962) 49
Mickey Cochrane .320 (.31960) 50
Ken Williams .319 (.31921) 51
Ichiro Suzuki .319 (.31903) 52
Kirby Puckett .318 (.31806) 53
Earl Averill .318 (.31780) 54
Vladimir Guerrero .318 (.31760) 55
Arky Vaughan .318 (.31758) 56
Roberto Clemente .317 (.31733) 57
Chick Hafey .317 (.31697) 58
Joe Kelley .317 (.31687) 59
Zack Wheat .317 (.31671) 60
George Van Haltren .317 (.31654) 61
Lloyd Waner .316 (.31639) 62
Todd Helton .316 (.31638) 63
Frankie Frisch .316 (.31607) 64
Goose Goslin .316 (.31597) 65
Bibb Falk .314 (.31449) 66
Cecil Travis .314 (.31420) 67
Hank Greenberg .313 (.31350) 68
Jack Fournier .313 (.31317) 69
Elmer Flick .313 (.31302) 70
Nomar Garciaparra .313 (.31275) 71
Larry Walker .313 (.31273) 72
Bill Dickey .313 (.31254) 73
Dale Mitchell .312 (.31225) 74
Manny Ramirez .312 (.31223) 75
Johnny Mize .312 (.31212) 76
Joe Sewell .312 (.31211) 77
Fred Clarke .312 (.31186) 78
Barney McCosky .312 (.31184) 79
Derek Jeter .312 (.31169) 80
Edgar Martinez .312 (.31152) 81
Hughie Jennings .311 (.31138) 82
Freddie Lindstrom .311 (.31135) 83
Bing Miller .311 (.31133) 84
Jackie Robinson .311 (.31126) 85
Baby Doll Jacobson .311 (.31124) 86
Taffy Wright .311 (.31119) 87
Rip Radcliff .311 (.31100) 88
Ginger Beaumont .311 (.31078) 89
Denny Lyons .310 (.31043) 90
Elmer Smith .310 (.31042) 91
Luke Appling .310 (.31041) 92
Irish Meusel .310 (.31041)
Matt Holliday .310 (.31001) 94
Bobby Veach .310 (.30995) 95
Roger Connor .310 (.30988) 96
Jim Bottomley .310 (.30960) 97
John Stone .310 (.30952) 98
Robinson Cano .309 (.30946) 99
Sam Crawford .309 (.30940) 100
Bob Meusel .309 (.30922) 101
Magglio Ordonez .309 (.30897) 102

[lengthwise1]

I remember Gregg Jefferies.

hahaha, so true...

[danesei@yahoo.com]

Sorry. Thought 100 RBI's was one of the platforms which we judged a player's productivity.

I'll consider your .302 lifetime AVG. Just as good as Magglio Ordonez.

30/30 100 Runs scored at age 20 is impressive. Nearly repeating the feat at age 21, even more so. I agree that AndersonAuthentics is biased and making grandiose claims to drive prices higher, but to say he's faulty for not having a 100 RBI season (even though he got close at 97) is a bit askew. He generated 68 RBI in 136 AB with RISP last season. He averaged an RBI per two ABs with RISP. I think Trout is overrated, and even I think those numbers are great.