Up next in the 2013 SEGA Card-Gen set are the Cleveland Indians, with 14 cards in the team set. Five players are featured wearing the uniforms of other teams. As usual, we kick things off with a catcher. If you like catchers and Card-Gen cards, Zippy Zappy over at Cervin' Up Cards just ran a post showcasing all of the catchers in the 2012 SEGA Card-Gen set. Go check it out.
Carlos Santana has been absolutely miserable this year. It's probably because I drafted him in one of my money leagues this season. And of course the second I move him to the bench in favor of Derek Norris, Norris goes 0 / 4 and Santana hits a home run. Fantasy baseball is a cruel game. Not as cruel as fantasy football, but it's a longer, slower kind of pain.
Mark Reynolds appears here in his Baltimore Orioles uniform. He led his league in strikeouts four years in a row with the Diamondbacks and Orioles. His home run totals during those four years were 28, 44, 32, and 37, which kept him in the lineup for the most part. In the year that he hit 44 homers he also stole 24 bases and hit .260, which is about 30 points higher than his career average. He spent part of 2013 with the Indians, played in a little over 30 games with the Yankees, and is currently being somewhat productive with the Brewers. I've always kinda liked the guy, even though the thing he's really good at in fantasy baseball is sucking the life out of your team's batting average. I will generally grab his cards when I find them, but I don't really seek them out on purpose.
At second base we have a decent action shot of Jason Kipnis. The back of his card says he is 'ready to shine,' and in 2013 he stepped up from his already pretty good 2012 numbers, with upticks in home runs, RBIs, and batting average. If your 2B can hit 15-20 home runs and steal 30 bases, you're doing pretty well. I got him on one fantasy roster this year, so he is currently on the DL with an oblique injury. He is supposed to be back soon, though, and hopefully will be able to come back a little better than the way he started off the year.
Mike Aviles come onto the scene in a pretty big way in 2008 with the Royals, but has had a hot-and-cold career since, spending time with the Red Sox before moving to Cleveland. As noted on the back of his card, his value seems to lie primarily in versatility. According to his Baseball Reference page, Aviles has made appearances at five positions this season, with the bulk of those being at second and third base. On this card he is pictured as a member of the Red Sox, although he was traded from the Red Sox to the Blue Jays and then, 13 days later, traded from Toronto to Cleveland.
Cabrera is pretty good, ranking as a top twenty-ish shortstop in fantasy baseball over the last couple of years. His peak thus far was his 2011 season, but he hasn't exactly fallen off a cliff and is still relatively young. He's got a little bit of power and a little bit of speed, which is generally a good thing coming out of the shortstop position in fantasy games.
Michael Brantley fills in the left field slot for the 2013 SEGA Card-Gen Indians. He is actually a pretty useful utility outfielder in fantasy baseball terms, filling in on days when your main guys aren't playing or are injured.
Here we have another Indian in another team's uniform, this time Drew Stubbs wearing Reds colors. He was in Cleveland for one season (2013) and is now doing okay in Colorado with the Rockies. I know next-to-nothing about the guy, though. It looks like he is putting up good numbers, but with limited playing time.
I am beginning to wonder if anyone in this team set is going to be shown in a Cleveland uniform. We're eight players into this thing and this is the fourth appearance by a non-Indians uniform. This time it is Nick Swisher, formerly of the New York Yankees.
Chris Olds, an editor over at Beckett (I'm sure he has some actual title like Chief Inflator of Book Value or something, but me = lazy) has a huge man-crush on Swisher. There are even rumors that he has used his position to inflate the (book) price of Swisher's cards, although as a player collector you would think he'd try to keep them depressed to hold down demand and get more Swisher cards for his dollar. I kind of like the look Swisher's got on his face here as he tosses his bat.
I don't know why this photo really wants to be right-aligned, but if I try to center it up then the whole post goes nuts. I could spend the rest of my evening fighting the formatting or I could finish this post up and have one photo out of alignment.
He went to high school in Beavercreek, Ohio. Why is that relevant? Because I lived there for a little while when I was young and my dad was stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near there. Masterson had a good year in 2011 and a good year in 2013, so he is due to have another good year next year.
Okay, it looks like the right-alignment is a thing from now on. I guess I will deal with it. Ubaldo Jiminez can sometimes have an exciting strikeout rate, but his ratios will often kill your fantasy team. It seems like once I hit the pitcher portion of these posts I have largely run out of steam and don't have as much to say. Sorry about that.
Brett Myers appears on a few 'biggest jerks in baseball' lists and apparently once punched his wife in front of a crowd of bystanders. He isn't currently signed with any team.
Pestano was pretty good in 2011 and 2012. He was not so good in 2013, and didn't last long in 2014 before getting sent back down to find his consistency. In the good years he was an attractive fantasy pitcher because of his strong K/9 rate.
Oh, hi, Mr. Most Generic Name ever. He's a pretty consistent guy in the bullpen. I haven't heard much about him at all, and in the case of bullpen arms that's usually a good thing. The guy who blows a million leads is the guy whose name everyone knows. He's currently pitching for the Angels. Well, not right at the moment probably. But he's on their roster and pitches occasionally.
Chris Perez was the Indians' closer for a couple of years. He was more or less effective at the job, but it seems like some bad blown saves and a horrible relationship with the fans and media did him in. Now Cleveland doesn't really have a closer. I guess they liked having a lot of drama and uncertainty when it came to the ninth inning, so they gave the job to John Axford. That wasn't good enough, so they dropped him from the role and are working on a closer-by-committee which so far has done a pretty good job of spreading the blame around for blown games.
And that's it for the Cleveland team set from 2013 SEGA Card-Gen. I'll try to get around to the next team soon.
2013 SEGA Card-Gen Directory
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