The MLB trade deadline is fast approaching, and the biggest name on the market was Tigers ace and two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal, who was playing out the season before becoming a free agent. To start the year, the Tigers were hoping to contend again after playoff appearances the last two seasons. Instead, after falling further behind in the standings, the Tigers made a decision to move on from Skubal, allowing the proverbial rich to get richer.
Specifically, the Tigers traded Skubal to theLos Angeles Dodgers for minor leaguers Zyhir Hope, River Ryan, and Brady Smith.
Skubal’s First Card as a Dodger
Less than 24 hours after the trade was announced, Topps had an announcement of their own. Specifically, Topps announced that they were releasing a Topps NOW set featuring Tarik Skubal’s first card as a Dodger. The image on the card was an action shot of Skubal in his windup with his new Dodgers uniform superimposed over his previous Tigers jersey.
Along with the base card, the set features short-print foilfractor cards for collectors to chase. The foilfractors that are included are gold numbered to 50, orange numbered to 25, black numbered to 10, red numbered to five, and the one-of-one foilfractor.
Limited Autographs are Also Part of the Topps NOW Set
Thankfully, for those collectors and fans of Skubal, the set does contain autographs to chase. For collectors hoping to land an auto, there are fifteen numbered autograph redemptions. Included in the set are black autographs numbered to 10, red autographs numbered to 5, and a 1/1 foilfractor auto. The foilfractor auto also contains the inscription Go Blue.
Tarik Skubal’s Hobby Market Going Forward Now That He’s a Dodger
Now that Skubal has headed to the Dodgers, the question becomes how this move would impact his hobby market overall. In the short term, I would expect his market to trend upward. This is due to him joining a team with a rabid fan base and the Dodgers being the team to beat in the majors.
Skubal’s longer term hobby market will ultimately depend on how deep the Dodgers go. If they make a deep run as expected with Skubal playing a major role, I would expect his card market to rise as well. Also, if that does happen, I would expect Topps NOW cards from this set to rise in value as well too.
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