2019 trade package #2: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

I know what it's like to worry whether or not I sent a good enough trade package to Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store considering the amazing stuff he always sends me, but I'm not sure why he'd ever have to fret about that.  Once again he's termed the latest envelope he sent my way as "quantity over quality" but in typical Doug fashion there was both.  To the great benefit of my favorite collections a good amount of the quality tilted towards what I'm showing off on TMM this evening, but there's also plenty of great stuff you get to see right here:

Soon-to-be former Tiger, probably-not-for-a-while former Tiger, and recent former Tiger.  I'm curious to see if the Tigers get smart and put Castellanos at DH where his bat can do plenty of harm to opposing teams and his glove won't do the same to his own.  A full return to health could portend a return to form for Fulmer this year.  And JV is always welcome back to these here parts!

Here's a very good group of quality prospects as all but Gibby's son Cam can be found in the team's top 30 according to mlb.com.  As has been the case for a system that's struggled to produce quality hitters for a long time, the pitchers lead the way here with Alexander (24), Burrows (5), Hall (23), and Manning (2).  Burrows (86) and Manning (53) both also crack the site's top 100 prospects list.  Those two were Detroit's first-rounders in 2016 and '15, respectively.

As for the hitters, Lugo checks in at #15 for the organization and Paredes is the next best hitter at 13.  The former came over in the correctly maligned J.D. Martinez Deal while the latter was paired with fellow infielder Jeimer Candelario in return for Alex Avila and Justin Wilson at the deadline in 2017.  The Heritage Minors cards look especially nice here!

Doug also sent me a pile of Red Wings to rival or even outpace the Michigan Hockey cards he included this time.  I decided to start things off with the nine Hockeytown stars from 2018-19 O-Pee-Chee that I found in this envelope.  Glendening is a favorite since he's a Michigan guy, and I'll always remember Zetterberg fondly even though he's career is pretty much over at this point.

Cleary and Draper both played roles on Cup-winning teams as the former enjoyed the success of the 2008 champs while the latter was part of all four recent titles.  Hall of Famer Alex Delvecchio was a nice find here after his amazing 24-year career in Hockeytown that produced three Cups.

Plenty more winners to see here.  Fedorov scored exactly 400 goals for the Wings over his 14 years in Motown and was a blast to watch as one of the most talented of the Russian Five.  The recent HOFer was part of all of the Cup-winners except for the 2008 squad.  Holmstrom was an absolute pest in front of the net and joins Draper in the four-Cup club.  Mr. Hockey enjoyed both accomplishments:  the Hockey Hall and four Cups himself.  And so did another recent star:  my all-time favorite D-man, Nick Lidstrom.

I don't know that Osgood will ever be enshrined in Toronto but I sure am glad he spent 14 years with the Wings in his two stints and won three of those Cups.  So did franchise icon Steve Yzerman, who'll hopefully get a chance to right the sinking ship in Detroit as GM at some point.  Zetterberg "only" won with the '08 team but had a great 15-year run here.  And for some reason I remember being a big fan of Sheppard, though he was gone before the team turned things around in the late 90s.

As always Doug, thanks!  This huge bunch of Tigers and Wings and Wolverines was a great start to 2019 for another year of trading with my most prolific partner and I'm looking forward to hitting you back before that notable birthday of yours.