Trade Me Anything XVIII: #1

It's a beautifully cold November Saturday, there are lots of sports to watch, and tonight I'll be eating barbecue and watching wrestling with my cousin.  The only thing that could make it better is a good trade.  Longtime trader Tim supplied the one I'm about to cover.

 

Giving:

#ASG-36 Rafael Devers All-Star, #AT-26 Albert Pujols Autumn Tales

Getting:

 #US240 and #US155 Jackson Chourio

How do I feel about the 2024 Milwaukee Brewers?  Regular-season success beyond expectations is great, but losing in the first round of the playoffs is getting old.  We're in the longest sustained period of success this ballclub has ever known, but it hasn't hit the same as used to.  I have long bemoaned that my team has never won a playoff series against a real team.  Sure, we've popped champagne against the likes of a couple of franchises that were born in the 1990s, but those aren't real baseball teams.  We almost got the monkey off our backs, but those last few outs proved to be too difficult.  It's an awful feeling knowing that your team isn't ever going to play in a World Series, much less win one.

Over a month removed from such deflation, I now have the perspective to reframe my thoughts on the Brewers' future.  Having Jackson Chourio on our team is a great comfort.  There is no young player I would rather build a team around.  The Brewers will forever be required to do more with less, and although he will never play in a World Series as a Brewer, he will someday get to celebrate in a locker room after the deciding game against a team that was actually around when 1986 Topps was on drugstore shelves.  I am reliably certain on this.

#AC-23 Jackson Chourio All Class

I'm probably done building player collections of any specific Brewers, but this is the start of a nice little Chourio PC.  (Boy, does my Ryan Braun-dedicated binder look dumb now.)

#SMLB-84 Jackson Chourio Stars of MLB

That is a dynamite-looking card.

#US17 Elvis Peguero Gold Parallel (1206/2024)

How long will Topps Keep numbering their gold cards to the year of release?  How sustainable is this?  And how come even though there are more of them out there, you don't get as many golds as you used to?  Yes, I know this is all overproduced junk, but why is it more expensive than ever?  Why do you get fewer cards per box. Why?  Why??  WHY???

 These are all great cards, Tim, thank you so much for saving these Brewers and sending them my way.