Rookie of the Year Sleepers and Their Cards: American League
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Spring training is now in swing. Full and split squad games have started in earnest over the past weeks and fans and collectors are continuing to get opportunities to see exciting prospects getting their first action in MLB camps. Many collectors and fans already know about a lot of the top prospects as myself and my colleagues have written about them; however, I wanted to take a look at some of the dark horse favorites to win rookie of the year and their cards. This article will focus on players in the American League A prior article discussed potential sleeper National League Rookie of the Year candidates.
Rookie of the Year Sleepers and Their Cards
Colson Montgomery SS Chicago White Sox
Colson Montgomery was drafted by the White Sox 22nd overall in the 2021 MLB draft. Montgomery had made a steady rise last year until stalling out as he appeared to be adjusting to the new level. He seemed to steady things out and finished with a strong month of September followed by a superlative Arizona Fall League showing. Although he was drafted in 2021 Montgomery didn’t make his Topps product debut until Bowman 2022 where he was one of the upper level chases in that product. One factor working in Montgomery’s favor for both fans and collectors is that he does have a clear path to the majors mainly because the White Sox are one of the worst teams so he shouldn’t have anyone blocking him. Per recent eBay sales data, Montgomery base autos have been selling in the $65-$70 range raw.
Nick Kurtz, 1B Athletics
As I’ve said before I’m a big fan of Nick Kurtz (we went to Wake Forest at different times). Kurtz was pushed aggressively by the A’s finishing his first season at AA. In fairness he was one of the most polished bats in the 2024 draft in terms of both average and power. Unfortunately for collectors, he is limited to first base so there’s the “more on pressure on his bat” tag that follows defensively limited players. That said, Kurtz crushed the Arizona fall league and had an excellent start to his pro career in AA which should help calm those concerns. Kurtz made his product debut in Bowman Draft 2024 as one of the top chases. Currently base autos of Kurtz are selling for $85-$110 dollars per 130 point so he could be a nice investment for collectors.
