Top 5 MLB Draft Prospects and Their Available Cards
NOTE: For purposes of this article, rankings from MLB.com were used as a reference.
No. 5 - Seth Hernandez, RHP
Seth Hernandez is an 18-year old prep pitcher from California. The right-hander from Corona High School has an overall scouting grade of 60, with his fastball and change-up shaping up to be his best pitch. He's got a large frame at 6-foot-4 and weighing it at 190 pounds, but at just 18 he's surely to fill out even more. He's currently committed to college baseball powerhouse Vanderbilt.
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The best card, to date, that's available after a quick eBay search is his 2024 Panini Stars & Stripes patch autograph. This clean piece with a nice three-color patch is listed on COMC for about $150. The same card, also on COMC, with just a single color white patch is available for about $20.
No. 4 - Tyler Bremner, RHP
Tyler Bremner, like Seth Hernandez, is also a right-handed pitcher from California but he's a little more seasoned having spent two years in college at UC Santa Barbara. Bremner also has an overall scouting grade of 60 with his best pitches being his fastball and change-up. He has spent time as both a starter and reliever. Depending on how he fills out and how his secondary pitches develop will determine if he's in the bullpen or on the mound starting in the Major Leagues.
Bremmer's cards mostly come out of Leaf. A deep search of eBay sold listings showed all Leaf cards, although there were a few Onyx sprinkled amongst the results. The above card numbered to just 6 went for $19.99 before taxes and shipping.
No. 3 - Jamie Arnold, LHP
Jamie Arnold, another pitcher, albeit a lefty this time, is number three on MLB.com's draft prospect board. Arnold is a left-handed pitcher from Florida State, whose best pitches are his fastball and slider, and has an overall scouting grade of 60. He helped the Seminoles reach the College World Series semifinals with a sub-3.00 ERA and was a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist this past season.
Searching eBay for 'Jamie Arnold Autograph' brought up something interesting. A gap between card releases. Results showed Arnold with many autographs from 2021 Leaf. But results also showed cards and autographs from Panini Stars & Stripes, but from 2025, a product that just dropped. Given the recent release, there hasn't been any sold on eBay from that set, though there are a few listed for sale right now.
Much of his Leaf products are on the higher end of price when it comes to that product. The above card populated in a search of sold eBay listings for $52, the sale was Friday, April 4th.
No. 2 - Jace LaViolette, OF
The first hitter on the board, Jace LaViolette. LaViolette is a towering 6-foot-6, 230 pound lefty with a 65 power scouting grade. He's spent four years at Texas A & M and according to MLB.com, could be the first 4-year college bat to go No. 1 overall since Darin Erstad in 1995. This past season he belted 29 home runs en route to a College World Series Finals.
LaViolette has cards in both Panini and Leaf. While both products have their merits, the Stars & Stripes features patch autos, like the above three-color patch red ink autograph. This one popped up on eBay sold listings for about $85. Some of his Leaf cards can go upwards of $100, but those look to be only dual autos with him being one of the signers. All of the dual autos with LaViolette as a signer features another Texas A & M player, Gavin Grahovac, who still has eligibility in college.
No. 1 - Ethan Holliday, SS/3B
Number one on the list is not surprise, and to be honest hasn't been a surprise since his brother, Jackson Holliday was taken No. 1 overall by the Baltimore Orioles. Ethan Holliday is just 18 and a senior at Stillwater High School in Oklahoma, yet he's still 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds. He's bigger than his brother Jackson, and according to the elder Holliday brother, is better than him. His best tool is his power, which grades out a 65 according to scouts.
The probably No. 1 pick in this year's draft has had cards in products for a few years. In Panini and Leaf collectors and prospectors can find Ethan Holliday cards for around $50, depending on the card. The above patch auto was listed on eBay sold listings as sold for $75 on April 16th. This would be considered one of his better selling cards. His Leaf autographs bottom out around $25 and can be bought for around that $50 mark.
After graduating from the University of North Dakota in 2008, Cole worked as an advertising copywriter until shifting to print journalism a few years later. Managing three weekly newspapers in the Dakotas, Cole won numerous awards from the North Dakota Newspaper Association including Best of the Dakotas and, their top award, General Excellence. He returned to collecting in 2021 and has since combined his passion for writing with his love of cards. Cole also writes for the Sports Cards Nonsense newsletter and has made guest appearances on multiple sports card collecting podcasts including Sports Cards Nonsense, and the Eephus Baseball Cards Podcast. IG: coleryan411 X: @colebenz