Your Daily Value #30
Posted by Jeremy on January 13, 2009 under Your Daily Value | 
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2007 Bowman Chrome Draft SEAN DOOLITTLE
Current eBay Price—$.40-.60 each
This former Virginia Cavalier was a supplimental 1st round pick by the A’s in the ‘07 draft. Doolittle was a fine two way player in college, though his upside as a hitter and gold glove caliber 1B prospect trumped his potential as a southpaw moundsman. Those who scouted Doolittle felt that he was a very polished hitter with fringe average power and an outstanding glove much in the veins of a Mark Grace-type player.
Something happened, however, and Doolittle’s 2008 power numbers (.286 22 HR 91 RBI 40 doubles 89 runs scored) between High-A Stockton and AA Midland) have come as a pleasant surprise. Additionally, Doolittle has proven to be a pretty darn good athlete who not only is a good defensive 1B, but also an above average RF with a strong arm. While he walked at a good rate in ‘08 (62 BB) his 153 K’s in 139 games needs to be cut back significantly. Doolittle has never had a history of high K totals. In fact, at Virginia he walked about twice as much as he struck out. The elvevated K rate may be due to adjusting his swing to faciliate more power production, but it still bears watching over this next season.
What can we expect for 2009? Doolittle played extremely well in the Arizona Fall League (.294 8 HR 26 RBI 25 runs scored in 32 games) which should probably guarantee him an extended look in spring training. I think that he will head to AAA Sacramento and put up some good power numbers in the PCL. The A’s made some good additions to their lineup with the off season trade for Matt Holliday and the free agent signing of Jason Giambi. This, of course, adds to the depth of the A’s roster at both the OF and 1B positions…not good news for Mr. Doolittle in ‘09. However, the Giambi contract is a one year deal and the A’s are assuredly going to either trade Holliday or collect two 1st round picks once he signs with another team following the ‘09 season. This should give Doolittle ample time to work out some of K-related kinks at AAA with a late season call up to Oakland being a distinct possibility.
From a market prospective, Doolittle’s only true 1st year cards are in the ‘07 Bowman Draft and Chrome set. These can still be had in copious amounts on eBay from time to time and, at less than 50 cents each, are solid lot-sized acquisitions. The refractors and X-fractors can be had for $3-6 each as well and the blue refractors have been selling for $12-15.
Additionally, I think there will be some value in his two main autographed cards. The 2008 Donruss Elite Extra Collegiate Patch Auto and 2008 Donruss Threads Gold Signature (#/249) currently sell for $10-15 each. Personally, I am a big fan of the patch autos, but some collectors are not too hot on them. The fact that that those are his only true non-minor league autos at this point means that they could see some increased market demand if and when Doolittle gets called up to the big club.
Given that Doolittle defensively plays two positions very well and fits into Oakland’s Moneyball-type hitting philosophy, it is reasonable to believe that he will be a good long term fixture in the middle part of this A’s lineup for years to come. Doolittle should be a .270-.285 hitter with 20-25 HR and 70-85 RBI as a major league hitter. While not All-Star numbers, they should at least bump his Bowman Chrome Draft cards into the $1.50-2.00 range by some time later this season.
As always, your thoughts and contributions are welcome additions to this blog.
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