Brian Matusz to Make His MLB Debut Tonight

Posted by Jeremy on August 4, 2009 under Market Watch | Read the First Comment

We’ve been musing about it for a while now and, while I expected this move to happen in September, the Baltimore Orioles have called up their prized southpaw and #4 overall pick from last year Brian Matusz to make his MLB debut on the road against the Detroit Tigers.  Matusz has been lights out this season at both High-A and AA going 11-2 with a 1.91 ERA and 31 BB/121 K in his 113 innings of work.  Given his workload to date, it seems improbable that the O’s will keep Matusz up for the rest of the season. 

Even more intriguing to me is how the eBay market will respond to Brian Matusz’s various Razor cards.  Remember, Razor notched an exclusive deal with Matusz and, outside of his assortment of UD Team USA cards, the company has cornered the market on his cards.  To date, the baseball collecting world has not warmed to Razor’s offerings to the same degree that they have with the larger manufacturers.  However, Matusz’s debut marks the beginning of several other impending debuts from top ‘08 draftees that they have exclusive deals with like Justin Smoak, Pedro Alvarez, Brett Wallace and Yonder Alonso. 

My gut tells me that the market will not respond with the same voracity that it would if these cards were issued by a Topps, Donruss, or Upper Deck brand, but the demand for these cards will grow as these young future stars start to don their first MLB uniforms.