A Bruce Banner is a player with superhuman talents and totally human rookie card prices ready to HULK OUT. Who is today’s supernatural specimen? MR. SMILE himself… Cleveland Indians SS Francisco Lindor. Still just 26, the 4x all-star and 2x gold glove winning switch hitting wunderkind with the permasmile and electric hands is an absolute delight to watch. Not many mere mortals are five tool players that can run, hit for average and power, field, and have a howitzer hanging from their shoulder.

Add in that by all reports he’s a genuine good person, galvanizing clubhouse presence, and clutch in the playoffs… and it’s a wonder we can touch any of his gem mint grade rookies – PSA 10, BGS 9.5, and SGC 10 mint — for under $200. Why is a dynamic fan favorite on a Hall of Fame trajectory who’s just harnessing his superpowers as he comes into his physical prime still so affordable. One word.

Cleveland.

I love Lebron. Paul Newman. Michael Symon. But Believeland is the mistake on the lake for card values. The only element that lifts small market stars into cardboard icons is a championship, and with the cost cutting moves of the past few seasons, it doesn’t look like the tribe are going to be legit World Series contenders any time soon.

But there is some (Bob) hope — yes, another Cleveland native — for Francisco’s championship aspirations.

Contract negotiations between the indians and Francisco Lindor have broken down, and he’s scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2021 season. 

I know what you’re going to say, “But Freddy…. you want me to be patient and wait 2 more years to flip this superhuman!?”

No. You impatient flippers can relax. With no extension looming, Cleveland will be forced to trade Lindor by the end of 2020 to maximize their prospect haul… or risk losing Lindor for nothing… or very little as a 2021 trade deadline rental. Something all small market teams try to avoid like the plague.

Lindor is good as gone… and his eventual landing spot is going to be either 1) a major market that can afford a $300+ million mega contract or 2) a small to medium market entering a championship window. Hopefully it’ll be both a major market and a team entering a championship window. If his final destination is LA or NY, two viable options, investors should see an immediate Anthony Davis-to-LA style price bump.

So what rookie cards do I think you should be targeting with me?

5 lindor rookie and prospect cards i’m targeting

1. 2015 topps update #us82

CLASSIC. For baseball, no player collection is complete without a base topps rookie. Being a midseason call-up for service time reasons, Francisco’s rookie appeared in the late season update release.

A quick peek at the 2 major population reports shows us there is only a little over 1,000 graded copies of the card to date. This is a surprisingly small number for a five year old release of a young superstar player that starred in a World Series in his first full season.

Current prices of raw cards are in the $20 – $30 range with PSA 10’s and BGS 9.5’s going for $100 – $125. There are a host of parallels – rainbow foil, gold, snow camo, black, pink, etc. – but these will hit the wallet a lot harder.

2. 2015 topps chrome sp #202

Extremely difficult to pull from packs, a quick glance of the all important population reports confirms topps chrome’s sp status as there are only ~400 graded copies graded to date. Quite a sparse pop for a five year old modern card of a young superstar player.

Raw cards currently fetch ~$100 while high graded copies bring in $200 – $250. There are a host of parallels — blue, green, gold, superfractor, auto, etc. — but again, those are going to siphon off a few more funds from your bank account.

3. 2015 topps heritage #717 action

A beautiful clean card, the 2015 topps heritage action variation is an even shorter short print than the base with combined PSA and BGS pop reports coming in at just over 200 cards. Raw versions sell for $30 – $50 while gem mint graded cards are going for $100 – $130.

4. 2011 bowman sterling auto

From a value perspective, this is my favorite card. Total combined BGS and PSA pop report is ~200 less cards than the 2011 bowman chrome draft prospect auto, and it’s a quarter of the price! Again. There are a host of more expensive parallels if you are so inclined.

5. 2011 bowman chrome draft prospect auto

The big daddy. THE Francisco Lindor rookie prospect card. There haven’t been many raw eBay sales lately, but a few gem mint grade copies have sold in the last few months in the $350 – $500 range.

Combined BGS and PSA pop reports are ~700 cards total. This card also comes in a host of parallels, but you guessed it, it’s going to take more of your hard earned $$$.

There you have it! The 5 Francisco Lindor rookie and prospect cards I’m targeting.

FREDDY FORECAST: All of these prices will double by the end of the 2021 MLB season.

If you prefer watching instead of reading your content, be sure to click here to watch this episode of Bruce Banner(s) on the Freddy Find youtube channel or right here to watch on the website.

As always, i’m Freddy… and you’re welcome.