Fewer than 30 baseball players in Major League Baseball have managed to hit 500 home runs in their career. Miguel Cabrera became the 28th MLB baseball player to join the 500 home run club in August. He is also close to the 3,000 hit club. Either milestone should assure Cabrera a place in the Baseball Hall of Fame upon his retirement. One question for collectors and investors alike will be what this to the value of his rookie baseball cards.

Miguel Cabrera has spent the bulk of his MLB career with the Detroit Tigers. He played for the Florida Marlins from 2003 to 2007, where he hit 138 home runs in the 5 seasons he was active there. He led the American League in home runs in 2008 (37) and in 2012 (44) and that 44 homer mark was reached only in 2012 and 2013. His dominance in hitting home runs has slowed down, and his typical .300 batting average has also slowed down since 2017.

Where Miguel Cabrera’s 500 home run stat becomes even more interesting is that he is just about to join the club of MLB payers with 3,000 hits. There are 32 MLB players who have breached the 3,000 hit club, and if Cabrera gets 7 more hits then he joins MLB’s 3,000-Hit Club. Cabrera also still holds a career .311 batting average and a .534 slugging percentage as of this time.

When baseball players become a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame many collectors want to own their rookie cards. This is nothing new, but is it always profitable to chase rookie cards of stars even if they are not so well known outside of their fan base?

Collectors Dashboard evaluates collectibles as an alternative asset class. The same capital that could have been invested into stocks or bonds is being used to buy high-end collectibles. True sports collectors and hobbyists have a passion to own certain cards or memorabilia for quite a long time. The investor class in collectibles is solely buying an asset to sell at a later date for a profit.

Whether you are an investor or collector, beware that there are no assurances for a profit. Apple and Microsoft cannot guarantee their investors a profit, so looking for guaranteed profits in collectibles would be a fool’s errand. That said, collectors and investors have been in a constant battle for who can win auctions.

So what about the perfect PSA 10 grade for Miguel Cabrera rookie cards? The 2000 Topps Traded Miguel Cabrera rookie could be purchased for around $75 or so back in the early summer of 2020 (per SMR official PSA price guide). Miguel Cabrera’s 2000 Topps Chrome Traded card was worth closer to $275 a year ago. Due to the population of Miguel Cabrera’s certified auto cards (only 122 total graded) we did not include those prices.

According to current auctions on eBay, Miguel Cabrera’s rookie cards graded PSA 10 are now being bid higher. A PSA 10 base Topps Traded with 3 days to go was last seen up at $690 and an example with 7 days was seen at $425.00. The Miguel Cabrera 2000 Topps Chrome Traded was last seen at $1,075 with more than 7 days to go as well.

After filtering out the Buy It Now and “completed” listings on eBay, we looked solely at the auction format sales that have sold in recent days which were also graded in the coveted PSA 10. These are eBay prices realized for the base Miguel Cabrera (i.e. no Chrome) rookie cards in Topps Traded , along with a date and number of bids (without fees, taxes and shipping):

• $885.00 on August 22, 2021 (34 bids)
• $910.00 on August 21, 2021 (29 bids)
• $676.00 on August 19, 2021 (31 bids)
• $813.00 on August 15, 2021 (10 bids)
• $787.00 on August 15, 2021 (19 bids)
• $610.00 on August 15, 2021 (19 bids)
• $915.00 on August 8, 2021 (46 bids)
• $990.00 on August 7, 2021 (39 bids)
• $580.00 on July 28, 2021 (40 bids)
• $560.00 on July 25, 2021 (29 bids)
• $483.69 on July 20, 2021 (19 bids)
• $500.00 on July 20, 2021 (38 bids)
• $472.00 on July 18, 2021 (35 bids)
• $525.00 on July 18, 2021 (2 bids)
• $520.00 on July 17, 2021 (18 bids)
• $528.39 on July 17, 2021 (25 bids)
• $538.19 on July 17, 2021 (23 bids)
• $576.99 on July 16, 2021 (5 bids)
• $610.00 on July 12, 2021 (41 bids)
• $620.00 on July 12, 2021 (35 bids)
• $625.00 on July 12, 2021 (44 bids)
• $620.00 on July 11, 2021 (20 bids)
• $621.00 on June 28, 2021 (35 bids)
• $710.00 on June 27, 2021 (27 bids)
• $562.00 on June 27, 2021 (23 bids)
• $510.00 on June 21, 2021 (34 bids)
• $573.00 on June 21, 2021 (36 bids)
• $661.03 on June 19, 2021 (32 bids)
• $810.00 on June 17, 2021 (21 bids)
• $790.00 on June 17, 2021 (22 bids)
• $660.00 on June 13, 2021 (21 bids)
• $675.00 on June 7, 2021 (19 bids)
• $565.50 on June 4, 2021 (20 bids)
• $649.01 on June 3, 2021 (24 bids)
• $601.25 on May 31, 2021 (30 bids)

The range prior to June, 2021 had been $601.25 to $706.00, but these cards were routinely selling for $1,000 and higher back in March and April of this year before the market had accepted the sharp price correction of modern-era stars. These cards were selling for $300 to $350 in December 2020 and November 2020.

Cabrera’s base 2000 Topps Traded has a total of 4,140 base grades from PSA, and of those there are 1,748 graded PSA 9 and 1,893 graded at the prized gem mint PSA 10.

Another card of Miguel Cabrera is a 2000 MULTI-AD Utica Blue Sox, a minor league card. A PSA 10 example sold for $167 on June 13, 2021 with 18 bids. Another PSA 10 example sold for $146.50 on July 27, 2021 but one sold for $220.50 on August 3, 2021. Two examples are listed on eBay now (both are Buy It Now options) at $350.00 or $369.99 each.

Image below provided by PWCC Marketplace.