Beardy Claus

Beardy's Ho Ho Holiday card contest prize arrived on Friday. It's not technically a trade but I'm going with the one card rule because all the commotion this weekend has friggin wiped me out. The full prize list is here for anyone who cares and a couple of other cards will be featured eventually, but I thought this one deserved a spotlight.

Now that's a multi-swatch card! Stripe, navy, white, gray. Bee-youtiful. The only reason I even chose this is because it had Kelly Johnson (who is now a Diamondback) on it. I'm not a big high-end type of guy, but I have to admit, in retrospective Ballpark was some pretty nice stuff. Let's check out each of these guys on the card:

Ross Ohlendorf: Ross has a respectable 11-10 record with a 3.92 ERA in his first full year of starting for the Pirates last year. While he's shown as a Yankee here, he was swapped to the Pirates in the trade for Xavier Nady. He'll likely be the Pirate's third Starter in 2010 after Duke and Malholm. In the 2007 ALDS he pitched an inning against the Cleveland Indians and this guy:

Fausto Carmona: Fausto's spent four years on the Tribe's pitching staff and is only 26 years old. He had an amazing 2007 season, going 19-8 with a 3.06 ERA for the Indians, but has ended up being a warning on why you don't push young arms too hard. The past two years he's gone 13-19 and had an abysmal 6.32 ERA. Fausto is basically the ace of the rebuilding Indians, so he'll get a chance to bounce back in '10.

Kelly Johnson: One of the 'Baby Braves' that debuted in 2005, Kelly was the starting second baseman for the Braves for most of the past three years after debuting as a left fielder. The streaky hitter was given a chance by Bobby Cox after suffering an extremely bad slump after being first called up and the Braves were rewarded with a couple of solid seasons at second. Kelly lost his job to Martin Prado after an injury-filled 2009 and will be the Diamondbacks' second sacker in 2010.

Jonathan Albaladejo: Johnathan made his debut in Washington and was traded to the Yankees for Tyler Clippard. The Yankees gave him a long look last year as he pitched 32 games in relief for the Champs. The Yankees' pitching staff is pretty loaded but Johnathan will likely be given a fair shot to make the pen in Spring Training.

Wow, a good looking card and the 'emerging stars' on it are all actually decent. That's quite some nitfy stuff I got from the Beard-man. Thanks again for holding the contest!