So you’re an Adley Rutschman fan and you want to collect his rookie cards? That makes perfect sense. Rutschman is a 25-year-old catcher and a possible MVP candidate. He may lead the Orioles to the playoffs, maybe even the World Series! Buying his cards when he’s young should be a great idea, right? Well, if you’re looking to buy Adley Rutschman cards now, be prepared for a shock, these are not inexpensive cards!
In the world of baseball cards, top prospects like Rutschman typically have their first rookie card debut with a minimum price of $50 to several hundred dollars. If that seems expensive, just wait a year to see if that player is successful as a minor leaguer. If that player makes top-100 prospect lists, there’s even more value. The same can be said when the player cracks top-50 prospect lists, becomes the consensus No. 1 overall prospect and earns a promotion to the major leagues. Now you’re looking at $500 and up for those same cards that you could have bought in 2019 for a fraction of the price.
Of course, the problem with this theory is that if you invested an average of $100 per top prospect, you would eventually lose money throughout time. However, it is fun to look at the top Rutschman cards. If you want to buy them, go ahead! If you just want to see what you missed out on in 2019 when his first Bowman rookie card came out, then check out these cards.
The most significant Rutschman rookie card is the autographed 2019 Bowman Chrome Draft Refractor. For the purpose of the article, this card and variations of it are the cards I will examine. If that card name seems like a lot of words, it is. It gets a little bit more complicated even from there. First of all, a “refractor” means a higher-end and more limited version of the regular rookie card, which would have much less value and would not appreciate at any rate similar to that of a refractor. Also, an autographed card is far more desirable when the autograph comes from the original manufacturer.
Here are this year’s top five sales of the Rutschman autographed 2019 Bowman Chrome Draft Refractor. All sales are from 130point.com. The grading company and grades are listed as well.
1. Orange Refractor PSA 10 — $12,300
2. Gold Wave Refractor BGS 9.5 — $5,500
3. Gold Wave Refractor BGS 9.5 — $4,000
4. Gold Refractor BGS 9.5 — $3,350
5. Gold Refractor BGS 9.5 — $3,350
On top of needing to be a refractor and autographed, the best rookie cards are also limited edition. Bowman produces a number of limited edition refractors that range in design, color and quantity to separate and identify the different levels. Most commonly, they are limited to 499 copies. That is also the highest number of available copies for the limited edition rookie autograph refractors. This is notated as “#/499.” See the full list below of all the refractor options:
Base Refractor – #/499
Purple Refractor – #/250
Blue Refractor – #/150
Blue Wave Refractor – #/150
Green Refractor – #/99
Black Refractor – #/75
Sparkles Refractor – #/71
Gold Refractor – #/50
Gold Wave Refractor – #/50
Orange Refractor – #/25
Red Refractor – #/5
Red Wave Refractor – #/5
Black Wave Refractor – 1/1
SuperFractor – 1/1
Printing Plates – 1/1
Like many other items, scarcity drives value. This is mostly true for cards as well. However, condition is important and should be acknowledged for fair comparisons between cards. If you want to sell your Rutschman card for the most money, you want to make sure that it is graded by one of the top rating companies. This enhances the value, with a high grade proving its visual superiority to other cards of the same ilk.
The market for Rutschman cards recently has been very high, as you can imagine, based upon his play early in the year. He has so much to offer and such a bright future that one can understand why fans all over the country would want to continue to buy his cards, driving prices up. Keep collecting!
Have you had cards since you were a kid and now you want to sell them? Please email any questions to Danny@SPORTSBALT.com or visit SportsBalt.com.
Photo Credit: Colin Murphy/PressBox
Originally published June 15, 2023