Collectors Go Prospect Hunting as MLB Opening Day Ignites Card Market

While the Atlanta Braves gear up to face the San Diego Padres in their 2025 season opener, a different kind of player is stealing the spotlight—prospects printed on cardboard.

As rosters were finalized ahead of Opening Day, collectors wasted no time diving into the market, snapping up prospect cards in hopes of landing the next breakout star before prices catch up to performance.

“The second those rosters dropped, it was on,” said Ryan Van Oost, manager at Cards HQ in Atlanta. “We had a rush like we hadn’t seen in a while.”

Cards HQ isn’t exactly a hole-in-the-wall—it bills itself as the “world’s largest card shop”—but even their inventory couldn’t keep up with the weekend crush of Braves fans and prospect hunters.

“I tried walking the floor Sunday and just gave up,” Van Oost said. “You couldn’t move. Everyone was after the same thing—future stars.”

And in today’s hobby climate, that often means loading up on players the average fan hasn’t even seen play yet.

One example? Nacho Alvarez. With barely 30 MLB at-bats to his name, a rare card of his was selling for $5,000.

“People love being first,” Van Oost said. “This was his first official card. That’s all it takes.”

But Alvarez wasn’t even the weekend’s biggest draw. That honor belonged to Drake Baldwin—a catcher who has yet to debut in a big-league game but may get the call thanks to injuries on the Braves’ roster.

“Baldwin stuff vanished,” Van Oost said. “We can’t keep it in stock. The hype is real.”

The trading card boom hasn’t slowed since its pandemic-era explosion, and the numbers back it up. Just ask whoever pulled the Paul Skenes card that recently sold at auction for $1.11 million. The Pirates rookie has barely seen major league action, but his market value has already gone platinum.

“It was hit by a kid out in California,” Van Oost said. “Next thing you know, it sells for over a million. Unreal.”

The Pirates even threw in 30 years of season tickets as part of a bonus package to the buyer—because why not go full franchise player?

For some collectors, the strategy is simple: go deep on prospects, sit tight, and hope they become stars. It’s not foolproof, but it’s worked more often than you’d think.

“There’s risk, of course,” Van Oost admitted. “But if you hit on the right player early? You’re set.”

As for his own strategy?

“I’m not even thinking retirement anymore,” he joked. “At this point, I’m betting it all on sports cards.”