2017-18 Hot Stove

The Hot Stove has been moving extremely slowly this season. Right now, star players like JD Martinez, Yu Darvish, Lorenzo Cain, Jake Arrieta, and Eric Hosmer remain unsigned. As players get picked up, we'll continue updating this article. However, there's still been some high impact moves this offseason! From the bullpen reloading in Colorado to the Marlins fire sale, there are plenty of useful cards on new teams next season. Obviously Giancarlo is the one people are most excited about, but players like Ozuna, Cozart, and Chacin are big additions for their teams too. Hopefully, as fans of major, exciting moves, we will get to see Manny Machado move to a contender too!

For our first wave, completed by 2017's end signings, we've got the following players:

NL All-Star Hitters

We continue presenting the 2017 All Stars with the National League hitters! Again, sorry for the massive delay, but better late than never!

Starting Lineup: The NL obviously is still star studded, but doesn't quite equal the AL in terms of sheer firepower.  Charlie Blackmon doesn't bring a lot of speed to the lead-off role, but wow, his chart is an incredible amount of fun and should put him in scoring position frequently. He's followed by Harper and Stanton, who can absolutely mash the ball. A pair of Nationals follow in the 4-5 spots with consistent OB 10, high extra base potential charts. Posey is a consistent hitter in the six hole, with Arenado providing a lot of potential for deep bombs in the seventh slot. Ozuna is an exciting hitter and Cozart adds another OB 10 with speed to the bottom of the order. Overall, probably a deeper lineup than the AL, but lacking the top level bats of Trout and Judge.

AL All-Star Hitters

Although this is coming waaaaaaay too late, we've finally started being able to make a substantive dent in our 2017 All Star Set! So over the course of the next couple weeks, we're going to be rolling out the hitters and pitchers of the NL and AL All Star teams from 2017.

Now, these charts were created based solely on first half stats, so some players final 2017 cards are better (Stephen Strasburg) and frankly most are worse (Ervin Santana, Alex Wood, etc.). However, I hope you enjoy this endeavor, meant as an homage to some of the coolest original sets and to give everyone cards from the best players in 2017! Without further ado, the AL All-Star Hitters!

Starting Lineup: Wow, the AL definitely had plenty of firepower in its starting lineup! Eventual MVP Jose Altuve leads off the squad, followed by a pair of OB 11 mashers! Altuve's Astro teammates are 4-5, really demonstrating the star power that helped Houston win the World Series. Smoak provides a ton of power from the six spot, with Jose Ramirez and Corey Dickerson providing solid, dependable hitting in the 7-8 spots. Salvador Perez has a good arm and a ton of power, just fueling the potential for this scary collection of all-star bats!

Classic St. Louis Cardinals

We're finally back, thanks to a timely Christmas gift of Photoshop! Now that we have the ability to create new cards, we continue the Classic Set with an all-time franchise: The St. Louis Cardinals! The Cardinals are made up of speedy studs and solid pitchers, which led them to three World Series berths in the 1980s. Known affectionately as the Runnin' Redbirds, this team features an incredible amount of speed in high on-base players. If you're a Showdown manager who loves swiping bases and playing small ball, this is the team for you!

This should just be the first of several more teams to come soon! We apologize for the delay and hope y'all are excited for some more Showdown!