Sports Cards: 10 Most Valuable Baseball Rookie Cards of the 2010s
Let's say you came across a box of baseball cards you bought sometime last decade, and now you're wondering if anything you have is valuable.
We've got you covered.
Ahead, we've taken a closer look at the 10 most valuable rookie cards of the 2010s.
A few important parameters for our list before we get started:
- Must be true rookie cards: Only cards considered true rookies, as displayed in the TCDB.com database, were included. Among other things, that means we omitted 1st Bowman cards that do not also qualify as rookie cards.
- Bowman and Topps releases only: Bowman and Topps brands have become the go-to for rookie card collectors, so we narrowed our focus to the Bowman, Topps and Topps Update sets, along with their respective chrome parallels.
- No short-printed or autographed cards: The goal here was to identify cards that are valued because of the player on them, not because of their scarcity or an accompanying autograph. As such, cards like the 2018 Topps Ronald Acuna Jr. Bat Down variation or the short-printed 2012 Topps Bryce Harper rookie are not included.
- One card per player: In an effort to add some variety to the list, each player only appears once. Otherwise, this would have been a countdown of the best Mike Trout rookie cards.
10. 2019 Topps Chrome #201 Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
1 of 10
Raw: $40
PSA 9: $60
PSA 10: $150
The No. 1 prospect in baseball at the start of the 2019 season, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. made his MLB debut on April 26, 2019. He hit .272/.339/.433 with 15 home runs and 69 RBI as a 20-year-old to finish sixth in AL Rookie of the Year honors, and he has been on a steady upward trajectory ever since.
He hit .311/.401/.601 with 48 home runs and 111 RBI last season to finish runner-up to Shohei Ohtani in AL MVP voting, cementing his place as one of the game's most exciting rising stars and the face of the franchise for the Toronto Blue Jays.
The timing of his debut meant he was not included in the 2019 Topps base set, but he did make it into the Topps Chrome and Topps Update releases. There is also a Chrome Refractor and Chrome Autograph version of the card, along with a long list of parallels.
Total Rookie Cards: 51
9. 2019 Topps Chrome #203 Fernando Tatis Jr.
2 of 10
Raw: $45
PSA 9: $60
PSA 10: $150
In the days of service-time manipulation, Fernando Tatis Jr. was a rare example of a top prospect who was given a spot on his team's Opening Day roster, breaking camp as the San Diego Padres starting shortstop in 2019.
While his rookie campaign was cut short by injury, he was dynamic from the get-go, posting a 154 OPS+ with 22 home runs and 16 steals in 84 games to finish third in NL Rookie of the Year voting. He is undoubtedly one of the game's most electrifying players, leading the NL with 42 home runs to go along with 25 steals in a 6.6-WAR season in 2021.
His Topps Chrome rookie is among the most recognizable cards of the past decade, but the market is flooded with gem-mint copies. Of the 15,648 submitted to PSA, a whopping 11,074 have come back with a PSA 10 grade.
Total Rookie Cards: 53
8. 2018 Topps Chrome #193 Ronald Acuna
3 of 10
Raw: $50
PSA 9: $70
PSA 10: $170
Ronald Acuna Jr. hit .325/.374/.522 with 31 doubles, 21 home runs and 44 steals across three minor league levels in 2017, reaching Triple-A at the age of 19 and setting himself up to be baseball's No. 1 prospect at the start of 2018.
He quickly lived up to the hype by winning NL Rookie of the Year honors that same year, and he followed that up with a 41-homer, 37-steal season that earned him his first All-Star selection and a Silver Slugger. Still just 24 years old, he's coming off a torn ACL but remains one of the game's brightest young stars.
His 2018 Topps "bat down" variation card is his signature rookie card, but since that one is short-printed, it isn't eligible for a spot on this list. Instead, his 2018 Topps Chrome gets the nod as his most valuable rookie card among the top-tier brands. There have been 10,881 of these sent to PSA, with 9,335 coming back with a PSA 10 grade.
Total Rookie Cards: 46
7. 2012 Topps Chrome #196 Bryce Harper
4 of 10
Raw: $45
PSA 9: $80
PSA 10: $420
Bryce Harper was a phenom before he ever began his pro career thanks to a Sports Illustrated cover and some epic YouTube highlights, and he was a layup choice as the No. 1 overall pick by the Washington Nationals in the 2010 draft.
He made his MLB debut at the age of 19 during the first month of the 2012 season and went on to hit .270/.340/.477 with 22 home runs, 18 steals and 5.2 WAR to earn an All-Star selection and win NL Rookie of the Year honors. Entering his age-29 season, he has a 142 OPS+ with 267 home runs and 40.1 WAR, and his current contract will keep him in a Philadelphia Phillies uniform through 2031.
While Harper does have a 2012 Topps base rookie card, it was short-printed as Topps made the decision to add him to the set as card No. 661 on the checklist late in the print run. His Topps Chrome rookie and Topps Update rookie debut cards are more readily available and still sell for a premium.
Total Rookie Cards: 19
6. 2014 Topps Update #US50 Jacob deGrom
5 of 10
Raw: $40
PSA 9: $100
PSA 10: $280
Unlike the other players we've highlighted on this list so far, Jacob deGrom has just five different rookie cards, and two of them are short-printed cards that are not readily available. That shortage of options helps drive the value of his Topps flagship rookie, which is part of the 2014 Topps Update set.
His lack of inclusion in 2014 products should not come as a huge surprise, as he was the No. 10 prospect in the New York Mets farm system that year and well off the MLB radar. However, he debuted in May and went on to post a 2.69 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 144 strikeouts in 140.1 innings to win NL Rookie of the Year.
In the years since, he has developed into baseball's most dominant pitcher, and the fact that he's doing it pitching in a major market only adds to his hobby appeal.
Total Rookie Cards: 5
5. 2014 Topps Update #US26 Mookie Betts
6 of 10
Raw: $60
PSA 9: $100
PSA 10: $320
Mookie Betts quickly emerged as an elite prospect in the Boston Red Sox system after he was chosen in the fifth round of the 2011 draft, and he climbed to No. 75 on the Baseball America Top 100 prospect list at the start of the 2014 season.
He was a 6.1-WAR player in his first year as an everyday player in 2015, finished runner-up in AL MVP voting the next year, and by 2018 he had won AL MVP and helped lead the Red Sox to a World Series title. Along the way, he emerged as one of the faces of the sport, and when he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, he went from one major market to another.
His late debut in 2014 opened the door for Topps to include him in the 2014 Topps Update set, and the fact that he only has seven true rookie cards makes his flagship rookie that much more covetable.
Total Rookie Cards: 7
4. 2011 Topps Chrome #173 Freddie Freeman
7 of 10
Raw: $45
PSA 9: $115
PSA 10: $400
After winning NL MVP in 2020 and a World Series ring in 2021 as a homegrown superstar, Freddie Freeman is now the newest member of a stacked Los Angeles Dodgers roster after agreeing to a six-year, $162 million contract Wednesday night.
He took over as the Braves' everyday first baseman in 2011 in his age-21 season, and at the time he was part of an exciting young Atlanta core that included Jason Heyward, Craig Kimbrel, Tommy Hanson, Jair Jurrjens and Mike Minor.
The change of scenery should provide a spark in his market as Dodgers fans look to add his rookie cards to their private collections, and his Topps Chrome rookie is the best of the bunch aside from his Topps Triple Threads rookie that is an auto patch and numbered to 99.
Total Rookie Cards: 14
3. 2010 Topps #2 Buster Posey
8 of 10
Raw: $15
PSA 9: $120
PSA 10: $250
One of the best collegiate catching prospects of all time, Buster Posey hit .463/.566/.879 with 26 home runs and 93 RBI in 68 games during his junior year at Florida State. The San Francisco Giants took him No. 5 overall in the 2008 draft, and he made his MLB debut as a September call-up the following year.
His seven-game cup of coffee opened the door for him to be included in 2010 products, and his rookie cards were part of Series 1 of the 2010 Topps flagship set.
After he announced his retirement in November, his cards saw a nice bump in value, and his status as a future Hall of Famer is a solid assurance that their value will hold up.
Total Rookie Cards: 13
2. 2018 Bowman Chrome #1 Shohei Ohtani
9 of 10
Raw: $100
PSA 9: $150
PSA 10: $550
Shohei Ohtani's hobby stock was way down after the 2020 season when he hit .190 with a 79 OPS+ at the plate and threw just 1.2 innings on the mound, and anyone who decided to buy low hit the jackpot when he had a two-way season for the ages in 2021.
The 27-year-old posted a 158 OPS+ with 46 home runs, 100 RBI and 26 steals as the Angels' primary designated hitter, and he went 9-2 with a 3.18 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 156 strikeouts in 130.1 innings as the ace of the staff, posting a combined 9.1 WAR to lead all of baseball.
He came stateside with a ton of buzz thanks to his two-way abilities, and that meant a wide variety of rookie cards across 2018 products. His Bowman Chrome rookie edges out his Topps Chrome rookie for most valuable among the two big brands, partly because Bowman used a photo of him hitting, while Topps showed him pitching.
Total Rookie Cards: 63
1. 2011 Topps Update #US175 Mike Trout
10 of 10
Raw: $800
PSA 9: $1,200
PSA 10: $2,700
The most recognizable rookie card of the 2010s does not have an autograph on it, it's not short-printed or serial-numbered, and it was readily available in packs.
As Mike Trout has gone from an exciting young star to a generational talent to a legitimate entry into the all-time-great conversation, his 2011 Topps Update rookie card has steadily climbed in value to heights that base cards rarely reach.
A staggering 10,760 of them have been submitted to PSA for grading, with roughly half coming back PSA 10 (5,620) and another good-sized chunk returning PSA 9 (3,247), yet the card still sells for a bundle thanks to his status as the best player on the planet.
Total Rookie Cards: 8
All card images courtesy of TCDB, while pricing data is pulled from recent eBay sales as of Wednesday morning. Stats via Baseball Reference.
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