All of the prospect cards in this set qualify as the player's True RC under the long-established rules Beckett has always enforced. These are the same rules that define 1993 Topps Draft Pick Derek Jeter and 1995 Bowman (and Bowman's Best) as Vladimir Guerrero Sr's RC.
Per Beckett Magazine:
"Like that, 2021 Bowman’s Best Baseball just got a lot more interesting. A simple numbering shift in the base set is poised to cause some major ramification for years to come. It’s also likely to reignite the debate over what constitutes a Rookie Card. The situation is this: the 2021 Bowman’s Best Baseball base set has its usual mix of veterans and rookies. They have some company, though, in the form of several “prospects” like Wander Franco, Jasson Dominguez, Austin Martin, Spencer Torkelson and Julio Rodriguez. Five of the top six picks in the 2021 draft are also in the base set: Henry Davis, Jackson Jobe, Marcelo Mayer, Colton Cowser, and Jordan Lawlar.Here’s an excerpt from the 2021 Bowman’s Best base set checklist showing veterans, rookies and prospects all together.
All of the prospects are Rookie Cards — at least Beckett will be recognizing them as such with the RC tag. Any base cards for these players in 2022 any beyond will not.
It falls in line with criteria established decades ago.
We understand the ramifications this has, not just for 2021 Bowman’s Best Baseball but in the years ahead as it goes against what has been done with baseball cards for years when the MLBPA and MLB changed who could appear in a base set and who couldn’t. This changed how sets were built and numbered, but not what Beckett and many collectors recognized as an RC.
Why 2021 Bowman’s Best “Prospects” are Rookie Cards
At Beckett, there is longstanding criteria on what constitutes a Rookie Card or RC. In a nutshell:
- It’s a base card. The base set is the core of any release. Inserts and parallels are something separate and have never been considered RCs in the Beckett database.
- The set includes veterans. If a set is only prospects and rookies, it’s considered a prospect or minor league set. That’s why recent Bowman Draft Baseball sets don’t have RCs. For several years the base set has been exclusively draft picks and prospects.
- The set has wide distribution. If there’s any area that has become grey over the years, this might be it. Online-exclusives have changed how some products are made and what’s considered mainstream. But the principle still applies. This distribution also means cards come as some sort of package. Therefore, print-on-demand sets like Topps Now and Panini Instant haven’t been recognized with the RC tag from Beckett.
The prospects in 2021 Bowman’s Best Baseball all meet this criteria. Jasson Dominguez and Spencer Torkelson are alongside Mike Trout and Fernando Tatis with the same continuous card numbering. This is a product that’s available everywhere. It’s a mainstream set so there are no questions about distribution."