15 Most Valuable 2017 Topps Baseball Cards
For the astute collector, one thing immediately sticks out about the 2017 Topps baseball card set design: For the second year in a row, Topps ditched the borders for its flagship baseball release…
Throughout its decades of printing baseball cards before 2016, Topps always had borders of some kind, usually white.
Many collectors appreciated the “classic” look that it created.
But as soon as 2017 Topps Series 1 baseball began hitting store shelves, collectors knew the company’s shift to modern design was here to stay.
Besides, any controversy about the design was soon mostly forgotten thanks to a certain Yankee rookie slugger’s chase toward the history books.
That’s right, the Aaron Judge rookie is the key to the 700-card checkliSt. But that’s not all there is to like about this set.
And in this guide, we’ll take a look at the 15 most valuable.
Let’s jump right in!
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Ross Uitts – Owner
- #1
2017 Topps #287 Aaron Judge Rookie Card
Rookie CardPSA 10 Value $150Total PSA PopulationPSA 10 PopulationPSA 10 Grade Rate 0.0% (Set Avg: 0.0%)From 2013 first-round pick to 2017 AL Rookie-of-the-Year, Aaron Judge ripped the American League to shreds with a slugging assault as yet unseen from a first-year player.
The 25-year-old right fielder obliterated Mark McGwire’s three-decade-old rookie home run record with 52, also breaking Joe DiMaggio’s first-year franchise mark.
Judge also led the American League in runs scored (123) and walks (122) while finishing second in RBIs (114), on-base percentage (.422), and slugging percentage (.627).
He struck out an MLB-worst 208 times, but the times he did make contact were too majestic for it to matter.
If not for Jose Altuve’s massive season in Houston (and the Astros’ subsequent seven-game win over New York in the ALCS), Judge would easily have become the third player to win AL MVP and Rookie-of-the-Year in the same season (Fred Lynn, Ichiro Suzuki).
His consolation?
A rookie season of the same historic caliber as those put together by the likes of Jackie Robinson and Mike Trout.
- #2
2017 Topps #380 Albert Pujols
PSA 10 Value $40Total PSA PopulationPSA 10 PopulationPSA 10 Grade Rate 0.0% (Set Avg: 0.0%)Albert Pujols’ decade-long stint with the Los Angeles Angels was marred by declining production and a spate of lower-body injuries.
However, there were still plenty of moments to remind us exactly why he’s one of the most decorated right-handed sluggers in MLB history.
One of those moments came in 2017 when Pujols took his spot in the uber-exclusive 600 Home Run Club.
After feeling the heat for sixteen homerless at-bats, the hulking Angels DH crushed a majestic grand slam off Minnesota’s Ervin Santana to become just the ninth 600-homer hitter ever.
“I’m just glad to be on that list,” Pujols said.
“You look at all the players that come through the league, to play so long to be number nine.
It’s pretty special.” Pujols joined fellow Dominican Republic native Sammy Sosa as the only non-native players to crack 600 and the youngest player at 37 years and 139 days.
It was one heck of a celebration during a year with little else to cheer for.
Pujols put together his worst year thus far for the 80-82 Angels, setting new career lows in batting average (.241), on-base percentage (.286), and slugging percentage (.386).
He hit into an MLB-worst 26 double plays and posted an OPS+ below league average (80) for the first time.
- #3
2017 Topps #150 Miguel Cabrera
PSA 10 Value $35Total PSA PopulationPSA 10 PopulationPSA 10 Grade Rate 0.0% (Set Avg: 0.0%)The Detroit Tigers took a sharp, speedy tumble into the baseball gutters during the 2017 season.
Detroit’s fall coincided with the end of Miguel Cabrera’s time among the best in the game.
Laboring through two herniated lumbar discs and lacking the fluidity that made him a generational hitter, Cabrera looked like a poor copy of his former Hall-of-Fame self.
After seven seasons with a batting average of .313 or better and four batting titles, the 34-year-old first baseman/DH dropped to a career-worst .249 in 2017.
He also set new career lows in on-base percentage (.329), slugging percentage (.399), OPS+ (93), and RBIs (60).
Cabrera soldiered through for a Tigers team that went from playoff contenders to an MLB-worst 64-98, playing most of his 130 games in significant pain.
It’s a decision he’d express regret for a year later while rehabbing a hamstring injury.
“I went through that last year, so I don’t want to do the same thing,” Cabrera said.
“Nobody appreciates you when you play hurt, so I’m going to take my time and play when I’m good.
I played hurt a lot of years here in Detroit.
They don’t appreciate that.”
- #4
2017 Topps #161 Mookie Betts
PSA 10 Value $35Total PSA PopulationPSA 10 PopulationPSA 10 Grade Rate 0.0% (Set Avg: 0.0%)Mookie Betts set a sky-high standard for himself in 2016 with a sparkling six-month run to an AL MVP runner-up finish.
In 2018, he’d get that MVP, leading the Boston Red Sox to the team’s third post-curse World Series win.
In between those two years was a 2017 campaign that, to many, was a relative disappointment.
Let’s emphasize the word “relative.” Betts remained the best defensive right fielder in the game, snagging his second consecutive AL Gold Glove.
He also earned his second All-Star spot and a sixth-place MVP finish with a .264 average, 24 home runs, 46 doubles, 26 stolen bases, 101 runs scored, and 102 RBIs in 153 games.
On the other hand, 2017 stands as Betts’ worst statistical showing during his decade-long Big League career.
His .803 OPS and 108 OPS+ remain career nadirs, and his .213 average against the Yankees was amplified by the hate-filled nature of the rivalry.
Regardless, he had a strong year for the 93-win AL East champs and one that set the stage for his 2018 breakthrough.
- #5
2017 Topps #50 Clayton Kershaw
PSA 10 Value $30Total PSA PopulationPSA 10 PopulationPSA 10 Grade Rate 0.0% (Set Avg: 0.0%)Was Clayton Kershaw the best twenty-something hurler in Major League Baseball history?
The case is highly compelling.
Kershaw finished his twenties with his sixth top-three Cy Young finish, becoming the first player to notch six before his 30th birthday.
He tied for the MLB lead in wins (18) despite missing five weeks with lower back tightness and led the National League in ERA (2.31) for the fifth time in seven years.
(It would have been six if he’d qualified for the ERA title in 2016).
The 29-year-old lefty paced the Majors in ERA+ (179) for the fourth time and K/BB ratio (6.73) for the first time since his 2014 MVP campaign.
Kershaw finished his third decade on Earth with three Cy Youngs, seven All-Star nominations, an MVP, and a Gold Glove.
You can throw rocks at his iffy postseason resume all you want.
Yet, Kershaw’s 2010s stand firm as one of the best decades by any pitcher ever, full stop.
- #6
2017 Topps #288 Joey Votto
PSA 10 Value $25Total PSA PopulationPSA 10 PopulationPSA 10 Grade Rate 0.0% (Set Avg: 0.0%) - #7
2017 Topps #34 Bryce Harper
PSA 10 Value $25Total PSA PopulationPSA 10 PopulationPSA 10 Grade Rate 0.0% (Set Avg: 0.0%)Washington Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper narrowly missed out on his second consecutive trip to the playoffs with a bone bruise in his right knee.
Perhaps it would have hurt less if he hadn’t come back.
In the middle of a rainy August contest with the clock past 10:00 pm, Harper slipped across a soaked first base in San Francisco and dropped like a rock, clutching his knee in agony.
The 24-year-old wunderkind initially feared for the worSt. “Of course, you’re going to think the worst, and I’m one of the worst at it,” Harper said.
“I think I’m going to die every time I have a stomachache.” Luckily, age and durability were on Harper’s side.
The former NL Rookie-of-the-Year and MVP returned in late September for the back-to-back NL East champs.
It was a chance to rewrite last year’s wrongs.
The Nats were ousted in a five-game NLDS loss to the Dodgers in 2016, with Harper scuffling to a .235 average and .294 slugging percentage.
He had a chance to get his revenge in the 2017 ALDS against the Cubs, but it wasn’t to be.
The now five-time All-Star hit a paltry .212 against Chicago (4-for-19) in yet another five-game defeat.
- #8
2017 Topps #341 Alex Bregman Rookie Card
Rookie CardPSA 10 Value $25Total PSA PopulationPSA 10 PopulationPSA 10 Grade Rate 0.0% (Set Avg: 0.0%)The 2017 World Series was when the Houston Astros’ superstar infield duo became a trio.
Soon-to-be AL MVP Jose Altuve and All-Star shortstop Carlos Correa dominated the headlines heading into Houston’s Fall Classic showdown with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
And, rightfully so.
Correa and Altuve were the dual heartbeat of the Majors’ most potent scoring attack, an offense that tallied 898 runs, nearly 40 ahead of the second-place New York Yankees.
As the Astros’ middle infield went, the rest of the team followed.
By the end of October, though, Alex Bregman was right up there alongside the All-Star combo.
The 23-year-old third baseman had an exceptional first full season, slashing .284/.352/.475 with 19 homers, 39 doubles, 17 stolen bases, 88 runs scored, and 71 RBIs in 155 games.
Yet, in the postseason, he really took the bull by the proverbial horns.
Bregman hit four massive homers during the team’s title run, along with the game-winning single in Houston’s breathtaking Game 5 World Series win.
He also played sterling defense at third, looking every bit the future MVP candidate he’d become.
- #9
2017 Topps #350 David Ortiz
PSA 10 Value $25Total PSA PopulationPSA 10 PopulationPSA 10 Grade Rate 0.0% (Set Avg: 0.0%)If David Ortiz had returned to the Boston Red Sox for one more year in 2017, 2018 may have been the culmination of back-to-back World Series titles.
That’s how good David Ortiz was during his 2016 farewell tour.
The veteran DH had a season on par with his mid-2000s peak, leading all hitters in slugging percentage (.620), OPS (1.021), and doubles (48).
He won the second Hank Aaron Award of his 20-year career while putting up perhaps the best 40-or-older campaign by anyone not named Ted Williams.
Big Papi could easily have reversed course and parlayed his heroics into a lucrative return payday.
He opted to stay true to his word, calling it a day after a sixth-place MVP finish.
“When you look at a guy who is about to retire, you don’t think he would retire with numbers like that,” said Ortiz.
“But I was done, man.
I ran out of gas.” Nursing a litany of injuries, including a right Achilles ailment that dogged him for a half-decade, Ortiz eased into retirement before joining the MLB on Fox studio team in October 2017 as a part-time analySt.
- #10
2017 Topps #450 Justin Verlander
PSA 10 Value $25Total PSA PopulationPSA 10 PopulationPSA 10 Grade Rate 0.0% (Set Avg: 0.0%) - #11
2017 Topps #644 Jose Altuve
PSA 10 Value $25Total PSA PopulationPSA 10 PopulationPSA 10 Grade Rate 0.0% (Set Avg: 0.0%)The Houston Astros’ 2017 World Series championship will always be controversial at best and a black mark at worSt. In January 2020, Major League Baseball confirmed the details of a sign-stealing scandal in which the Astros used illegal cameras and a trash-can-banging communication system to stay one step ahead of opponents.
It’s not the first instance of cheating in the game and won’t be the last, but the high-profile nature of the offense makes it that much more glaring.
And it casts an obvious pall on Altuve’s league-best exploits.
The shortest player to win MVP since Phil Rizzuto in 1950, Altuve’s award win was the apex of a redemption arc that started when he was sent home from a Venezuelan tryout in his teens.
The 27-year-old second baseman led the Majors in batting (.346) while leading the AL in hits (204).
He also placed first in the American League in multi-hit games (59), second in runs scored (112), third in on-base percentage (.410), third in stolen bases (32), and third in OPS (.957).
Follow that up with a stellar postseason that included a molten-hot ALDS performance against Boston (.533 AVG, 1.765 OPS), and it’s clear that Altuve earned his MVP win.
That is, it was clear before the Astros got caught red-handed.
- #12
2017 Topps #699 Ichiro Suzuki
PSA 10 Value $25Total PSA PopulationPSA 10 PopulationPSA 10 Grade Rate 0.0% (Set Avg: 0.0%) - #13
2017 Topps #20 Mike Trout
PSA 10 Value $20Total PSA PopulationPSA 10 PopulationPSA 10 Grade Rate 0.0% (Set Avg: 0.0%)2017 was another fantastic year for Mike Trout.
It was also a warning sign.
Let’s get the good out of the way firSt. The Los Angeles Angels center fielder kept his early-career bid to join baseball’s Mount Rushmore running full steam ahead, leading the Majors in OPS+ (186) and OPS (1.071) for the second time in three years.
He added a .306 average, 33 home runs, 25 doubles, 22 stolen bases, 92 runs scored, 94 walks, and 72 RBIs.
And he did all of this while playing less than three-quarters of the Angels’ regular-season contests (114).
It’s utterly remarkable.
It’s also where the bad news comes in.
In May, Trout tore a thumb ligament diving into second base headfirSt. He missed 39 games before coming back to wreak havoc on AL pitching.
In a testament to his all-out approach, Trout christened his comeback game with another headfirst slide into second.
“I’m not changing the way I play,” Trout said.
After three relatively healthy seasons, Trout has suffered four more major injuries in four seasons from 2021 to 2024.
His pedal-to-the-floor style remains a marvel.
It may also be his Achilles heel.
- #14
2017 Topps #25 Giancarlo Stanton
PSA 10 Value $20Total PSA PopulationPSA 10 PopulationPSA 10 Grade Rate 0.0% (Set Avg: 0.0%)In 2017, Miami Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton went on a home-run hitting spree unmatched since Barry Bonds’ record-setting 2001 campaign.
The 27-year-old slugger bludgeoned an MLB-leading 59 home runs, becoming the eighth hitter in MLB history to reach that total.
It was the most by anyone since Bonds hit 73 in 2001.
Stanton led the Majors in RBIs (132) and slugging percentage (.631) and topped off his all-around brilliance with a mention as an NL Gold Glove finaliSt. It was an eye-opening season.
And it was barely enough to win MVP in the fourth-closest vote of all time.
The California native beat out Cincinnati’s Joey Votto by a mere two points.
Six players received first-place votes in the NL balloting, the most since 1979 when Willie Stargell and Keith Hernandez shared MVP honors.
“It’s almost like, your start from scratch moment,” Stanton said.
“You remember the thoughts you had as a kid, and when times were good and bad as a pro a
- #15
2017 Topps #87 Dansby Swanson Rookie Card
Rookie CardPSA 10 Value $20Total PSA PopulationPSA 10 PopulationPSA 10 Grade Rate 0.0% (Set Avg: 0.0%)For two months of the MLB season, Dansby Swanson looked like the future of the shortstop position in Atlanta.
As for the other four months?
Not so much.
Swanson’s first full year as the Atlanta Braves primary SS was a chore for him and those watching.
He hit an alarming .156 in April and remained under .200 (.185) after a less-than-mediocre May.
The 23-year-old former first-round pick found his footing with a .306 June but crashed and burned with a .125 average in July.
He went back up in August (.309) and right back down in September (.231).
There was no consistency and not much to write home about.
Swanson’s defense was also a liability.
He committed 20 errors in 1202 innings at short and posted -4 Defensive Runs Saved.
A demotion wouldn’t have been out of the question if Swanson wasn’t suiting up for a rebuilding Braves franchise slogging through its fourth consecutive losing season (72-90).
Instead, Swanson took his lumps in plain view.
He ended his nightmarish campaign, slashing .232/.312/.324 with six home runs and 51 RBIs in 144 games.
Ross’s Take
While there are many great-looking cards inside the 700-card checklist, the Aaron Judge and Alex Bregman rookie cards continue to be the most popular.
Both have continued to produce at elite levels, especially Judge.
And Bregman already has a couple of World Series rings.
Dansby Swanson continues to be a solid rookie card as well, though his popularity has dwindled in recent years.
Collectors may also remember other notable rookies like Andrew Benintendi and Yoan Moncada being incredibly hyped up when this set first hit store shelves.
Unfortunately, they aren’t as desirable these days.
There were fewer subsets in the checklist than in 2016 Topps baseball, including: League Leaders All-Star Rookies Award Winners Team Cards The checklist offered the usual exciting inserts, parallels, relics, and autograph cards as in similar years.
Collectors could find an autograph or relic in each 36-pack Hobby box and an autograph, relic and “manufactured relic” in each Hobby Jumbo box.
To help commemorate David Ortiz’s retirement in 2016, Topps created ten different variations of his base card.
Of course, the checklist is littered with all kinds of variations of other players, a staple of most modern Topps baseball set designs.
However, despite all of those things, the Aaron Judge rookie card will always be the biggest draw in the set.
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Ross Uitts – Owner
