Posted By:
Greg EcklundMy apologies Adam...sometimes it is hard to resist answering when others start going off topic - I didn't mean to turn your thread into a steroid debate.
That said, the taint that Sosa currently has is relevant to the future resale value of the cleats, not to mention that cleats have a smaller number of people collecting them and would probably have more varied prices on the auction market. Right now, we don't know how future buyers will look on this generation of players - if you think the black mark by their names will fade with time, the Sosa cleats might be a decent investment, but not without risk. In the end, I don't think the potential upside of the cleats would be worth the risk.
To me, the Johnson autograph would be a better and more stable investment - his career is over and there is already perspective on it, with nearly universal agreement that he was among the best of all time. Any collection of elite baseball player autographs will be incomplete without an example of Johnson. Plus, as was stated earlier, Johnson isn't going to be signing anymore.