Why Panini America’s New 2020 Contenders Baseball Just Might Be the Best One Yet

Panini America’s live-today 2020 Contenders Baseball marks a striking departure in many ways from Contenders Baseball releases of the past. A product once steeped in prospect content has been fine-tuned and tightened up for 2020 to feature a checklist now rich with bona fide Rookie Card content. What that means for longtime Contenders loyalists and newcomers alike, of course, is more legitimate RCs.

It’s a refined recipe that makes 2020 Contenders Baseball arguably the most impressive and stacked editions of the venerable brand ever created — and the only one on the market to include top Rookie Cards, top draft picks and top international prospects all in one place.

In addition to key Rookie Cards for top talent such as Bo Bichette, Gavin Lux, Kyle Lewis, Luis Robert, Randy Arozarena and Yordan Alvarez, 2020 Contenders Baseball features must-have cards of top 2020 Draft Picks like Spencer Torkelson, Heston Kjerstad, Austin Martin, Nick Gonzalez, Robert Hassell and Zac Veen.

“The Contenders brand is one of the most prestigious and coveted in collecting history, but that’s primarily because of the legacy it has in football and basketball,” said Panini America Product Development Director Ben Ecklar. “This year, it was hugely important for us to take Contenders Baseball to the next level, to ensure that it would no longer be perceived as just a ‘prospects’ product.

“For 2020, we’ve absolutely taken Contenders Baseball to the next level by packing it with legitimate and compelling Rookie Card content to go along with the other must-have cards that celebrate the game’s brightest future stars. To be sure, this Contenders is . . . different.”

Find the first certified autographs of 2020 International Outfield Prospect Yoelqui Cespedes (the younger half-brother of Yoenis Cespedes) and OF/LHP Oscar Colas (one of the best Cuban prospects to appear in years who has drawn comparisons to Shohei Ohtani).

Additional attributes of 2020 Contenders Baseball include the debuting and ultra-rare Gold Rush insert, variations including Optic versions and Retro 1998 and Retro 1999 cards, Cracked Ice parallels and and a bevy of on-card autographs.

2020 Contenders Baseball releases today in hobby shops across North America and will be available at the official online store of Panini America beginning today at 12 p.m. CST.

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