Daniel Espino

The Seam

Thirty-Five Pitches — Daniel Espino's fastball survived two shoulder surgeries and came back at 100.8 miles an hour. A medical staff still decides, before each outing, how many of them he's allowed to throw. July 26, 2026

The card rack

FlagshipDaniel Espino #BTP-56 · 2024 Bowman Scouts Top 100 · 18 recent sales 7N ▲0%

$1.35Raw$11.50PSA 9$33.43PSA 10$43.00BGS 10PSA 10 · 46 nights

Live on eBay now · asking, not sold · as of 2026-08-27 · paid links

$0.99Ungraded$0.99Ungraded$1.35Ungraded

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The rookieDaniel Espino #BTP-11 · 2023 Bowman Scouts Top 100 · 13 recent sales 7N ▼0.4%

$1.50Raw$11.86PSA 9$33.74PSA 10$44.00BGS 10PSA 10 · 42 nights

Live on eBay now · asking, not sold · as of 2026-08-27 · paid links

$0.99Ungraded$0.99Ungraded$0.99Ungraded

See all on eBay →

Paid link — as an eBay Partner, FVR earns from qualifying purchases. · Flagship = his most-traded card (the market’s reference); the rookie = the top card of his first card year. As of August 27, 2026 · trend is FVR's own nightly archive · prices via SportsCardsPro · what these terms mean

Scout’s note

A first-round pick in 2019 out of Panama City, Espino debuted June 17, 2026, and has thrown six MLB innings — 12 strikeouts, 4.50 ERA. His stuff grade of 0.81 sits in the 98th percentile of the 751 AAA arms we track, where the median is 0.05. Twelve strikeouts in six innings is the stuff arriving; the earned runs are the command lagging behind. At 25, he's on the watchlist — and the stuff is why.

Current signals

The read: Espino's stuff grade of 0.81 ranks in the 98th percentile of the 767 AAA arms we track (median 0.05). Stuff is not command — watchlist, not a call — but stuff comes first.

Stuff-lite

0.8086

Pitches

638

Age

25

A market fact, not an engine read: what a club decided about him, on the season before this one. Figures from Cot’s, as of August 7, 2026.

2026 salary

$0.32Mest

Tax hit

$0.32M

Service time

0 yr 0 d

Options left

1 / 3

Regime read from his service time, not from the sheet — it does not project him past this season. Super Two eligibility is the top 22% of a class and can move this line in a way service time alone cannot see.

Cash and the tax hit are two different rulebooks and are never subtracted from one another — see the payroll board for his club, Cleveland Guardians.

A second set of books

The same contract, read by MLB Spreadsheets (Ethan Hullihen), as of August 20, 2026. We keep two sources on this because one source cannot check itself.

Tax AAV

$0.78M

Guaranteed

$0.78M

Term

1 yr

His class

Pre-Arb

The tax AAV above is his number under the CBA’s own rulebook, not the average we work out from Cot’s total. On a contract with deferred money the two come apart on purpose — and neither is subtracted from the other.

Collect Daniel Espino

If the signal is right, the cardboard usually finds out later. Current listings:

High-end listings ($75+) →

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Not financial advice. We take positions only after publication — never before. Misses stay on the record.