Kevin McGonigle's 1st Bowman auto is a sell before Rookie of the Year

Kevin McGonigle's 1st Bowman auto already sells for more than last year's winner. A PSA 10 of his 2025 Bowman Chrome auto sold for $830 on eBay on Nov. 2, while Nick Kurtz's 2024 Bowman Draft Chrome auto went for $700 the day before. The BBWAA names the AL Rookie of the Year on Monday, Nov. 9, with McGonigle up against Cleveland's Parker Messick and Boston's Payton Tolle after a season of .278/.376/.430 with 18 home runs and 12 steals for the Tigers.

Kurtz is the warning. He won the 2025 award unanimously after 36 home runs and a 1.002 OPS, but the trophy wasn't what decided his card. Year two was. He was leading the AL in walks and had been named to start the All-Star Game at first base when he sprained his right thumb against Detroit on July 8. He came back July 25 for seven games and went 1-for-18, then he was back on the injured list and didn't play again last season. Twenty-one home runs and an .879 OPS in 99 games is a good year for most hitters. But for the reigning ROY, a sophomore slump will impact your card prices.

Pete Crow-Armstrong is the other way it can go. He hit 10 home runs with a .670 OPS as a Cubs rookie in 2024 and didn't get a single Rookie of the Year vote. In 2025 he finished ninth for MVP. This year he hit 45 home runs, stole 41 bases and made the NL MVP final three. Goldin sold his MLB Debut Patch auto 1/1 for $1,098,000 on Sept. 29.

There's no shortage of McGonigle slabs to wait on, either. PSA had graded 917 of his CPA-KM autos as of Nov. 4 and called 411 of them a 10. His 2026 Topps Chrome #16 rookie sells for about $2 raw if you just want him in the binder.

If you think McGonigle has a Crow-Armstrong season in him, holding is a real bet, since an MVP-level year two would make $830 look cheap. But nobody can see a 21-year-old's second season in November. I'd sell a PSA 10 around $830 before Monday and let the next buyer bet on year two.