What I don't understand is why some guys vote for cards, of the more contemporary players, that aren't their best years? ie. Bichette, Galaragga, Edgar Martinez etc
One can never say for sure what is in the mind of another. But I can think of a few reasons someone might do this.
Take Mantle for example. Suppose we just had the 56 and 61 cards and the 59 card was offered up for us to vote on. There could be people who play lower caps who would vote for the 59 card because it would allow them to use Mantle in CF without breaking their bank. So agree that 59 $9 mil card probably useless to people who play only higher caps where only the $14 or $12 mil card is used.
In the case of Bichette and Galaragga specifically one might vote for Galaragga because the 2 cards we have are Montreal cards. The new one is an Atlanta card. Easy to see why Atlanta fans would vote for it. On Bichette when I search bic all that is returned is Vern Bickford. So people may have voted for him even though 93 not his best year 95 when he was 2nd in MVP, or one of his allstar years were available to give a vote to. On Martinez we have his 92 card. But the defensive numbers make him a marginal use third baseman, especially at higher caps. It was also iffy as a DH at higher caps as there were so many options for DH. The 97 card we were offered has higher OBP and more HR power. Defensive ratings probably still will not get him in field but the offensive side might be sufficiently better to make him a more desirable option at DH.
Another reason as mentioned on the Galaragga card one might vote for a lesser season because the new card offered played for a different city which makes it attracive for fans of that city's team.
And if I give in to my skeptical side a reason for voting for a lesser card is it gives a person the opportunity to autodraft a cheaper version of a card so they can list better players over all with plans of switching to the more expensive card after waivers. I know none of us would do that.
But might be some who do. To be clear I did not vote for any new card on this basis. My personal voting mindset was to scan through for any pitchers from a cadillac season as first priority. Then looked for hitters of more modern vintage.