AL-Only Keeper League Trade: Pujols and Gordon for Montero and Profar

I wrote about the results of my AL-only, 4 X 4 keeper league draft back on April 8th, and I am using a rebuilding strategy in my first year in the league. I traded most of my keepers during the offseason for first round picks in the minor league draft or prospects. The plan behind the rebuild strategy is to trade for as many cheap keepers as possible to be able to build a championship team in the next two years. I used this strategy in the UBA NL-Only keeper league and built a championship team after just one year. There is no guarantee that this strategy will build a championship team, but if some of my prospects can reach the big leagues in the next year or two, I think I have a decent shot.

The next stage of my rebuilding strategy started on Sunday as I made my first trade of the season. I traded a $51 Albert Pujols, a $30 Alex Gordon, and two $1 starters: Kyle Drabek and Jonathan Sanchez. I don't mind dealing any of these guys....except for Drabek. I targeted him heading into the draft and was happy that I got him at $1. I am regretting including him in the deal already.

But, I think what I got in return was worth it. My take in this deal after the jump:

I had been going back and forth with this owner, a Fake Teams reader, via text over the 3-4 days heading into Sunday. He was persistent in asking for Albert Pujols, and I was persistent in my asking price. So we were at a stand still, so I decided to communicate to the rest of the owners in the league that Pujols was available last Friday. I knew I would get several offers, and some were very good. One of which I may come to regret, but I like what I got back in this deal.

Here is what I received in return for Pujols, Gordon, Drabek and Sanchez:

$5 Jesus Montero

$20 Raul Ibanez

$10 Bruce Chen

$10 Geanmar Gomez

$5 Jurickson Profar

$5 Francisco Lindor

$5 Mike Olt

Montero and Profar are the two guys i really wanted from this owner, and I got them. I now have Profar, Lindor and Olt to add to my roster of minor league prospects:

Dylan Bundy

Taijuan Walker

Jake Marisnick

Miguel Sano

Xander Bogaerts

Nick Castellanos

Jarrod Parker

Trading for so many prospects could be a trapshoot, as there is not guarantee that any of them will be impact players in the big leagues. But, with a stable of 10 prospects, I think there is a decent chance that a few of them could make an impact. The timing of that impact is key to the strategy thought.

And another problem is, I can only keep 5 prospects heading into the 2013 draft, so I will have to be creative and active in my trades next offseason. That, and hope that someone like Walker, Bundy or possibly Profar make the 25 man rosters out of spring training in 2013. Chances are slim, but two of them are already in AA and Bundy probably belongs in AA.

I have a few other hitters who are garnering interest in trades including David Ortiz, Ben Zobrist and Kendrys Morales. I have an offer from another owner for Big Papi for one of the top prospects in the game, but want to see if i can trade for a cheap, big league hitter before I pull the trigger on that offer.

So, how did I do in this deal?