I wrote a few times about my rebuilding strategy in my AL-only 4 x 4 keeper league as I took over a team and felt the best way to compete in this league was to trade all of my productive hitters and pitchers for prospects in an attempt to compete in 2013 and beyond. I also wrote about a huge deal I made last Sunday here. The rebuilding continued early last week as I made a few more deals on Wednesday:
The first deal i made was also a big one, one where I landed one of my preseason targets, Eric Hosmer.
I traded:
$32 Ben Zobrist
$26 David Ortiz
$20 Raul Ibanez
$10 Bruce Chen
$1 Wade Davis
$1 Jake Arrieta
for
$10 Eric Hosmer
$15 Ervin Santana
$10 Michael Saunders
$10 Octavio Dotel
$1 Brendan Ryan
$4 Kevin Gregg
Other than David Ortiz and maybe Jake Arrieta, I didn't give up anyone I would keep for 2013, as Zobrist is either at full value, or several dollars above value. Ortiz is still a productive hitter, capable of a 30 HR, 95 RBI, .285 BA hitting in the Red Sox lineup, but I felt that Hosmer's potential was enough to give up several productive hitters for him.
in return, I get one of the best young hitters in the game. His slow start notwithstanding, Hosmer is capable of putting up MVP-like numbers as soon as this season. In addition, I received Angels starter Ervin Santana, who is off to a very slow start, but is another piece I can deal later in the year.
Details of my third trade in this league after the jump:
I made a second deal on Wednesday, and here are the details:
I trade:
$28 Kendrys Morales
$5 Danny Valencia
for
$5 Manny Machado
$5 Chris Parmalee
$5 Alex Liddi
$5 Billy Rowell
First of all, I have never heard of Rowell, but he was just a throw in. The main piece I received in this deal is Orioles AA shortstop Manny Machado. Machado is an advanced hitter for his age, and some have speculated that he could be a September call up this season. I doubt we see Machado in Baltimore this season, or even in 2013, but if all goes well for him, he should be up in 2014.
To get Machado, I dealt Morales who is coming back after almost two years out of the game due to injury. He is hitting .280 in 13 games this season, but the power has yet to surface. There is a chance that Morales doesn't return to the hitter he was before his 2010 leg injury, and I felt that landing Machado, one of the best hitting prospects in baseball, was worth dealing for.
These three trades leave me with some of the top prospects in the game:
Manny Machdo
Jurickson Profar
Miguel Sano
Francisco Lindor
Jake Marisnick
Nick Castellanos
Xander Bogaerts
Mike Olt
Dylan Bundy
Taijuan Walker
Jarrod Parker
In addition to these prospects, I have the following keepers at cheap prices for 2013:
$5 Jesus Montero
$10 Eric Hosmer - will need a raise to keep beyond 2013
$7 Victor Martinez
$8 Andrew Bailey
$3 Joakim Soria
In this league, we are only allowed to keep 5 prospects, so I have to hope that maybe one of them-Taijuan Walker maybe-makes the 2013 25 man roster out of spring training. Otherwise, I will have to deal a few of them for major league keepers next offseason. If I had to decide which 5 prospects I would keep heading into 2013, they would be:
Dylan Bundy
Taijuan Walker
Manny Machado
Jurickson Profar
Miguel Sano
Athletic's pitching prospect Jarrod Parker could make his 2012 debut later this week, as there is speculation that he will get the call up when the A's need a 5th starter mid-week. These five prospects could easily be in the top 10-20 prospects in the game as soon as midseason 2012. Walker and Bundy are two of the top pitching prospects right now, and Machado and Profar are already top 10 prospects. Sano, who is off to a terrific start in his first full year at Low-A Beloit, already has 6 HRs and 18 RBI in 54 at bats so far. If he keeps this up, he easily could be ranked in the Top15-20 prospects at midseason.