Keeper League Strategy: Rebuilding is a Strategy Too - Part 2

Here is Part 2 of my Rebuilding is a Strategy Too Series, where I will summarize the results of my first Al-only league auction draft, and several trades I made last year. You can read Part 1 here, where I outline my strategy for rebuilding, what types of players to target in trades, and what types of players to target on draft day.

I used this strategy when taking over a team in an AL-only keeper league for the 2012 season. I like to use the rebuilding strategy when taking over a team in a keeper league, as I would rather rebuild than force myself to build a winner with players someone else drafted. I took over a team that had very little in terms of keepers, but I did my best in trading Adam Jones, in his last year of his contract, and Matt Capps. I turned those two into Miguel Sano, Lonnie Chisenhall and a few minor league draft picks.

Prior to the auction, we held a two-round minor league draft, and through trades and my own picks, I had four first round picks and a second round pick. Here are the prospects I drafted:

Dylan Bundy

Taijuan Walker

Jake Marisnick

Miguel Sano (acquired through trade)

Xander Bogaerts

Nick Castellanos

I went into my first auction draft targeting power hitters, players on the DL who I could keep for 2013, and some very cheap young starters who could surprise in 2012. The strategy worked out well. The intent of the auction was to draft players that I could flip in the first few months of the season. Here are the results of my first AL-only league auction:

$7 Victor Martinez

$1 Steven Vogt

$51 Albert Pujols

$28 Kendrys Morales

$32 Ben Zobrist

$3 Jamey Carroll

$1 Macier Izturis

$30 Alex Gordon

$5 Shelley Duncan

$11 Cody Ross

$26 David Oritz

$7 Alberto Callaspo

$22 Yu Darvish

$8 Andrew Bailey

$3 Joakim Soria

$2 Brian Matusz

$2 Brett Anderson

$1 Jonathan Sanchez

$1 Kyle Drabek

$1 Jake Arrieta

$1 Wade Davis

Once the season started, I quickly went into trade mode, focusing on cheap keepers and a few prospects close to the majors. The next stage of my rebuilding strategy started in mid-April, 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 Jonathon Sanchez.

I had been going back and forth with this owner, a Fake Teams reader, via text over the 3-4 days heading into the deal, which was agreed upon while I was out shopping one Sunday after church. 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 the Friday before. 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 already deep roster of minor league prospects (listed above).

Trading for so many prospects could be a trapshoot, as there is no guarantee that any of them will be impact players in the big leagues. But, with a stable of 10 prospects, I thought there was a decent chance that a few of them could make an impact. The timing of that impact is key to the strategy though.

In Part 3, I will detail several other deals that I made and take a look at what my keeper roster, minors and majors, looks like, and what my strategy will be come draft day.