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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.