Written by: Andrew Lowe (@ALowe710)
Follow us on Twitter: @Prospects365
In my introduction to this series, I talked about Trusting The Process and what that actually meant in terms of dynasty fantasy baseball.
Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s put some names to these ideas and roll out the roster I will use throughout this series. I’ve won the championship twice, including LAST year, and I find myself in playoff contention this season. I didn’t have to sell. But, heartbreakingly, Jose Fernandez passed away. I couldn’t keep Ryon Healy. Jung Ho Kang’s issues loomed throughout my offseason decision making. And, in my league particularly, Miguel Cabrera was losing value fast. When I sniffed the slightest whiff of trouble and felt my team’s window beginning to close, I channeled my pale-skinned role model, Mr. Hinkie.
When I started my fire sale, I had four goals:
1) Get a young potential ace to replace Scherzer
2) Stock up a war-chest of draft picks, one of which needing to be a a top 10 pick
3) Acquire players who could eventually be flipped for more assets
4) Unload Miguel Cabrera
Here are the trades (note that trades beginning with Healy and ending with Kang were made during the offseason):
| Sent Away | Received |
| Ryon Healy | Alex Verdugo |
| Jose Quintana | Triston McKenzie |
| Taylor Trammell | Franklyn Kilome |
| Scott Kingery | |
| Taylor Guerrieri | |
| David Dahl | Joe Panik |
| Luis Urias | Willy Adames |
| Ronald Acuna | |
| Jung Ho Kang | Roniel Raudes |
| Estevan Florial | |
| Ivan Nova | late 2018 1st |
| Marcell Ozuna | Michael Fulmer |
| Sent Away | Received |
| Paul Goldschmidt | Carlos Martinez |
| Felipe Rivero | Blake Snell |
| (1) Re-sign | Dominic Smith |
| late 2018 1st | |
| 2019 3rd | |
| Max Scherzer | Yonder Alonso |
| Dallas Keuchel | Yasiel Puig |
| Brent Honeywell | |
| Willie Calhoun | |
| 2018-2019 1st-4ths | |
| Miguel Cabrera | Brandon Belt |
| Matt Andriese | early-mid 2018 1st |
| (1) 2018 Re-sign | Aristides Aquino |
| Late 2018 3rd | $15 FAAB |
What follows are the remains. As bare as Jay Bilas’s “beard.” You and I will build a dynasty out of this. You’ll see we run pretty deep. There’s also some roster mechanics that are too silly to explain. I am trying to tank, yet I’m still in the playoff hunt:
C – Cameron Rupp
1B – Yonder Alonso
2B – Joe Panik
3B – Anthony Rendon
SS – Addison Russell
LF – Brandon Belt
CF – Ender Inciarte
RF – Domingo Santana
UTIL – Yasiel Puig
Bench – Jurickson Profar, Brad Miller (DL), Blake Swihart, Cory Spangenberg*
SP – Carlos Martinez
SP – Michael Fulmer
SP – Blake Snell
SP – Tyler Anderson (DL)
SP – Ty Blach*
RP – Ken Giles
RP – Francis Martes
RP – Mike Montgomery
RP – Alex Colome
RP – Jonathan Holder
Bench – Brock Stewart, Andrew Triggs (DL), Rubby De la Rosa*, Trevor Williams*, Austin Bibens-Dirkx*
Players notarized with an asterisk (*) are players I’m using to simply meet roster requirements. I have no long-term plans with these players unless I can trade them to an opposing owner.
Here’s where the fun begins…..
Prospect Bats: Eloy Jimenez, Ronald Acuna, Willy Adames, Alex Verdugo, Dominic Smith, Derek Fisher, Estevan Florial, Scott Kingery, Willie Calhoun, Christian Arroyo, Aristides Aquino, Andres Gimenez, Keibert Ruiz, Anderson Franco
Prospect Arms: Brent Honeywell, Triston McKenzie, Franklin Perez, Franklyn Kilome, Roniel Raudes, Nick Kingham, Taylor Guerrieri
And to top it all off….
I now own FIVE 1st round picks and 11 picks overall in the next draft, plus two 1st round picks and nine picks overall in 2019.
The minor league rosters in my league are unlimited, but prospects can only be selected in our four-round Prospect Draft each January. About 300 prospects are owned already in my league. That means that June Rule 4 draftees, July 2 teenagers, and prospects that fall through the cracks are the only prospects unowned in my league.
What are the lessons to be learned? Have specific goals in mind and accomplish them. And while you should always keep it in mind, not every trade you execute in fantasy baseball (dynasties, especially) has to match or maximize value.
The first dam to break was trading Goldschmidt to a championship-caliber team. The other owner was persistent and admittedly wore me down. After many poor offers, he finally offered something interesting: young potential ace Carlos Martinez. He added some sweeteners, but mandated that I include both Felipe Rivero and a re-sign. The trade checked off a few boxes for me, including opening my opponent’s mind to the potential of more trades. He may have won this battle, but I will win the war.
Why give up extra pieces? When I ask for extra targets, the other owner usually shows reluctance, perhaps a coy ploy by them (although most owners aren’t that smart). Despite losing a little value holistically, I am willing to include inconsequential pieces to get a deal done because it shows the other owner I am not trying to screw them over. It fosters good future negotiations. Of course, you can take it too far and channel Dave Stewart or Billy King and give up assets unnecessarily. Figure out the difference between your opponent attempting to take advantage of you and your opponent simply seeking what they perceive as fair value while negotiating a trade.
The rest of the trades listed above helped accomplish the goals I had laid out and prioritized beforehand, including the unloading of Miguel Cabrera. I am trying to sell Yonder Alonso and rebuild Yasiel Puig’s value through conversations with my leaguemates. No, I didn’t unanimously win each and every trade I executed along the way, but my minor league system will nearly double in size over the next two years thanks to the moves I made, which should be a huge goal for any team attempting to rebuild in a dynasty league. After all, this is chess, not checkers.
You’re all caught up now. We’ll work together to fix this team. Through this process, I will detail the mechanics of my rebuild including ways to sell and accumulate value, tell you what I look for in prospects, discuss creativity and adaptability, analyze behavior, address biases, and share how to optimize your use of information and resources. I hope you Trust The Process and continue on this journey with me.
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Credit for featured image goes to MLB.com.