Inside The Dynasty Rebuild – Part 2

Last month, I wrote an article for Prospects1500.com wherein I laid out a simple overview of a 30 team Roto/H2H Dynasty League rebuild team that I’ve taken over.  Today, we’ll dive into roughly half of the 22 trades that I have made so far in this league. Some additional articles to come in this series will be Trades Part 2, the FYPD (1 or 2 articles as I had 34 picks!), International Free Agency (ongoing), and Free Agency (on the horizon). Let’s get into it!

My trading philosophy in dynasty leagues is ideally to execute trades that work for both sides. I’m not a high-pressure trader, expecting other owners to accept a deal that isn’t beneficial for them. I want to foster relationships that will last for as long as the league is viable and those owners remain active in the league. My home league is going into it’s 24th season, with mostly the same ownership group, and trading to take advantage of owners doesn’t lend itself to league longevity. Certainly, I want to feel as though my team has improved through the trade, even though that may not always be readily apparent when making the deal. 

As I stated in the first article, which you can read here: Dynasty League Rebuild – Part 1, I came to the realization that the best possible outcome for the inherited team was likely a middle of the road team for the foreseeable future. Experienced dynasty league players will tell you that being stuck in the middle is not an enviable position to be in. Titles are the goal, and I try to keep my teams sustainable from a success standpoint. With that in mind, here are the early trades I made: 

Trade Away:  Matt Chapman

Receive:  Robby Snelling and Adael Amador

Trading in dynasty leagues is a bit like playing the stock market: buy low, sell high. I traded a win-now guy in Chapman for a viable SP in 30 team leagues and a bit of a post-hype sleeper in Amador, who plays in a very friendly home park for hitting. 

Trade Away:  Cody Bellinger, Sandy Alcantara, Ian Hamilton, $10M in Salary Cap Space

Receive: 2025 FYPD pick 1.1, Two ’25 4th round picks, ’25 7th round pick, Logan Evans, Ty Johnson, and $14.3M in IFA spending money

This trade is an initial loss, as the former Cy Young winner and MVP/ROY winner are both shipped out. I wanted to be able to pick a franchise cornerstone in the draft, obtained 2 starting pitchers that I really like and also acquired a big chunk of money to spend in the international market. The cap space I traded away wasn’t going to be used in 2025 anyway. 

Trade Away:  Gabriel Moreno

Receive:  Daniel Espino, Peyton Pallette, Brusdar Graterol, Pedro Pages, Anthony Gutierrez, 2025 1st Rd pick #23 overall

This is a single catcher league and I don’t value Moreno as much as others. Espino is a huge wild card, Graterol can be an effective reliever (announced injury after the trade), Pages should put up 2/3 of the numbers of Moreno. What I coveted the most was that potentially juicy 1st round selection. 

Trade Away:  Zac Gallen, $5M in Cap Space

Receive:  Walker Jenkins, Felnin Celesten, Echedry Vargas, Fernando Cruz, Lance McCullers Jr.,  2025 2nd round pick

This is the biggest trade I’ve made to date in the terms of sheer star power. Gallen should have a solid half dozen years left, minimum, however there are some chinks in the armor. His value to me in this league will never be higher. I wanted to get a top 10 prospect with a solid floor and high ceiling (Jenkins), a few helium type players (Celesten/Cruz) and acquiring more draft capital was also appealing. This is another trade that I lose in the short-term, in the hopes to build the foundation. 

Trade Away:  Andy Pages, 2025 3rd round pick (#6 in the 3rd)

Receive:  2025 1st round pick (#8 overall)

There’s nothing wrong with Pages, but I’m not sure that he fits in the Dodgers’ plans all that much. I lock in another top 10 pick in the 2025 draft. FOUNDATIONAL PIECES…or so I hope!

Trade Away:  Drew Gilbert

Receive:  Juneiker Caceres, Yoeilin Cespedes, Jeter Martinez

On this one, I opted to trade away a player closer to the bigs for players with higher ceilings, but also with a wider variety of outcomes. Overall, I’m not all that high on Gilbert being a decent everyday regular for the Mets, however the other owner likely feels the opposite, so this trade makes sense for both. 

Trade Away:  Brusdar Graterol

Receive:  Luis Merejo, Rainiel Rodriguez

I received an inquiry from a league owner that is competing now and he wanted to take a chance on Brusdar (not long after it was announced he would miss half the season). I was looking for a young 1B prospect in Merejo and Rodriguez has shown some promise as a very young catcher in the Cardinals organization. 

Trade Away:  Trevor Rogers

Receive: C.J. Kayfus

C.J. gives me some thump in the lineup at the 1B/OF position, to go along with a good batting eye, ability to get on base and won’t have to sacrifice too much hit tool to get to solid power. 

Trade Away:  $10M Cap Space

Receive:  Jake Miller, Eiberson Castellano

I generally don’t believe that trading for RP is a sound strategy. That advice doesn’t apply as much in 30 team leagues, because players that play and produce in real life for their teams are always in high demand. In this deal, I give up cap space that I wouldn’t be using and acquire two potentially solid bullpen pieces. 

Trade Away:  Pete Crow-Armstrong

Receive:  Jaden Hamm, Zebby Matthews, Aidan Curry

I had to think long and hard about accepting this proposed deal. I feel that PCA is going to take a big step forward for the Northsiders this season, he’s young, and his contract was friendly to have in this league. Hamm is underrated at this point, Zebby showed some flashes in the Twin Cities last year, and Curry is a complete wild card. 

 

In the next article, we’ll go through the remainder of the trades I’ve made (lots of draft pick acquisition during the draft) thus far in this league.   

What do you think of the ones detailed above? 

What trade looks great? 

What trade looks like a complete, giant L at this point?   

Of course, hindsight is all 20/20 and it could be several years before the judgment book is ultimately closed on these deals, but I like the maneuvers I’ve made up to this point.