Review of the Ottoneu Offseason

What I have in mind today is a review of everything I’ve done between the end of arbitration and last Saturday’s keeper deadline. I’ll begin with my 31 player roster entering the draft and include each trade that was made along the way. We can use the comments today for two purposes. Those who want to crow about their own accomplishments can do so. Others who have questions or concerns about why I did certain things should ask away. While there is an essence of humblebrag in this post, my purpose is to teach through example.

The final pre-draft roster came together nicely. I have two catchers, six first basemen, four second basemen, three shortstops, three third basemen, eight outfielders, seven starting pitchers, four relievers, and two prospects. Many of the position players have multiple eligibilities (28 positions covered by 18 players).

I have spent $324 on 31 roster spots, leaving me with enough money for one or two big purchases with the remaining spots reserved for draft bargains. Below is the exact roster (it insists on formatting this way).

Position playersPitchers

Clicking will expand the images. Missing is Jonathan Schoop ($7, 2B/3B) who was acquired via trade.

Draft prep is simple. Middle infield is my weakest position, but I’m confident at least one of my depth pieces will perform at a respectable level. Chris Owings, Wilmer Flores, and Schoop are all guys I like as potential breakout candidates. Even so, I’ll probably siphon my free money into second base or shortstop.

The only position where I’m forced to add a player is reliever. I’ll look to acquire two cost effective guys. Starting pitching depth is necessary too, especially with Tanner Roark temporarily blocked. Depending on how much I spend with infielders, I may also go big on a starter. Otherwise, I feel comfortable drafting a cheap player and trading for a hurler. I’m left with three or four unassigned roster spots to use as I please.

History of Trades

I made a total of 12 trades this offseason, not all of which were serious. The results are below in a hopefully readable format.

Date I Receive They Receive
11/15/15 $14 Jonathan Lucroy $4 Steven Souza
$55 Mike Trout $5 Corey Seager
$3 Jace Peterson
11/30/15 $3 Conor Gillaspie $3 Zach Walters
12/24/15 $6 Drew Smyly $3 Alex Rodriguez
$3 Justin Morneau
$2 Ben Lively
01/01/15 $8 Patrick Corbin $5 Shane Victorino
01/04/15 $4 Brandon McCarthy $7 Billy Hamilton
$7 Collin McHugh $3 Julio Urias
$4 Melky Cabrera $4 Raimel Tapia
01/24/15 $32 Evan Longoria $5 Nick Franklin
01/24/15 $3 Bartolo Colon $30 David Wright
01/24/15 $21 Matt Carpenter $4 Brandon McCarthy
$3 Tsuyoshi Wada $3 David Peralta
01/24/15 $7 Derek Jeter $49 Dustin Pedroia
01/28/15 $6 Scott Kazmir $32 Evan Longoria
01/31/15 $7 Jonathan Schoop $8 Patrick Corbin
01/31/15 $3 Nick Tropeano

The very first trade set the tone for my offseason. I spent my two best prospects to acquire an affordable solution at catcher and the best player in baseball. With Trout in tow, I identified third base and starting pitcher as my priorities.

For third base, I snagged Gillaspie just in case, then wrangled Longoria away from Chad Young. As soon as I completed that trade, talks heated up for Carpenter, who I expect to perform similarly to Longoria and Wright for less money. It’s a FanGraphs points league, so Carpenter’s lack of home runs and stolen bases isn’t a huge concern. Schoop was the finishing touch as he provides depth at both second and third base. I’d rather pay $3 for him, but I’m willing to burn an extra $4 on a flier.

I sewed up starting pitcher when I dealt my remaining top prospect – Urias. I was happy with Smyly, McCarthy, and McHugh to round out my rotation. Unfortunately, I had to cash in on one to acquire Carpenter. I chose McCarthy.

You may notice a few clownish moves in there. Jeter is mine! Or was for a couple days. He’s gone now, never to return. Right around the deadline, I gave away Tropeano. As my rival said, why not? While Colon for Wright was less ridiculous, both players were ultimately cut.

All told, I acquired 14 players and traded away 19. Three of the players I dealt were acquired in other moves. I indirectly converted Victorino into Schoop, Franklin into Kazmir, and Urias into Carpenter (plus Cabrera and McHugh).

Lessons

I entered the offseason with a plan – acquire Trout, Andrew McCutchen, or Lucroy. I was extremely lucky to notch two of my top three targets in one fell swoop. And on the very first day of trading too. I even had the opportunity to trade Lucroy or Christian Yelich for McCutchen, but I couldn’t make the math work.

There’s a lot to be said for making your biggest move first. While it looks like that Trout trade came together awfully rapidly, the groundwork was laid during arbitration season. Once that was out of the way, there were only a few areas to address. I spent a lot of time talking third basemen and middle infielders with my leaguemates. As a result, a few opportunities fell into my lap.

It probably doesn’t need to be said, but this offseason overhaul took a lot of time. Not everybody is willing to invest the same time and energy, which is understandable. Before you think about emulating what you see here in future offseasons, ask yourself if you’re willing to put in the effort. Maybe you’re the kind of owner who should sit back and let the offers come to you.

Adapting a process suitable to your level of involvement is a crucial part of success. I tend to favor labor intensive strategies because, well, this is my job. For many of you, a less time consuming approach is necessary. Thankfully, most mature leagues have several gung-ho owners. You might be annoyed by their needling and buy-low offers, but you should let them do the heavy lifting. I doubt they mind.





You can follow me on twitter @BaseballATeam

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Bruce
9 years ago

Wow, this team look sick. You have multiple first rounders, a reasonably priced trout, Blackmon on the Bench? Nice work!