[ThePretender]

Originally Posted by TuckerDuckson

To be honest you have a great crop of talent but you kind of rebuilt really poorly you got to have a plan when you move into each season, ask yourself, "what will my biggest need be in 4 years?" "Who was my last 1st round pick(s) and where are they now?" "What will my goals for this season? Will I sell or buy at the deadline?" Questions like these give you an outline of how you can trade/draft talent that you know you will have room for when you get to those years and set yourself up for championships to come.

Sorry but this is the wrong advice to give. He did the right thing by going BPA, and he'll be thanking himself that he did this down the line. As others have said, prospects decline so it's no guarantee the others fill out, and if they don't, he can use them as trade chips to get the pieces he wants. He can always use an extra OF at 1B or DH if they're not defensive studs, or he can trade them to fill out other needs.

While it's a good idea to think what needs you'll have in 4 needs, going away from BPA will screw you over. If you think "Hey, I need a SS so I'll take this guy in the draft", you're likely doing this at the expense of taking the more talented guy. And the problem with this, is that you're limiting your options. He might have been able to trade the "superior" draftee to a team who had a better SS available, but by settling for a SS in the draft you won't pull the trigger on the trade.

It's much better to have a situation where you have too many good players, then to be locked into lesser players because you needed a SS. You can always find a player when you're ready to compete, rebuilding is about acquiring the best talent and using that talent to either form your core, or as chips to acquire the pieces you need.

Drafting makes you think about the future, even though thinking about certain consequences sucks, also I always have my prospects learn other positions in the minors/spring training,so even if your man will be a mediocre defenseman at 2B, pull a Cleveland Indians and demote him to Triple A (like what they did with Lonnie Chisenhall) to get some full time reps at 2B. After doing that his season, have this guy play full time 2B in Spring Training next year.

If a guy is gonna be a lousy defender then he's not necessarily a better option than trading for someone. And this strategy takes an extra year to do, if you don't start it right from the beginning.

Another option if you feel like you can compete in the coming year is to trade one of your 4 top 100 OF options and get an elite team need in the offseason like a pitcher or top position player/catcher if you have a super need, trade the player to another rebuilding franchise and take one of their highly paid stars.

No, you don't trade your top specs for highly paid stars. You get them in salary dumps. But the other idea in trading his extra OF for a piece he needs is right.

Alternatively, you look around the minors for similarly talented prospects at a position you need, and swap the OF for a bat at another position or a SP. When I find myself having too much of one position, I'll trade one of my prospects for a similar or better talented player at another position.