I'm taking over a dynasty team that's in bad shape. How bad? Well... in last year's inaugural draft the guy took KRod in the 1st, BJ Ryan in the 3rd, Mike Aviles in the 8th, and countless other knucklehead picks. He did wind up with Matt Holliday and Joey Votto though, but the other managers found a way to steal them.

So here's my plan:

1. Trade away SP1,SP2,SP3 to bring in some bats.
2. Replace SP1, SP2, SP3 with dominant middle relievers.
3. Trade all "name" players for younger guys who I think can break out within a year or two.
4. Completely punt saves -- trade away all closers and see what I can get in return.
5. Scour FA pool for cheap speed.
6. Target batters with extreme split stats and platoon my lineup.
7. Target prospects and supplemental draft picks in trades.
8. Make a ton of add/drops and play "hot" players.

All that's based on the assumption that it's easier to find pitching and speed than hitting. If I'm willing to put in the time, platooning can be very effective. The platoon is just a stop gap though while I rebuild my batters.

I know I'm not winning this year, but I want to contend in a year or two. Any other ideas?

Oh, forgot to mention it's a 14 team 6x6 (ops,holds) mixed league.

I have the second pick in the supplemental draft. (Surprisingly this team didn't finish last!) I'm taking Heyward.

#2 makes it sounds like you're punting wins, along with saves. I rarely advise punting a category, let alone two.

True, I'd be punting wins and saves. The plan is to strengthen the hitting first because, at least in my experience, it's harder to find hitting off the free agent pool than it is to find pitching.

Pitchers are also riskier, and since I don't have a lot of assets to begin with, it's a good idea to convert pitching to hitting to limit my risk.

I'm giving myself two seasons to rehab this team and make the team a contender. If I'm a hawk on the wire I think I can make up for this year's pitching firesale within two seasons.

I'd like to see your roster so I knew exactly what you're working with. There's bound to be some guys who you can move for prospects. #3 alone usually works if you get the right guys.

Definitely agree with Bob. Punting two categories is not a good idea ever. Your margin of error is way too thin there. But shit, if you're building for 2012 you might as well punt every category to help better those chances.

Cool, thanks for taking a look. I also posted a chart showing how this team performed overall. I might have overreacted looking at last year's draft, but still this team is kinda shitty.

The supplemental draft is coming up and I have to drop some players beforehand.

C Joe Mauer
1B Billy Butler
2B Dan Uggla
3B Alex Gordon
SS Jhonny Peralta
OF Curtis Granderson
OF Hideki Matsui
OF Vernon Wells
Util Carlos Quentin
Util Pat Burrell
BN Garrett Atkins
BN Mike Cameron
BN Nick Swisher
BN Eugenio Velez

SP Josh Johnson
SP Ryan Dempster
SP James Shields
RP Francisco Rodríguez
RP Brian Wilson
RP Dan Wheeler
RP Joey Devine
P Rafael Betancourt
P Jason Bulger
P John Danks
BN Jeff Niemann
BN Johnny Cueto
BN Shaun Marcum
BN Chris Young

What are the other catching options you may have available to you other than Mauer? If there is a Napoli type out there, I think you trade away Joe for bigger bats in the IF. Saves and holds are very volatile categories, I don't know how predicable you can be with trading away/for either of those...

**UPDATE**

So I've been wheeling and dealing and I'm starting to get excited over my team's future.

I have Strasburg and it's tricky enough trying to work out a trade for him, trickier even in this league since it's a dynasty. So I was offered Jose Reyes and CJ Wilson for Strasburg and Brett Wallace. I rejected... He followed up with Jose Reyes and Rick Porcello for Strasburg. I rejected that one too. This guy looks to have a thing for hot shot aces, so maybe I can get back something really good. Any advice on how should I counter? Thanks for looking.

Here are the lineups:

MY TEAM:
C Geovany Soto
1 BBilly Butler
2B Dan Uggla
3B Kevin Kouzmanoff
SS Mike Aviles
OF Justin Upton
OF Vernon Wells
OF J.D. Drew
Util Troy Glaus
Util Carlos Quentin
BN Michael Taylor
BN Josh Bell
BN Brett Wallace
BN Domonic Brown
BN Brandon Allen

SP Colby Lewis
SP Josh Johnson
SP Stephen Strasburg
RP Brandon League
RP Evan Meek
RP Sam Demel
RP Jonny Venters
P Ryan Dempster
P Johnny Cueto
P Tim Hudson
BN John Danks
BN Jeff Niemann
BN James Shields
DL Koji Uehara


HIS TEAM:
C Brian McCann
1B Derrek Lee
2B Alberto Callaspo
3B José López
SS José Reyes
OF Josh Willingham
OF Colby Rasmus
OF Austin Jackson
Util Cody Ross
Util Ike Davis
BN Adam LaRoche
BN Rafael Furcal
BN Desmond Jennings
BN Alex Gordon
BN Dayan Viciedo
DL Carlos Beltrán

SP Tim Lincecum
SP David Price
SP C.J. Wilson
RP Andrew Bailey
RP Neftali Feliz
RP Daniel Bard
RP Joel Zumaya
P Matt Belisle
P Grant Balfour
P Michael Wuertz
BN Trevor Cahill
BN Rick Porcello
BN Edwin Jackson
BN Jeremy Hellickson
DL Ryan Perry
DL Todd Coffey

hold on to strasburg a while longer. his value has not peaked yet if you are eager to trade him. you really should keep him tho as he could give you lincecum type numbers next year. pairing him with josh johnson in 2011 gives you a solid beginning to your rotation

btw wallace and brown were very good pick-ups imho

Thanks for the input Spike. I'm going to hold on to Strasburg and let his value appreciate but his days on my team are numbered. Those mechanics scare me! I said the same thing about Lincecum's mechanics, but Strasburg's windup reminds me of Mark Prior. And that's scary!

I traded Granderson/Pelfrey/Storen for Wallace/Brown. Risky for sure, but I think come 2011 I got a steal.