You’ve been following TDGX. You love TDGX. We all love TDGX.  And every week here at The Dynasty Guru, I am going to be bringing you commentary from our flagship experts’ league, directly from the participants themselves. Today we’re going to cover all of the transactions made post-draft, including a few trades–one involving an elite prospect and another involving a potential high-end starting pitcher.

The goal here is to give you insight into the moves made by our group of experts so that you can use this information the next time you need to make a trade or prominent FA move in your league. So let’s not mess around with too much longer of an introduction. We’re going to break this up into three sections: trades, major league additions, minor league additions.

TRADES

None this week

MAJOR LEAGUE FA PICKUPS

J.P. Breen adds Joe Smith for $28

“It’s no secret my overall squad has struggled. This led to two key thoughts: (1) I couldn’t afford to punt the saves category, despite a season-ending injury to Bobby Parnell, and (2) the odds of my needing the entire free-agent budget this season is incredibly slim. Therefore, I overbid on Smith to ensure I could pick up some saves and have a useful trading piece down the road if the right deal happens to come along.”

Mike Rosenbaum adds Juan Francisco for $6

“I had been looking to upgrade my outfield since Avisail Garcia went down for the season, and couldn’t stand to see both Nate McLouth or Jordan Danks in my lineup for another week. Without any almost-everyday players on the bench, I decided to add Juan Francisco ($6 bid) and release Danks. The move immediately makes my team stronger, as it allows me to employ Francisco as a corner infielder and shift Martin Prado to the outfield.”

Mike Buttil adds Jemile Weeks for $5

“Weeks gets a small boost in playing time with the injury to Chris Davis and we needed a healthy bat to replace the injured Seth Smith (groin) in our lineup. Best case scenario, Weeks continues to get some reps even after Manny Machado returns, providing runs and steals. Worst case, he goes 0-fer for the next seven days and gets sent back to the minors.”

Wilson Karaman adds Carlos Torres for $4

“As if spending a third of my FAAB budget on Farnsworth wasn’t enough, I decided to spring for an extra four bucks on Torres as a proper handcuff. Torres has been far and away the Mets’ most effective reliever so far, though his walk rate will be something to keep an eagle eye on. But his velocity has kicked up a notch this year and he’s throwing his cutter much more, and thus far that combo has looked strong. Farnsworth’s already given up runs in two of three appearances since taking the closer’s chair, and he was one sparkling defensive play away from blowing his most recent save opportunity. I’ll miss Al-Al’s Instagram feed, but I like the speculative play that Torres’ new velocity and plan of attack are signs of sustainable growth.”

Ian Kahn/Tim McLeod add Franklin Morales for $3

“Having Kershaw staying in the minors for another rehab start, we had the space for another player on the roster. I have always liked Morales, and thought that if he had a chance to stay in a rotation, his low to mid 90’s stuff from the left side could prove valuable. With two starts against Arizona and the Mets, it was a decent bet that he could at least add a win to the ledger, as well as some K’s.”

Wilson Karaman adds Collin Cowgill for $3

“I decided to grab a bit of outfield depth for the week, as Braun’s hurt and poised to miss 3-5 days of the period and Andre Ethier has been sick, playing inconsistently, and playing poorly when not sick or inactive. Cowgill appears to have an inside track over Brennan Boesch to one of the two vacant outfield spots in Anaheim while Calhoun and Hamilton are on the shelf. He’s started each of the past three games (with hits in all three) and led off in each of the last two. That’s enough for me to take a flyer on the possibility of him getting hot, setting up camp in that leadoff spot, and scoring a bunch of runs for me over the next week or two. I’m sad to see Amador go, as I love his #girth. But he was shipped back to the Mexican League for the rest of the season and doesn’t make much sense as a stash at this point even in a league this deep.”

Jason Hunt adds Daisuke Matsuzaka for $1

“Ah, the continued search for any hope of saves. Matsuzaka was a back up bid for Joe Smith (who went for more than my budget could handle at this point), but I do like the potential for a few saves here and there. He’s already been shown as the next option for the Mets, and it’s not exactly like Kyle Farnsworth has shown an ability to stay healthy for huge stretches lately. If this works out to getting me two or three saves, I’ll be pretty happy with it.”

Mike Newman adds Randal Grichuk for $1

“In Nashville, a two game look at Randal Grichuk sold me on his dynasty league value. In a five outfielder format, an outfielder with 17-20 home run, 8-10 steal potential is valuable — especially when added for nothing. Having placed the request early in the week, his promotion to St. Louis had me concern another team would bid. Fortunately, Grichuk slipped through and became a member of Team ROTOscouting, replacing Andrew Lambo, a player who’ll never receive a shot now that Ike Davis is in the fold.”

Craig Goldstein/Mauricio Rubio add Ronald Belisario for $0

“Like a lot of teams we’ve been hurting for saves in the early going. The White Sox bullpen situation is a disaster right now, albeit one that’s riding a 10 inning scoreless streak (as of writing). Bellisario is a gamble, low investment with a moderate return. He’s the dark horse in Chicago and with Lindstrom toeing the line with disaster and the White Sox maybe expanding Daniel Webb’s role it’s a dark horse we felt comfortable riding for a small fee.”

Nick Doran adds Vidal Nuno for $0

“The 26 year old Nuno now has a slot in the Yankees’ starting rotation due to Ivan Nova being lost to Tommy John surgery. His major league stats don’t look too good after 33 career innings, but his minor league strikeout and walk rates were quite nice. I will hold him on my bench for a while and see how he does. There is a strong chance he will develop into a nice asset.”

MINOR LEAGUE FA PICKUPS

J.P. Breen adds Rafael De Paula for $0

“De Paula just missed MLB.com’s Top-100 Prospects prior to the season, and the right-hander has enjoyed a successful first month. He has struck out 33 batters in 24.1 innings, while his walk rate has lessened. Essentially, though, this was an opportunity to pick up a fringe Top-100 Prospect (in the eyes of some prospect evaluators) who has statistically found early success in 2014. If he enjoys a breakout season, I’ll be glad to already have him on my squad and not have to cross my fingers in next year’s draft.”

Nick Doran adds Gabriel Guerrero for $0

“He is off to a hot start in High A ball. Its possible he is an early-season California League mirage, but it looks like he may have taken a real step forward in his development and is now a legit breakout candidate. Hopefully he can climb the prospect charts and generate some trade value later this season. Time will tell.”

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