I recently took over an abandoned team in a dynasty league and I thought it would be interesting to lift up the hood for readers as I move forward. We’re pretty transparent in TDGX, and I think that it’s helpful for dynasty players to see the thought processes behind decisions. The league is 30 teams deep with 25-man MLB rosters and 45-man MiLB rosters. Holds and SLG make it a 6×6 scoring system with OBP instead of average. There is a $100 million salary cap, a $5 million signing bonus stipend mid-season, and three tags that can be used for players with expiring contracts. There’s a restricted free agent tag that provides pick compensation, a franchise tag that assumes the real life contract of a player, and a flex tag that can be used as either. It’s a very active league as I’ve already made some trades and have been back and forth with several owners.

I love how deep it is and how the contracts impact the decisions I need to make going forward. Obviously the team wasn’t in great shape, but there are some nice pieces on the MLB roster and I was able to take over the team just before the mid-year MiLB free agent signing, allowing me to snag some prospects for what was a pretty thin farm. You’ll see what I mean after the jump…  

Here’s the farm I took over.  Prospects and team control are really valuable in this format so I wasn’t thrilled with what I saw. Ages are in parentheses and the most recent organizational T20 rank from MLB.com is included when applicable.

HITTERS

(21) Jorge Martinez OF (Indians)
(22) Cristhian Adames MI/CI (Rockies) #13
(22) Hunter Jones OF (White Sox)
(24) Cory Farris OF (White Sox)
(24) Elevys Gonzalez MI/CI/OF (Dodgers)
(25) Danny Muno MI (Mets)
(26) Andrew Clark 1B (Yankees)
(27) Cord Phelps 2B (Indians)
(27) Matt Long OF (Angels)
(27) Brady Shoemaker OF
(28) Russ Canzler 1B/OF (Indians)
(28) Bryce Massanari C (Rockies)

LHP

(23) Taylor Rogers LHP (Twins)
(23) Elvis Araujo LHP (Indians)
(26) Donnie Joseph LHP (Royals)
(26) Dan Rosenbaum LHP (Nationals)
(26) Edwar Cabrera LHP (Rockies)
(26) Chris Masters LHP (Braves)

RHP

(25) Josh Slaats RHP (DBacks)
(25) Parker Frazier RHP (White Sox)
(26) Joe Gardner RHP (Cubs)
(27) Austin Adams RHP (Indians)
(27) D.J. Mitchell RHP (Yankees)
(31) Matt Fox RHP (Boston)

Total Rostered: 24

Not exactly a killer farm, but like I mentioned earlier I had a few pieces to move from the MLB roster and all three tags left so I made a few moves to get my feet wet and try to get some lottery tickets on this roster. Here’s what it looks like now. Blue players were free agent signings using my bonus stipend (blind auction). Orange players were trades.

HITTERS

(17) Roni Tapia 3B (Twins)
(18) Natanael Delgado OF (Angels) #12
(19) Harold Ramirez OF (Pirates) #8
(19) Elvis Escobar OF (Pirates) 
(19) Javier Betancourt SS (Tigers)

(20) Ketel Marte SS (Mariners) #11
(20) Kody Eaves 2B (Angels) #20
(21) Jorge Martinez OF (Indians)
(21) Luigi Rodriguez OF (Indians)
(21) Hanser Alberto SS (Rangers) 

(22) Cristhian Adames MI/CI (Rockies) #13
(22) Tony Wolters C (Indians) #18
(22) Hunter Jones OF (White Sox)
(23) Aaron Altherr OF (Phillies) #6
(24) Cory Farris OF (White Sox)

(24) Elevys Gonzalez MI/CI/OF (Dodgers)
(25) Danny Muno MI (Mets)
(26) Andrew Clark 1B (Yankees)
(27) Matt Long OF (Angels)
(27) Brady Shoemaker OF (Marlins)

LHP

(22) Jesse Biddle LHP (Phillies) #4
(22) Kevin Ziomek LHP (Tigers) #6
(23) Jonathan Dziedzic LHP (Royals)
(23) Taylor Rogers LHP (Twins)
(24) Brian Flynn LHP (Marlins) #11

(26) Donnie Joseph LHP (Royals)
(26) Dan Rosenbaum LHP (Nationals)
(26) Edwar Cabrera LHP (Rockies)
(26) Chris Masters LHP (Braves)
(27) Ian Thomas LHP (Braves)

RHP

(19) Akeem Bostick RHP (Rangers)
(21) Robert Stephenson RHP (Reds) #1
(21) Kyle Smith RHP (Astros) #15
(21) Zach Davies RHP (Orioles) #9
(22) Andrew Thurman RHP (Astros)

(23) Jose Dominguez RHP (Dodgers) #12
(25) Michael Mariot RHP (Royals)
(25) Josh Slaats RHP (DBacks)
(25) Parker Frazier RHP (White Sox)
(26) Joe Gardner RHP (Cubs)

(27) C.C. Lee RHP (Indians)

Total Rostered: 41

Here’s how I got there…

Cuts

(27) Cord Phelps 2B (Indians)
(28) Russ Canzler 1B/OF (Indians)
(28) Bryce Massanari C (Rockies)
(27) D.J. Mitchell RHP (Yankees)
(31) Matt Fox RHP (Boston)

Trades

1. OF- Ryan Kalish 2014: $.4M (PP-2016)
(19) Akeem Bostick RHP (Rangers)
(27) C.C. Lee RHP (Indians)
(25) Michael Mariot RHP (Royals)
(27) Ian Thomas LHP (Braves)

for my 5th round FYPD pick

2. RHP Kyle Smith
LHP Kevin Ziomek
LHP Brian Flynn
OF Elvis Escobar

for Wei Yin Chen $400K thru 2017

3.  Robert Stephenson RHP (Reds)
Jesse Biddle LHP (Phillies)
2nd round FYPD pick

for RP: C. Kimbrel, ATL 2014:$0.4  2015:$0.4

4. SP/RP- Andre Rienzo 2014: $.4M (PP-2017)
(19) Harold Ramirez OF (Pirates)
(18) Natanael Delgado OF (Angels)
(21) Zach Davies RHP (Orioles)
(20) Kody Eaves 2B (Angels)
(23) Jose Dominguez RHP (Dodgers)

for OF- Austin Jackson 2014: $.4M (FA after this season) (Indians RFA Tag)

5. (22) Tony Wolters C (Indians)
(22) Andrew Thurman RHP (Astros)
(23) Aaron Altherr OF (Phillies)
(21) Luigi Rodriguez OF (Indians)
(21) Hanser Alberto SS (Rangers)

for
(27) Austin Adams RHP (Indians)
(23) Elvis Araujo LHP (Indians)

With these five trades I think I made a big difference in my farm while still keeping two of my three free agent tags intact. I’ll also carry big MLB chips like Adam Jones, Wilin Rosario, and Jose Reyes into the trade deadline and winter meetings. I may be able to turn some of those big league assets with large contracts into a younger, more affordable roster in the coming season. I’ll keep tabs on how this team is doing now and again here at TDG.