Community Forum

You can use the Farm Rankings, but those also play into the current year along with the current roster. The point of taking a team to rebuild is to rebuild them. And that at times means moving players. I just started another Franchise, this time with 2 teams ( one my usual, and the other a rebuild). So far, I've been having a lot of fun building the Cardinals back.
They've got enough mid-level talent to force you to either keep and hope they develop, or move for capital to gain more down the line in the season. Farm system has some decent guys. I don't always take a ton of stock into a player's Potential Grade. I've had guys start in AA with a D, and by end of year 2, they were in AAA/MLB with B's, and one of them with an A. It's up to you at the end of the day, and how much you want to invest yourself into the team, playing them, setting training, managing fatigue etc etc etc..
My advice on teams: Cardinals, Marlins, Tigers, Blue Jays, Giants, Royals and Orioles (although they are really a contender, the division is brutal and makes them the lesser team)