When did the Braves and Cards rebuild? The Nats rebuilt through the farm, 2 elite #1 picks, stole Gio for spare prospects and signed one significant FA. That FA has been a bust. All three of these are poor examples of using FA as part of rebuilding. They are using FA to add to pretty good teams. The Pirates/Royals are poor examples but not because the Royals' recent prospects busted. The reason is that for over a decade they completely neglected their farm systems. They weren't active in int'l FA. They repeatedly took lesser talented and cheaper draft picks. They stunk at the MLB level and they stunk at the MiLB level. About 5 years ago both teams got serious about their farm system and started spending big money on overslot picks and int'l FA's. The Royals prospects have disappointed (it happens) but the Pirates have the best record in baseball (they are a bit lucky) due to homegrown players and MLB castoffs.