I think Wheeler was a bargain, solid #2 with #1 upside, compare to Arrieta who was already showing signs of decline when they paid him $25M a year.
Problem is they've had too many injuries, SD, Arano, and pitchers coming up short, VV, Pivetta.
They really need Howard to step into the #3 slot and solidify the rotation, and someone like Brogdon to give them a RH setup man to go with Morgan and Alvarez. You can't build a team in FA, you have to have your farm system supply talent every year.
I'm willing to be patient with Hoskins, he's got the batting eye and patience, may just need a mechanics fix.
On the other hand, Segura wasn't that good last year, and at 3B he simply doesn't have a good enough bat, he's exactly the kind of hitter (low BB rate, average ISO, average contact) you want to avoid.
And Didi turned 30, he's not worth paying to bring back and watch him become Segura.
That's $25M for mediocrity, and Cutch may be too old to bounce back from a serious injury.
I'm happy with Haseley, he's going to be better than most think, but Quinn negates his best attribute with a long swing that makes him an easy mark for Ks without the compensating power production.
Kingery hasn't shown improvement, although he'll be plus defensively at 2B, he doesn't know how to take advantage of a quick bat.
This is a .500 team unless they get a lot of help from the farm system the next 2-3 years.
The ML talent, other than Harper and a few kids, is going to be on the wrong side of 30 the next few years - which is why they shouldn't resign Realmuto, yes, he's had a great run, but he'll be 30 next year, he isn't a selective hitter, so what happens when he loses a little bat speed, wanna pay $25M a year for a good field, average hitting catcher from 2023-2025? He's not a good enough hitter to move to 1B. If this team was on the verge of WS contention, you bite the bullet, but . . .
