Yeah, but there weren’t exactly a lot of options. The better players went to more competitive situations, which better players can do because they earned that ability. So it’s not like they had much of a chance. Money does talk, but you’d have to overwhelm them to get them and that screws up everything else internally.
I’ve said it before but players also want a shot at postseason incentives and those opportunities, especially given the limited shelf life of skill players. The guys who weren’t in demand are the ones they ended up signing, and they wisely at least kept their core guys on both sides and cut ties with the wrong ones.
It is what it is. If Maye pans out and they’re competitive, they’ll have a better shot next March. And I think that’ll be the better barometer. But this spring, they were a bad team with an unknown coach and too many questions.