This may be true. His crystal ball had Russell as a quality character and a middle-of-the-order hitter. His crystal ball had (and perhaps still has) Schwarber as a really gifted hitter, whose competitiveness and will would make him a big-game star; rather than the player with perhaps historically bad in-the-clutch hitting productivity. His ball had Almora's power developing into a good HR-hitter. He foresaw Soler as a huge, middle-of-the-order impact bat. Of course his ball had Heyward being a really good, asset hitter who'd hit with more power and productivity than in his St. Louis and Atlanta years. And his crystal ball had each of Happ, Almora, Schwarber, Soler, Heyward, and Russell getting better and better as hitters with time.
I kinda worry that Theo's talent-evaluation is somewhat cloudy, and that he's struggled to evaluate what the guys really are rather than what he'd once imagined them becoming. That may also relate to the urgency perspective. It may be that Happ, Schwarber, and Russell have a lot of trouble hitting strikes for reasons other than not trying hard enough or lacking urgency.
That might also cloud perspective on roster-revision. If you over-rate the talents of your guys, you may think at press-conference that you've got excellent trade value; but if the rest of baseball doesn't agree, you don't have the opportunity to restructure your roster the way you thought you'd be able to.
You seem to believe that at the age of 24 - 26, these players have all reached their peak. Believe it or not, some players actually get better after they pass the mid twenties.
Russell already WAS a middle of the order hitter, with 21 home runs and 95 RBIs at age 22 or so. Last year he was plagued by injuries. Will he return to his 2016 form? I have no idea. But it seems to be a little early to decide definitely that he will not.
I don't recall anyone with the expectation that Almora would develop into a power hitter. As I see it, he is pretty much as was expected - a very good defensive center fielder with a decent offensive capability. His career OPS is currently .738, not insubstantial for an excellent defensive center fielder, and again, occasionally, players actually get better after age 24.
Schwarber had an OPS of .823, and provided left handed power to a very weak lineup. He has not performed as a superstar, but that is a pretty high bar to set for any prospect. Of course, since he is 25, it is probably too late for his hitting to improve very much.
Happ should be written off, since after two seasons, he has yet to OPS higher than .842. What hope could there possibly be for him.
They obviously missed on Soler, and Chatwood has been horrible, as well as some others. I don't know of any front office that has not had their share of really big misses.