Theo is a great statesman, so he's said stuff that appeal to everybody. In his presser, he talked proudly of his willingness to trade and not overvalue prospects. He's talked about contending every year. So pretty strong appeal to Nowacrats. But he's also made some Buildican comments, about looking beyond the next two years. Of course he's also made comments that appeal to "shake it up, make major trade" listeners. So pretty hard to guess what he may actually be willing to do, and how to balance Nowacrat and Buildican values.
I imagine those pull at cross purposes for him, just like they do for some of us, myself included.
Personally, I'm inclined to go relatively buildican. If a guy like Merrifield is available for Happ, fine. Or for Bote + Almora + some not-that-favorite minor leaguer, OK.
But if Merrifield costs Hoerner + Brailyn, or something on that order, I'd pull out. We've got so very little young, cost-controlled futures talent that I really don't want to sell much of any of it.
I'd kinda rather just roll the dice, stick with Hoerner for 2b and hope he works, and just spend the money for maybe Shogo. Take a shot that way, without sacrificing any futures for your shot. If Hoerner and Shogo aren't good enough to support a contending team this year, bummer. But as Jeff notes, we've got to create some talent, and there isn't safety/surety there. Maybe Shogo and Hoerner will be quite capable, immediately; and combined with existing guys, the offense which scored a decent number of runs as is, will actually improve score more and score more situationally, and end up being good enough to get into the playoffs?