Quote:They can do both. As long as for every two Watson/Gerhart type signings - you come away with one Alan Ball or Sen'Derrick Marks - then you are risking little and gaining a lot. 

 

Obviously this coming offseason will be the time to extend the free agency focus into the top tier market as well  (as Khan and Caldwell have stated)  -  but no need to stop kicking the tires on the potential bargains that are out there. 

 

Some people really don't get it, do they?

 

They haven't dumped a ton of money into free agency, and they have found guys who turned out to be players who are part of the foundation of the future.  For what they spent on Gerhart and Watson, it's more or less a rental to see what they might be able to offer.  If they don't prove themselves valuable to the team, they're gone, and we haven't wasted a ton of cap space in taking an extended look at these guys.  As you pointed out, the same process has proven to be effective with guys like Marks, but you don't hear the whiners bringing those moves up. 

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