Just say no to trading anyone under control in July unless you get a "Godfather" offer.
This team has been playing solid ball for a month, there are synergies that come with playing competitive ball, young pitchers learn to handle pressure, and players get to hit when it counts, and you don't have a clubhouse reeking of depression and self-pity. Games like yesterday show this team's potential when they replace Hellickson and Neris as the closer.
I think they've turned the corner.
Doesn't mean you don't make moves, just that you want to ride the current wave, and if it's for real, don't rock the boat and relaunch the rebuild.
If Williams is for real, and Perkins is an upgrade over Joseph, and the young starters have settled in, this can be a .500 team next year.
And we can stop hearing about how Atlanta is so far ahead of us with their rebuild.
In that case, the best strategy is to be patient, let this team jell, and makes moves around the edges.
It won't kill Kingery and Crawford to start next year in AAA with Cozens and Quinn, guys like Alfaro are tougher, though Knapp can backup at multiple positions, allowing them to carry 3 catchers on a short-term basis. You add one of Eflin, Lively or Eshelman to the rotation, and the other two start in AAA with Anderson next year.
This allows you to trade from a position of strength, and buy enough time to guage whether to go wth the prospect or the 28 year old veteran the next 3-4 years.
(remember, there's a big wave of talent arriving around 2020-21, so if you go with a 28 year old, by the time he's 32, his replacement will have arrived).
And you don't have to tell other teams your decision, let them bid up the value of the guy you'd prefer to trade.
We hit rock bottom in May, we're climbing out of the deep hole the previous FO dug, let's not panic and fall back in.
Klentak should strive to find a balance between "win now" and "win never."