Given that algebra confounded me in high school, it's no surprise that I can't elevate to your level of thinking here.
-- I normally recoil at all comparisons between football and baseball, so I'm being hypocritical. But Bautista smacks of a classic Pete Carroll move. PC's idea: spend as much money as we can on my killer defense, and since i've got Russell Wilson, what difference does it make if my receivers and offensive line are dog food? I'll win! Well, not so much anymore. Bautista is the equivalent of spending cold cash for one more former all-pro linebacker...while Russell continues to run for his life.
--"Ain't my money". Well, sure, so why not just open the floodgates for everyone? The reason is: "it ain't my money"--it's theirs. And after ponying up $660 million less than a year ago, does doing your Xmas shopping only at Tiffany's make sense? Well, if they're in, it's fine with me. But the guess here is that JD is operating within limits that keep him outside the Tiffany door.
Plus, if Steamer has Bautista at 2.8 WAR and Quintana at 4.1, wouldn't it make more sense to spend the prospects now on Quintana...and then save the $100m-$150m that Bautista wants to pay for what you find out you really need later on?
I don't know...obviously there's something I'm not seeing in this.