Re: Money for midseason acquisitions, no doubt some injury might force you to make a move to shore things up. But WHAT IF's cut both ways. WHAT IF failing to make an offseason acquisition prevents you from even getting into a position where a midseason acquisition makes sense. You might save your money for a contingency that never happens, and in so doing make yourself a seller instead of a buyer.
If you're serious about success, you plan and acquire for success, and then if special circumstances dictate, you exceed your budget to bring your longsuffering fans a chance at postseason baseball. You don't hedge your bets IN CASE you need more budget space. Hedging your bets usually results in getting caught in the hedge instead of busting through.
Lemme say it another way. The M's are in the unenviable position of disappointing their fans for umpteen seasons in a row. I've lost count. Why not use ALL of your budget to make the postseason possible, then if it looks promising but you get hit with a key injury EXCEED even that for one doggone season in a determined effort to get to the finish line as a winner? What, do the M's wanna be the guy who never asks the girl out, but spends all his time pressing his shirts so that if SHE happens to ask HIM, he will have his shirt ready?