Yes, I agree. But, I'm also not convinced that we were receiving good offers for our guys. Smardzija would have been a rental, and likely was not returning much.
Quintana and Sale, as we discussed previously, are the only guys on the roster who were going to bring back a potentially team changing return. There is no way they were trading Sale (even if it would have made sense), and I'd bet fans would be outraged with a trade of Q also. I think worries about the fan reaction really tied the GM.
If you want to compete next year, and I think that while you have Sale, you have to be trying to compete each and every year, you're going to have to help yourself through FA.
If you look at the list of FA, there are few names that look like difference makers. This makes the task tough.
Do you believe in Zobrist? Justin Upton? Ian Desmond?
There are a few SPs, so if you can plug holes with a Quintana trade, you might be able to manage. Of course, the teams that would trade for Quintana could instead just sign the FA SP, which makes that route more difficult.