Why does something have to give? The owners are making a lot of money. The players are doing well. There is nothing wrong with the game. There is no reason for a work stoppage except for pure greed from the owners.
I think Breggie/Hoskins is a reasonble ask. A Suarez/Hoskins offseason would be horrible for the defense. If they wanted to spend and get defensive and offensive value, they could go Breggie/Okamoto.
I think there was true uncertainty in regards to the payroll going forwards. If the team took a dive, there was going to be a selloff at the deadline which would have put them under the CBT.
Casas is a terrible 1B. Refsnyder is a terrible OFer. They haven't been able to move Duran/Abreu yet. Having a DH guy on the bench kills roster flexibility.
If he's treating it as a hobby and not a business, the losses aren't a big deal. A lot of people spend over 1% of their annual income on a hobby. Him spending that on the Mets wouldn't be a problem.