Of course it doesn't always work.
But when you're 3 games out with 2 months left and you expect to have Chris Sale and some other guys ready to come back, do you write it off?
In retrospect the answer would be yes. At the time it isn't that easy.
I do understand your point. We just have a philosophical disagreement, I think.
In a sense you can blame the expanded playoffs for giving so many teams a potential chance to get in.