I don’t think he could have dumped JD Martinez so easily last off-season. $21mill was still a big AAV back then and teams rarely go that high for a DH because it’s not the toughest position to fill.
I wanted Schwarber back. But if - and I don’t really know this - the goal was to improve the defense, Schwarber is not a good outfielder, we saw he’s really not a good 1b (but credit him for the effort at a new position), and Martinez wasn’t going anywhere unless he chose to. Which he didn’t…