Have to think Rizzo would have liked to make a couple more additions to this team in the pitching staff. Ownership wouldn't allow it.
Agree that Mini Me loves pennies more than wins, but with pitching contracts being so unpredictable, many good teams have built strong rotations without spending a fortune. Mike Elias did it in Baltimore when the Angelos family gave him a tiny budget.
One example, look at how Alex A cobbled together the rotation in Atlanta. Anchored by two home grown, drafted by the org prospects in Spencer Strider and Bryce Elder, and then opportunistic trades for Max Fried when he had just had TJ, and Charlie Morton and Chris Sale in their mid-late 30s. The only Braves starter on a contract worth more than $50 million total is Strider and he gets $12.5m a year from a pre-arb extension.
The Orioles don't have a starter with a contract worth more than $16 million, and that's the one year deal they have Corbin Burnes.
The Astros spend less on starters than the Nats! Four of their five starters make league min, the only one who doesn't is Christian Javier, who makes all of $7 million per year, about the same as Trevor Williams. All four are home grown draftees or international signings, none a first rounder. Rizzo can't develop pitchers anywhere like that, and it requires a very limited budget.
With so many pitching contracts flaming out, it's better to follow the Baltimore/Atlanta/Houston model and build a great draft and development operation, not chase free agents like the Phillies and Mets. You also don't need to draft these guys early in the first round, which is one reason why Houston and Atlanta have had sustained success for such a long period of time. The problem isn't just the owners here, but an incompetent GM who keeps his job because he provides PR cover for the Lerners, but has no ability to draft and build a rotation the way winning teams have.
