I have no problem with Atkins betting on Vladdy and Bichette. I have a huge problem with him betting on the likes of Springer, Kirk, Kiermaier, and Biggio. Like you said, it would have been nice to add even one proven bat. 39 year old Turner or Vogelbach were never going to work, I don't care how excited people were in preseason or the first month.
I agree that no one could have predicted that Springer would be on pace for his worst home run hitting season, worst RBI season of his career, worst RBI season, worst batting average, worst on-base percentage, worst OPS, worst WAR and worst slugging numbers. But everyone did know that he was going to be 35 yrs old this season and that 2023 was generally a poor year for him. He had that record run of 35 consecutive hitless innings in late July.
Kirk had an offensive regression that began last year and it was a massive gamble that he would return to previous form. People blamed it on the fact he had a kid and came into camp out of shape. He's still out of shape and his current offensive stats are abysmal. Kiermaier was never going to match his 2023 stats because his career stats proved this was an outlier. Once again, he is 34 yrs old. Couple that with the addition of 39 yr old Turner and you have to wonder, wtf was Atkins thinking.
You're right, we're going to get a look at some young players but my question is why did they wait so long? Once again, Atkins and Schneider believed there would be turnarounds in Springer, Kirk et al. For this miscalculation, Atkins should be fired if not now, for sure at the end of the season.
