selling was not a necessity and would not have changed the time-line for the next competitve window. The nine players signed from the '06 class are still on the roster, and the battalion added an '05 that they should have to pair with Kennedy as OAs. The battalion can sell next season for assets to compliment that group.
You don't buy or sell out of necessity. You only buy when you look at your team and realistically see it as a team that can win a Championship. Not selling in a mediocre year is essentially your club attempting to buy additional home games. Effectively betting the future on short-term gate revenues.
Selling is never about changing the timeline. It's about changing the quality of your rebuild. When you add that draft capital, you're effectively increasing your trade capital. And when you stockpile those picks, you get to be one of the teams that can pull the trigger on a top player in a competitive season. The Battalion have generally added complimentary pieces when they're at their most competitive level. A big part of that is market. But a big part of that is never having the abundance of trade capital.
It's also about improving the quality of the tradeable assets you carry in future seasons. Players acquired in trade returns can also be dealt in the future, essentially compounding the amount of capital you carry in future years where the team is built to be competitive. Championship teams are generally asset rich in competitive seasons.
You aren't getting crazy trade returns for the players they carry into next season. You might get lucky and get back another team's 1st rounder for Romani, but it's also possible that his production falls off in a year where the team's depth really takes a hit.
That being said, this is where we are. But look at the route the team's more successful rivals took when they were right there with us in the standings. It's completely valid to question the ownership's decision to push their chips in this year.
