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We can't play all of Franklin/ Miller/ Romero/ Liddi/ Catricala/ Ackley/ Seager/ Saunders/ Robinson/ Landry/ Morban / etc.
We CAN'T. And if you wait too long to take action with them, the bloom is off the rose and you can't cash em in for what you want. See: what happened to Catricala this year. Prospects are only good as primary trade pieces when their ceilings are unlimited. Who wants prospects with question marks? You only want the ones that are guaranteed *cough*yeahright*cough* to have major league success.
By the time you're SURE a prospect isn't good enough to help you win a pennant, so is everyone else, so he's not worth anything.
Similarly, if you give a prospect a chance in the bigs and he faceplants, his value decreases. "Small sample size" or not, that impression matters. If Montero had gotten crushed in his 70 AB stint with the Yanks, he might have come cheaper. If Pineda had face-planted he most assuredly would not have netted Montero, especially if he'd come down with his injury before the trade instead of after.
Timing matters. We can't afford to experiment with the kids on the big league level unless we intend to keep them, or to trade a Seager / Saunders / Ackley type to give the kid we want to keep more time.
If we choose to keep Miller, then Franklin can go. If we choose to keep Romero then we need to decide where he plays, or to trade Ackley/Seager to clear room. If we choose to keep Zunino AND Montero AND Jaso then we'll need a plan for how that'll work to get all 3 guys to the plate (which is why the experiment with some 1B time has started for Montero).
Can't keep the kids and have no plan for how to implement them with the big club. If Romero or Franklin is ONLY a second baseman, and Ackley will not be moved, then the kid(s) are surplus and can - SHOULD - be traded before they lose value.
~G