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The question is, do you want to use them on a player this year or roll them over to something else later? 
I'm with Taro on this - THIS year it's tough to make a dent in this problem unless the player is a multi-year solution.  I'm not trading for Jose Reyes, for instance, even though he bumps our SS production by approximately 60 points (or the difference between an average batter and Albert Pujols).
He's a FA next year, and I'm not expending Franklin + Wilhelmsen + Campos (for instance) for 3 months of Reyes (though his Type A status ameliorates the problem slightly).
Would I trade that for a year and a half of Ethier (who would be my preferred target as well)?
I might, actually, if I could extend him at something less than Jayson Werth (who would be my comp to him out of recent FAs, except Ethier is younger) got. 15 mil a year is gonna be what Ethier gets, though, so either pony up or let him roll on by.
I would absolutely consider a big bat solution for the future if we were willing to throw down the dough - and the gauntlet as it were. Ackley/Ethier/Smoak 2-4 in the lineup fixes several ills, and a Rendon drafting cures more.
...But we can just wait a year and a half and sign Ethier for that price anyway, and keep the prospects.  We can sign Reyes after this year, and keep the prospects (or use them for something else).  Our record is bad enough that we won't lose a first rounder to sign anyone.
Currency you never use might as well just be mattress stuffing, and prospects have value before they have a chance to fail, so you risk losing the value in a crop by hanging on to them for too long.
But it's still a limited amount of currency, and you need to determine what you want to spend it on.
We need an Ethier, IMO - someone who cannot be found in the system but who is desperately and urgently required in the lineup.  If you could slap a 130 OPS+ patch on a 70 OPS+ hole, that's awesome.  That's one-third of the way to contention.
Ackley, Rendon, Smoak and Ethier would be a tremendous 2-5 to build around.  Get a half-way decent SS in here (or hope Triunfel can hold it together if you trade Franklin), have F-Gut come back to his own, and patch up the catching situation and we're golden.
Ethier (and Rendon) makes everything easier.  And I would make a trade now to solidify a hitter like that in LF for a long time.  But just because we have tradable commodities doesn't mean we should use them THIS year to solve THIS year's lineup issues.
Not if it doesn't solve next year's lineup issues too.
~G