Problem is, we NEED the major league influx.
Next season is basically a washout if we just Stand Pat (tm) and try to go with the rookies as the only heart-of-the-order bats. I just CAN'T see us winning with a lineup that runs Ichiro/ Figgins/ Gutierrez/ Smoak/ Saunders/ Ackley/ Moore/ Bradley/ Wilson (whichever one).
We NEED at least one and preferrably 2 more above-average bats, and we have precious little in the way of dollar-resources available to provide it.
DH and LF are perfectly valid places to find excess on other clubs, but the only coin we're gonna be able to provide is young talent.
Which means Jack is gonna need to continue to be VERY good at giving away minor talents and getting major ones.
Dumping Bradley's salary in 2012 (along with Wilson's) will be welcome, but Felix is taking a large bite of that himself. Felix and Ichiro are gonna chew up 40% of payroll by themselves (and yes, I'm assuming here that Ichiro stays and doesn't exactly take a paycut). Chone and Franklin are another 15% or so.
If we want to win soon, it has to be with cheap players and good players, and we're going to need to stay A's-level flexible with our young guys. In some eyes that would require hanging on to all talent rather than risk trading David Arias and watching him become David Ortiz.
I think we're gonna have to take that risk if we want to morph this historically-dismal offense into something that can win games before 2013 - when we'd be under a different GM.
~G