My caveat is simple: you blow a new competitive window in that rock wall of the decline cliff if you nab any two of Ohtani, Stanton, and Darvish. It's not impossible they could do that, btw. What are the odds that ANY team makes THAT big of a splash this offseason? Remote, at best, but it's still *possible* for the team to put the pedal to the metal and make a serious run this year.
I do, however, agree that (barring an unexpected surge of productivity from young, club-controlled assets) this team is indeed headed for the cliff talent-wise. Drastic measures are going to be needed to give them a shot at hanging with The Big Dawgs in this league right now.
The good news is that there's never been an offseason where better long-term franchise players are available. Ohtani and Stanton EACH represents a new King Felix-sized talent pillar to whatever team they end up with. Adding two in an offseason, even if you have to give up a guy like Paxton in the process, is a no-brainer move that rejuvenates AND solidifies the team core for the next half decade. It's the fact that they're both no-brainer moves that makes it unlikely in the extreme that any single team will nab both of them.