yes, fWAR loves him, but the actual results haven't been great. A 4.15 and 3.91 ERA are solid and the 2.20 is nuts, but looking like an outlier. He might be a victim of bad defense, I'm not sure, but the actual production has not matched the peripherals.
The cost is supposedly crazy high and, while he isn't a free agent until 2026, his results have only been really good one year while the others they're been more solid than anything else.
You realize you're advocating for Mancini right now right? Sure Mervis might suck, but we know unequivocally that Mancini does in fact suck. There is literally nothing to lose and at they very least they would find out that Mervis is no part of the 2024 plan if he bombs.
Sorry he's 25 years old, regardless of performance in AAA he's nothing, especially if he doesn't immediately rake upon promotion. If prospects aren't stars by 25 they're disposable washouts.
I'm 100% okay with light buying, it's actually my preferred method. I would not be ok with them going out and spending prospect currency on Hader/ERod, etc.
I could be convinced to look at Burleson if it was for someone in the prospect 15 or below range. He has underperformed this year, but there's enough there to dream on.
This sounds very similar to 2017 and 2018 where they didn't want to go deep into luxury tax territory because they wanted to be able to make a big move later. Then Harper was available and they did a big nothing.