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Ok, to respond to your first point. Yes we need to. The Braves supplemented their top notch homegrown guys with trades and signings like Morton to fully staff out their staff. Bradish is a big maybe at this point. And beyond Grayson and Bradish we have a back end guy in Kremer and that is it for next year. So IMO we will have to sign or trade for some one of consequence/impact.
The Dodgers have ABSOLUTELY spent at the top of the FA market - Freeman, Ohtani, Yamamoto.
I don't think that we need to run a model like the Cards in terms of roster construction or trading for big time position players like Arenado or Goldschmidt. However, they are a very good example of a smaller market being sustained by an engaged fanbase who consistently runs a healthy size/larger payroll.