Great posts by the OP and browna
There has been lots of talk about what went wrong, but I think one of the things that hasn't been talked about enough is that when a roster experiences a lot of change, it usually struggles for a while, and often has an off year. I think that has been a factor here.
It is really easy (and naive, IMO) for fans to scream for change, but too much change is more rudderless than the perceived lack of direction that we have now. Saying the team lacks direction is silly - just because that direction isn't what you think it should be, does not mean that it is lacking.
The issue that management currently faces is that there has been a tremendous amount invested into this team - in salaries, contract terms, etc. This team SHOULD be good. Obviously, the season was a failure. But does that mean that everything should simply be torn apart? The fact is that the entire team (every important piece) is under contract for next season. With that in mind, the most rational choice is to give it another year - spend the summer determining what went wrong, and fix what you can, and give it another go. Because there is time to do so.
If it doesn't work again next year - tear it down. But you have to see first if this was simply a season where there was too much change and nothing went right, or if it was in fact a flawed roster. Anyone who thinks they KNOW the answer to that, is fooling themselves. Sometimes a little patience is required, in order to make good decisions. A lot of changes were made last summer - many of which were forced upon them - and giving up on those changes in half a season is just too reactionary.
The rational path is: breathe, evaluate over the summer, make any changes you determine are necessary/valuable, and give it one more year. If things don't work out, the team will have a boatload of pending UFAs to trade, and launching a rebuild will make a lot of sense, as opposed to being forced, like it would have been if they rushed into it over the last 2 weeks.
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