You get real, and big value when you trade good players that are NOT on expiring contracts. That’s the way it works.
Yes, trade some expiring contracts…but, I’m always amazed at how unwilling we (fans) are to trade established guys no matter how stagnant…perpetually stagnant…the club is with the current ‘core’. Tweaking, and waiting, and waiting, and waiting to be good enough to win the AL Central, or a wild-card birth, has been the strategy forever. Where is the rationale for more of that??
At some point, you have to actually DO SOMETHING with meaningful upside and risk to actually compete for prizes that matter…even if it means you win 70 games for a year or two instead of 85 (in a division where 85 wins means you’re probably average, at best).