Right, I'm mostly referring to short-term assets acquired via trade or FA once a core is either in place or, as the Royals did, projected to be in place. Absolutely, long-term assets are essential. Where do those come from? The cost for those acquired via the draft and int'l amateurs is far outweighed by the value they produce. I'm sure we agree on that. Through the other channels you've mentioned, you end up placing far fewer bets based solely on the costs at play and those bets frequently turn into liabilities rather than assets. Acquiring long-term assets that way is possible, but the success rates and associated costs rarely make it an appealing strategy in my eyes. Please note the words "rarely" and "appealing" there -- specifically not "never" and "potentially necessary".