Based on what we know, they sold ~25% of the team for ~$400 million. I believe the plan is to pay off the existing debt with the minority owner's $$, wait until the work stoppage is resolved and then sell in 2027/2028 for $1.8-2 billion.
In the meantime, they certainly don't want to lose a bunch of $$ and accumulate new debt, but they also don't desperately need to scrape out as much profit as possible either.
They are currently in no-man's land, with a projected 2026 payroll of $95 million and a 70- win team. It makes no sense so sit there.
And once you trade Pablo Lopez, well then you might as well trade Buxton and Joe Ryan too. Now you have a $55 million payroll, zero fans in the ballpark, zero TV viewers and and an alienated fan base. Sure they might make some operating profit for 2026, But it might knock $100+ million of that franchise valuation by 2028 too. Is that a smart financial move? All I'm suggesting is field the most competitive team you can without going into the red. That's somewhere in the $130 million range.