I agree with this. They had to know that Boras and Correa were looking to be paid at least or more than the top SS, so that is over 300m. There were vague speculations considering last year when he couldn't land the big deal that for some reason Carlos wasn't valued like his peers. The Dodgers weren't interested because their fans might revolt, lol. However Carlos was smart enough to realize he had the market he wanted just not the agent. Boras knew he could leverage the deal. The only way the 285m was going to work would be to wait out the market, have Carlos and Boras be wrong and have Carlos drop in their laps again at the end of the off-season.
I hoped they had learned their lesson last year. I would prefer a front office that didn't rely on bargains in free agency and trades that deplete organizational resources. Be more aggressive early in free agency. Now here we are again, Rodon, Swanson or trades and middling signings. Doesn't seem like a competitive strategy.