Maybe the team sees 5-6 arms ahead of him in line for a 25-man spot and doesn't see any path to a 40-man spot for a replacement-level 36-year old right-handed reliever.
I don't really understand why you keep saying this when my teams are almost always good, and in the only league we're in together I own Soto, Acuna, deGrom, and Franco.
I have the opposite question: Why are people so eager to use a fat 19-year old masher at a position where he'll almost certainly be a below-average defender? The game has changed. You can buy a Moustakas or Asdrubal Cabrera on a 1-year deal as cheap as you can buy a Justin Smoak or CJ Cron for 1B. Instead of playing a guy at the toughest defensive position at which he's not a complete tire fire, why not play him at the toughest position at which he's actually average or a bit better?
I like the look of
1B - Vlad
3B - Moustakas
a lot more than I like the look of
1B - Smoak
3B - Vlad
And in the current climate, it costs the same amount of money.
Well, it Richard Urena was going to make the team before this. I don't think they felt they traded Diaz due to a surplus, but rather because they liked Thornton more as an asset.