I think Atkins record on signings and retaining is actually pretty good overall. He pulled lots of wizardry early on in his tenure that most people forget now, like trading Drew Hutchison for 3 guys, including Liriano who was great for them, then traded before he fully pumpkined for a hound Teoscar. The Matz trade, the Giles trade, Robbie Ray trade, even that half season acquiring of Taijuan Walker.
He’s also been pretty good at letting guys go rather than hanging on or resigning guys getting past their expiry dates.
I’d argue hits hits have outweighed his misses by a fair margin in the process of building the current team. His challenge and struggle has been putting the finishing touches on the build.
Pretty much the same problem AA had before he left. The building process went great, then the finishing process flopped.