The nauseating circular arguments go both ways though.
-IKF is outhitting and outplaying Matt Chapman (the supposed #1 FA 3B) at a fraction of the cost.
-Justin Turner is so uninspiring I can't claim that he was a good signing but he's our 3rd best hitter and out-hitting Soler, Garver and other free agents that got multi-year deals. He's hardly the reason we suck ass.
-KK has just flat out sucked. I'll give you that one.
But for whatever bats you think would have magically fixed this clusterf*** of a team, they honestly wouldn't be much of an improvement over the Buffalo Boys. Nor would they make up for Vlad, Bo and Springer putting up about 1 WAR when they should be north of 6, which is the main reason this team sucks.
So wipe the slate clean and add Matt Chapman, Teoscar, JD Martinez and whatever other bats you want and this team probably is about 2-3 wins better then we are right now and that's with a more expensive team that would have more longterm commitments. Barely a dent. Get the core performing up to standards and we are probably 6 wins better and right in the thick of things.