They are turning over the roster and re-tooling in preparation of the new wave of talent (Vlad, Bo, Jansen, Alford, Gurriel, Borucki, Zeuch, SRF, Hernandez, Smith, Warmoth, etc.). This past offseason they signed some veterans to short term deals that won't handcuff the franchise in the future (when that talent is ready and we're on the right win projection path again). If everything broke right this year, we'd contend for the second WC spot in an AL East that is full of rebuilding teams. Unfortunately, almost everything has broke the wrong way - but that's baseball for you. The good news is those short term veterans now become trade chips at the deadline for the team to acquire additional young talent. Some will bitch that our vets suck and we won't get s*** for them (and they could be right), but we got Teoscar for Liriano at the deadline last year - so keep an open mind.