Good baseball teams go get better big league players at the July trade deadline. Bad baseball teams fold up shop, ship out what good big leaguers they have at the July trade deadline, and acquire what they can to make a run of things next time.
That’s the general rule of Major League Baseball, a sport that gives teams four months to figure out whether they’re in it to win it, or not, and two months to either excel with - or regret forever - the moves they do or don’t make while they can.
(There are precious few examples that go against this golden rule, though it’s worth pointing them out here so you think I’ve got a smidgen of credibility left.