It seems to me that sometimes austerity is about more than dollars. At catcher, there was value in finding out who among the Pina/Susac/Bandy triumvirate would stick. With a free agent signing, you might not ever figure out what you have in those guys. Even those who thought Villar would regress probably would have opined his 2016 performance merited penciling him in for 2017. And bullpen guys are such candidates for regression that I don’t mind not splurging on someone more interesting then Feliz. Interestingly, you can probably make the case that if the Brewers had been more austere and not even wasted $5 million on Feliz, they would have made the postseason.

You also mentioned sign in a starting pitcher. But without the benefit of hindsight, the only way to do that would be by a) making a splash and paying a guy before you expect your window to open or b) paying a Placeholder in the hopes that he gets the job done on a short-term basis before the window opens. I don’t like either option, especially given that if the Brewers had done so, there’s a chance Chase Anderson doesn’t make the Opening Day rotation.