This is why I cannot be a GM

So the economics of baseball confuse me. Two teams have arguably left the "Contender" building this year - The Cubs and the Astros. So what do we do? We dump. get rid of whatever we have to rebuild. Save some bucks. But then I see these tweets -

@mlbtraderumors: RT @Ken_Rosenthal: Source: Deal is 3-for-1. Happ in. Astros would pay "very significant" part of Oswalt's remaining salary.

and

@mlbtraderumors: Stark: Cubs willing to take on some of Lilly's remaining $4.43MM.

to which I responded with:

@oneminutecubs: Why the hell would we do that? RT @mlbtraderumors: Stark: Cubs willing to take on some of Lilly's remaining $4.43MM.

I got one response:

@harrypav: @oneminutecubs to upgrade the prospects that come back #orsoihope

Ok, I kinda get that. If you can't draft 'em, buy 'em. But still this to me seems stupid. The Ricketts have made no secret of the fact that payroll is staying the same or going down next year. And until Tyler Colvin, Rookie of the Year, Starlin Castro, or Geo Soto show up, they're still just prospects. You know who else were prospects? Felix Pie, Corey Patterson, Eric Patterson, Bobby Hill, blah blah blah blah. They're just prospects. Maybe they'll pan out, but in the meantime, it just seems like teams on the sellers list are accepting of the fact that they're going to get screwed like a Vegas weekend and pay for the privilege.

Butt what do I know?