Yeah the Contreras deal was a masterpiece. I was saying since that offseason (which was transition), we haven't seen much that has moved the needle.
And I completely ignored the extension, since I was most focused on trades/FA. So yes the Chourio extension (knowing and believing enough to do that) is a signature move, so I stand corrected on that. But the other FA, trades are all lower level, but in reality the much despised (at the time) Hader trade has been so much better than the other trades (Hader led to Contreras via Ruiz; and also netted us Gasser).
I hear you, and Myers was in that winter '22 / spring '23 that I put in that transition, along with Rea, Miley, Megill, Payamps, Perkins so I was feeling that after that inital period his moves have more 'meh'. Even Civale, has been good, but not great. And the Teheran, Ross, Paredes, Junis are the types of moves that fill innings and keep the team running, and are very solid moves. And I am not saying that he is not a good or even great GM, but that his moves over the past 18 months for example have left a lot to be desired. The Toro for Patrick swap was great, but he has had many moves too that haven't netted much (Dunn, Clarke, Bauers as noted; even Hudson had one great 1/2 season last year). Koenig was a great find and another of the ones I missed.
So very good, but definitely worth criticism if we look at the meager returns for Burnes/Williams who were premium pitchers, the loss of Smith, and the minimal return on multiple prospects (who themselves may not pan out, but could have gotten more). And I hope to be proven wrong, or see the next move as the one that is a signature move that gives the '25 or '26 team that key ingredient.