OK - just to play counselor for the Defense here 😉, the con went like this.: Jeimer is 30 in '23, he'll be a declining asset by the time they are ready to win, you don't know what you are going to get from him, your new spiffy GM has a chance to show what he can do finding you a shiny 3B prospect that can be part of the future (what if Malloy had been able to play 3rd?). There is nothing to play for in 2023, they will be a 4th place, treading water team at best.
I think it's the fact that there could be/could have been/may yet be, something to play for that puts the decision back into the hindsight binoculars in a way it would not be if they were 15 games out. And that's perfectly fair.