Yeah, I feel your pain there. The Bucs did that for decades...literally decades. (I still hate you for Brian Giles, BTW.) That's why the Cutch re-signing was so important to me. If they'd have chosen to let him walk, it would have been VERY difficult for me to continue being the kind of live-and-die fan I tend to be.
Going out and getting pieces here and there shows even more of a commitment from the team. Burnett last year. Martin and Liriano this year. That shows me something. I hope, for your sake, management out there sees the still-small resurgence going on here, and adjusts course. There's no reason to believe it can't happen there as well.
And wow...how much does that suck about Carpenter? I mean damn. You want your division rivals to struggle, but not with injuries. And certainly not to legit superstars.