Looking ahead, despite losing Prince, 2012 could be our last "window" as contenders with this current group without making some drastic moves next offseason.

At this point, Greinke, Marcum, and Wolf will all be gone along with K-Rod. Losing K-Rod will hurt, but that's nothing compared to losing most of our rotation. I would assume that Wolf will be gone for sure unless he returns on a cheaper 1-2 year deal, his option certainly won't be exercised barring a monster year this year.

Nothing to base this on other than a guess but I expect that one of either Marcum or Greinke will be signed long-term. I hope it is Greinke, but I see Marcum being more likely.

So Peralta will almost certainly get a crack at the rotation in 2013 and his success at this level will really be a big determining factor in where this franchise is headed after this season. The hope is that he can step in and replace Wolf's production for a minimum salary.

The good news is that you're talking about a massive chunk of change freed up from those 4, about $40M a year. So how they reinvest that in 2013 and beyond will be telling. They could easily go for it again in 2013. If you do re-sign Greinke for $17M a year or so and let the others walk, you've still got $23M or so from them to invest in another starter and whatever deficiencies we see pop up in 2012, possibly 1B, SS, ...who knows.
You've still got a solid 1-2 in the rotation with Greinke and Gallardo and you really have to count on Peralta.

Or if it looks grim, you can sell off guys like Hart, Ramirez, even Weeks, to rebuild and try to focus more on the coming years. I would be very surprised if they went this route however, as it doesn't really fit Mark and Doug's M.O -- they seem more inclined to do whatever they can and worry more about winning 90 this year than winning 100 next year. Plus Braun has many years as a Brewer in front of him and no doubt has no desire to be part of a rebuilding project.