Well, the Reds rumor popped up right around that time I believe. I don't think the expectation was he'd be here to start the year. Even Robert admitted that himself. I wouldn't be surprised to see him be one of those rare May trades.
https://www.si.com/mlb/red-sox/news/red-soxs-alex-verdugo-opens-up-about-being-singled-out-by-alex-cora-multiple-times-in-2023-steve1
Seems like a real winner.
He's also 35... Verdugo is 28.
Also... 28 other teams choose to not sign him. It's March 20th. Maybe there's some issues there we don't know about if teams weren't even willing to sign the guy on the cheap.
Because the shares don't magically appear out of nowhere. They have to create them by splitting the current shares to create whatever amount is being bought.