We have a narrative addicted front office that actually allows the narrative to drive important decisions.
Last year it was the importance of building up momentum heading into the 2017 season with the new stadium and all that jazz.
This year it has to do with the fact this is a competitive team that will be playing meaningful games in September. To sustain that narrative you need to either bring in reinforcements or argue that reinforcements are arriving from internal sources. Sean Rodriguez is very important to that narrative, which in turn has influenced how quickly they have activated him. It probably has overridden other considerations. Such as is he ready.
I think the thought process was more along the lines of...
Braves must show a desire to be competitive to appease the casual fans, therefore...
They can't trade away Matt Adams without a clear replacement at 3B, therefore...
They needed to see what SRod can provide, but...
He isn't ready yet, and didn't come out on fire to create a buzz, therefore...
They announce they are unlikely to trade Adams, thus...
The illusion of remaining competitive is still present for the casual fans.
I would say the overarching narrative for the front office the entire time, and main driver behind all the sub-optimal moves they've made during this rebuild is:
"We are using taxpayer money to build a new stadium, so we better make it priority to show casual fans we are trying to win games"
And it has led to wasting a lot of assets that could have gone towards the rebuild, unfortunately.