Quote Originally Posted by Eddy Ballgame View Post
I can't see how any of the ops guys in the Sox front office ever thought signing Pablo was a good idea.

This reeked of Lucchino and PR from day one. "Ortiz is near the end, so let's sign another big, lovable guy with a "cute nickname" who seems to shine in the spotlight. He's perfect for this town. We need a 3rd baseman and there's not much else available, right?. He's still young, right? Can you imagine all of the "Panda" stuff we'll sell?"
I wish I was kidding.
100% agree that baseball ops people, especially those of the stathead variety, would not think that signing Pablo was a good idea. IMO, this definitely screams of Lucchino's influence.

That said, while I was against Pablo's contract, I can understand the baseball rationale in signing him. We needed a 3B, and Pablo should have been better than the production we received the previous year. It still wasn't a good signing, but it shouldn't have been this bad.