I'll answer these two.
1. I didn't blame Ben at all for 2014.
2. Pablo has been done to death. As for the Hanley and Castillo signings:
With Hanley, first of all, the idea that we got any kind of discount has never really made much sense to me. His recent history was incredibly erratic and injury-plagued.
Secondly, they didn't have a position for him. By sticking him in left field we were virtually assured that the only value he would generate was with his bat, so it was like acquiring another DH at 22 million a year.
The Castillo signing was basically indefensible. He's never been anything more than a borderline major leaguer.