I can understand how Pearce's WS performance dazzled the FO into signing him. But as much as I loved how he helped the Sox win it all, I didn't really expect to see him back. Looking at his age and career track record, I just thought they were lucky to catch lightning in a bottle. It didn't really make sense to consider him part of the future.
I was a bit more surprised that they didn't attempt to sign Kelly or Kimbrel, but I guess their philosophy is to save money on the bullpen, which can be more volatile as far as bang for the buck.
The other signing that I think is kind of questionable is Eovaldi. He also dazzled in the playoffs, but his track record is iffy as well. He is more potential than results. So while I expected them to sign him, I wonder if the risk is too high. A case could be made that the money spent on Pearce and Eovaldi could have been used for other needs. But I don't claim to have better options, just wondering if the dazzling performances impacted the decision making too much.