other teams were offering 4yrs at about 44mill ( 11 per yr) on both Napoli and Victorino, the sox just overpaid a little more per year @ 13 mill to get the shorter term 3 yr contract seems smart to me they wont need either of these to at the end of their contracts.  which i like.  not a big deal at all. i dont know where your getting 7 million/yr offers from, pulling them out of your butt just to reinforce your argument i guess.

BTW Keith Law hating the Victorino signing, but loved the Wright/mets deal.  hmph go figure.  thats about what his opinion is worth. 

In response to ADG's comment:

It may be an overpay but not nearly as much or as clearly as the some suggest.   SV is a well rounded player who provides value in defense, speed and (before last year) at the plate.  If last year wasn't an aberration, he can still provide value in two other areas.  If it was just a down year, he's worth the money.  Either way he is less of a risk than a one dimensional player and the risk to the team is minimal.  Having SV means we can try to deal Ells without blowing up the team but can also stand pat if the right deal doesn't come along right away.  

I'd rather overpay a guy for 3 years at 12/13 million than 5+ years at 25 million.  No matter how bad that contract is.....its not debilitating.  I actually like his strategy, give the team a "chance" to win now....you still have some payroll flexibility, the farm is preserved, and there are no long term  contracts crippling the team.

                                       I thought they had a plan. Joebr. thinks plan A had 3 players, Swish,Napoli,Sanchez.We got Napoli so far whiffed on Sanchez and Swish. They still might be in play. Nutin thinks plan B was LaRoche. Maybe. I read a Peter Abraham column that mentioned BC was looking to move Ells. for a SP. I'm thinking how many times does Ben have to get hit in the head with an iron skillet before he learns you don't trade everyday players for pitchers. Lowrie for Melancon, big advantage Houston, Bailey for Reddick+, big advantage A's. Reddick played 150+ games for the A's. No pitcher starter or reliever can help in 150 games. You trade everyday players for everyday players and pitchers for pitchers. Prospects are the bridge. 

It's about buying victories, buying runs, not about the players...

The plan is obvious:  Corner the market on mediocre players and then when any team in MLB desperately needs a mediocre player - they HAVE to deal on Cherrington's terms.

Brilliant!!

In response to carnie's comment:

but seriously, BJ UPTON GOT 15 MIL PER FOR 5 YEARS!!! that set the market for OF'ers this offseason.. SV for 12-13 per is pretty good considering i would take SV over BJ upton twice today and again tomorrow

In response to Soxdog67's comment:

In response to Alibiike's comment:

"'Cleveland wanted SV at 4yr / $44m and lost out to the Sox.  Fact. ""                                   Hardly a fact      . No one from the Cleveland FO said they made such offer. Francona never said it either.  Just an excuse manufactued to make it look like the Red Sox.didn't overpay. Consenses opinion  in baseball is thay overpaid greatly.              Fact

In response to darrylfries' comment:

In response to carnie's comment:

In response to mef429's comment:

Making stupid jokes hardly make you right just the opposite.

In response to darrylfries' comment:

look guys, its impossible to know what offers SV had.. we cant change it and it is hardly a big deal. lets go to the extreme and say we overpaid SV 9-10 mil thats 3 mil per year and we have a bunch of cash to play with still. its not crippling nor will it prevent us from signing anyone in the future.

Usually when someone says the team has no plan, what they really mean is "The team won't follow MY plan!!"

In response to notin's comment:

In response to darrylfries' comment:

Normally I like Keith Law, but his harping on the BA vs RHP with the platoon label really was stupid.

Victorino has hit RHP better than BJ Upton during that same timeframe.   But apparently since Upton cannot hit LHP either, he is more balanced?

So Upton's inabilty to hit anyone makes him worth more than Victorino, since he struggles to make outs vs LHP?

In response to notin's comment:

ADG they have a plan it's just not your plan. 

I'm not sure whether that's a good or bad thing, but I'm leaning towards good...

"Nothing else can explain the Victorino signing other than the fact that they have no plan"

Well, a couple things - they did overpay for Victorino but not by as much as you think - they don't want to do four year offers (that part I can understand) so they have to go a bit higher for a three year signing. 

It does appear they have an outfield glut but *if* their plan is to possibly trade Ells, and they have in fact already (reportedly) asked the Philllies about Ells for Cliff Lee, then SV gets moved to center field, a position he can certainly play and where he will not seem as overpaid. And if they do that it will certainly appear they have a plan.

Hey, i have some misgivings about some aspects of their approach, for example not sure the team they put on the field will inspire much excitement (though if they play as a team and win it will)....but to claim they have no plan at all is silly.

these guys were once very good players...they are declining....can they get it back? papi did....but at some point if you keep on signing these question marks for 3 years (which is still a good amount of time) you will reach the point where you easily couldve had an elite player in his prime....we will see...

In response to georom4's comment:

In response to ADG's comment:

BJ Upton 5-75 million (Braves), Pagan 4-40 (resigned by Giants) & Victorino 3-39 (Red Sox) are three examples of centerfielders that recently signed with Bourn and Hamilton still left on the board. Both of whom are likely to get something north of Upton's AAV with comaparable length.

Carl Crawford's making 20m per (like it or not his contract is used to set the bar for outfielders). Just ask his teamate who last year signed an extension where the AAV exceeds 20M. Victorino @ 13M per is getting about 65% of what Crawford makes. The difference between the two's contracts is that the Dodgers have 100M tied up with Crawford, paying him 60M in the next three years with two years remaining...

Here's what the uninformed baseball people aren't taking into consideration when evauating the merits of the Victorino signing...

1) Victorino profiles as a leadoff hitter and centerfielder (who has the arm and the range to play RF in Fenway)...

2) Jacoby Ellsbury if not traded will be playing his least season as a member of the Boston Red Sox...Meaning that with Victorino if they trade Ells, then he slides over to play CF and will likely be the leadoff hitter in 2013 if they keep Ells and let him play out his contract then in 2014 they have a suitable replacement for him both in center and almost as important at the top of the order.

3) Our best centerfield prospect Jackie Brandley JR. is projected to be ready for his cup of coffee late 2014, if he continues to progress as projected, he'll have a shot at making the roster at the begining of 2015.

Thus the signing of Victorino allows Cherington to deal from a position of strength with Ellsbury. Set in place a manpower transistion plan for centerfield and at the top of the order which buys the organization time to fully evaluate young Bradley.

Call me crazy but anyone that wants to poke holes in the legnth of or the moneys paid to hasn't been paying attention...Luckily Cherington is...the only real risk is that of injuries...with 2015 the only year of this deal where Victorino could become expendable...that is dependent the unknown of if and when Bradley is ready for prime time.

All we need is for Shane Victorino to be mentally tougher than Carl Crawford -to not let the extreme whiners of Red Sox Nation get him down before he even has the chance to slip on the uniform.  

If he can ignore all the static and just play to his potential, this signing will be just fine.