The first signing of the 2004 offseason was the re-signing of Doug Mirabelli, Mr. Chicken Parm himself. He was coming off of a 2004 seasons that ranked in the annals of great backup catchers - a 281/368/525 season in 182 PAs. He hit so well that some people thought he should DH against tough lefties instead of Ortiz.

All things considered, Doug was coming off a great season as a backup catcher. Hard to debate that. He had an undeniable rapport with Wakefield that the team (and Wakefield) really valued.

Of course, he was traded after the 05 season and brought back a few weeks into the season at the expense of Cla Meredith and Josh Bard.

Anyone care to explain why they thought this deal was an "F"?

My vote was an 'A' - but trying to break down the signing of a back-up catcher to a modest contract into a letter grade seems a bit of over-analysis on a simple transaction.

This move is more like a pass/fail rather than a course that has so many grade possibilities.

With Mirabelli coming off a solid 2004 season where he batted .281 with a HR every 20 ABs - there was a belief that was forming that he was a solid RH bat (one that should be used over Big Papi against lefties). Add to the fact that he was a very "gifted" in catching Wakefield, accepted his role on the team and there's really no way a sane, rational fan can give Theo a failing mark on this move.

Varitek was signed and named captain going into 2005. He wasn't given that role to split time with a back-up catcher. As much as Varitek struggled in the past couple seasons - he was arguably the best catcher in the game in 2005.

The decision to bring back Mirabelli may have had a small role in that.

Anyone that wants to argue that the Red Sox should have brought in a young catcher rather than Mirabelli that could have been groomed to take over is about 2 years too early to make that call (and Theo hit it on the head offering a 2-year deal to Mirabelli).

A catching "project" for Varitek to mentor would have likely detracted from Varitek's on-field performance (as more prep time would have been dedicated to "mentoring"). Additionally, Varitek wasn't preparing to fade away at the start of his 4 year deal... so that argument holds no water.

When thinking about this move, to give a grade other than A would indicate that there was something wrong with the move in some way or another. If a teacher were given an exam - if there's nothing wrong with the answers - the score would be 100% (A). This "exam" would be the equivalent of a 3rd grade spelling bee - relatively simple - and Theo deserves an 'A' in my opinion (score it a 99 - since he probably could have signed him to a 2-year 2.95 million dollar contract)...