I, as one fan, am glad he signed with the Red Sox. I give him the benefit of the doubt due to (a) signing a big free-agent contract, (b) changing leagues, (c) changing positions, (d) getting a late start to an already-shortened spring training. (e) celebrating the birth of his first child a few days into his spring training ... and there are probably a few more considerations. We know baseball, especially, is a sport where your mind and you body have to be right to play it at a high level. My only concern was that in the first few weeks, his fielding seemed to be off; I figured that was something more slump-proof. But he seems to have turned that around along with his hitting (at least to my eye). I'm looking forward to seeing how he plays through the first half now that he seems acclimated and the Fenway fans are responding to him. His swing does seem perfectly built for the park's dimensions.